Competency-based interviews: common questions and how to answer them

A competency-based interview is a structured interview in which each question asks for a real example of a skill the job needs, such as teamwork, leadership or problem solving. The questions usually begin "tell me about a time" or "describe a situation where", and the panel scores each answer against criteria written before the interview. To prepare, find the competencies in the job advert or person specification, choose one or two real examples for each, and answer with the STAR method: situation, task, action, result.

What a competency-based interview is

Prospects, the UK graduate careers site run by Jisc, describes competency-based interviews this way: "Also known as structured, behavioural or situational interviews they are designed to test one or more skills or competencies." It contrasts them with unstructured interviews, where the questions are general: "A competency-based interview is more systematic, and each question targets a skill needed for the job."

A competency is a skill, knowledge or way of behaving that the job needs. Civil Service Resourcing defined competencies in 2016 as "the skills, knowledge and behaviours that lead to a successful performance." The method rests on the idea that past behaviour predicts future performance. The London School of Economics says in its guide for hiring managers: "It is not enough for a candidate to just say what they can offer; they need to provide evidence."

The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) separates two kinds of question that UK careers sites tend to group together. Behavioural questions "ask applicants to describe a past behavior demonstrated in a situation relevant to the competency of interest." Situational questions ask candidates to "describe what they would do or how they would behave in a situation similar to those encountered on the job." The UK Civil Service uses both: you may be asked for an example, or "how you would behave in a given situation."

In the Civil Service, competencies are now called behaviours. Its 2016 guide described 10 common competencies in three clusters. Its current recruitment framework, Success Profiles, first published on 18 June 2018, assesses behaviours alongside strengths, ability, experience and technical skills.

Competency based interview questions, by competency

Each question below targets one competency and is quoted from the source named beside it.

Prospects lists the competencies employers regularly look for as adaptability, commercial awareness, communication, conflict resolution, decisiveness, independence, flexibility, leadership, problem solving, organisation, resilience and teamwork. For a longer practice bank, with what a strong answer shows for each, see our mock interview questions.

The UK Civil Service behaviours

If you are applying to the UK Civil Service, the competencies have fixed names. There are nine behaviours, and the descriptions below are quoted from the Success Profiles guidance (updated 29 January 2025).

The guidance adds that "Civil Service Behaviours are specific to the grade level of the job role" and that "you will not be asked to demonstrate all Civil Service Behaviours for one role." The job advert names the ones that will be assessed.

How to answer competency-based interview questions

Use STAR: the situation, the task you had, the action you took and the result. The Civil Service suggests candidates "consider using the STAR method which allows you to set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome", and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) recommends it for interview answers. Prospects teaches a five-part version, STARR, which adds reflection: what you learned. Our STAR method guide covers the structure, how long each part should take and a worked answer.

The panel wants to hear how you did it. The 2016 Civil Service guide says the framework "centres on 'how' you achieved the outcome", so describe who you involved and why you chose one step over another.

The example has to fit the competency asked about. A good teamwork story told in answer to a question about attention to detail will score low on attention to detail. If you are asked about a competency you have not prepared, adapt a story you have; the Michael Page article on MyCareersFuture notes that one scenario "could be used to prove teamwork or project management capabilities, and your ability to handle pressure or problem solve."

Your examples must be real, though they need not all come from work. The Civil Service accepts examples from "work experience", "volunteering" or activity "in connection with a hobby". Prospects warns against inventing or exaggerating, since examples can be checked.

Answers should be short, and follow-up questions are normal. MyCareersFuture suggests answering "in well under three minutes." Defra's blog tells Civil Service candidates that "assessors may ask you follow-up questions from your example, which is great!" The University of Reading lists typical ones: "what were you most proud of?", "what did you learn from the experience?" and "what would you do differently next time?"

Here is a short illustrative answer to "Give an example of a time when you worked well under pressure?" It was written for this page and the details are made up.

• Situation: "Two days before a client report was due, the analyst writing half of it went on sick leave."
• Task: "I was responsible for getting the full report out on time without lowering its accuracy."
• Action: "I listed what was left and split it into what only I could do and what a colleague could check. I asked my manager to move one internal meeting so I had a clear day, and I agreed with the client which two appendices could follow a week later."
• Result: "The main report went out on the deadline with no corrections from the client. Since then I keep a shared outline from day one so someone else can pick up a section."

Each step names a decision the candidate made, so a panel scoring "delivering at pace" or "working under pressure" has evidence to write down.

How competency-based interviews are scored

Competency interviews are scored against criteria fixed in advance. The CIPD, the UK professional body for HR, says that in structured interviews "candidate responses are then scored using consistent criteria against a set of pre-agreed criteria for each question", and that "interviewers should assign scores to each candidate response independently before discussing them as a group." OPM describes the same practice: highly structured interviews are "scored according to benchmarks of proficiency", usually "by a panel in which each member rates applicant responses individually."

The UK Civil Service uses "a Civil Service rating scale between 1 and 7 to score each assessment", according to Defra's blog (14 April 2023). COPFS, which recruits through Success Profiles, publishes what each score means.

The same Defra post says candidates "will require to score a 4 or more on each assessment" to progress. COPFS sets the same minimum, "scoring 4 or more in all behaviours", but allows "a single score of 3 where scores for all other behaviours are high." Other departments and employers set their own benchmarks, so check the candidate pack for the role.

The scale measures evidence, and a panel can only score what you say. A confident but general answer ("I'm a strong team player") gives it nothing to rate, while one specific example with a clear result can.

How to find the competencies before the interview

Start with the job advert. The Civil Service says "the job description will outline the elements required for the role and the selection method(s) that will be used", and Defra's blog says interviewers want "evidence against the behaviours that were outlined in the original job advert."

Then read the person specification, if there is one. The LSE's guide shows hiring managers how to turn each line of it, marked essential or desirable, into a question: "Strong negotiation experience" becomes "Describe a negotiating experience that you feel was particularly successful." Read that way, the person specification tells you most of what you will be asked. The same guide (January 2019) suggests competency questions make up "around 70%" of the interview, with the rest on technical skills for the role.

Then decide how many examples to prepare.

Prospects adds that you can reuse an example if you change the emphasis, but should not lean on one example too much. It also warns: "Don't attempt to wing it by thinking on your feet, as the quality of your answers will suffer."

Competency, strengths and values-based interviews compared

Some UK employers ask two other kinds of question as well. The Civil Service assesses strengths alongside behaviours, and NHS trusts such as Oxford University Hospitals run values-based interviews.

The Civil Service defines strengths as "the things that we do regularly, do well and that motivate us." Defra's blog says of strengths questions: "You don't need to apply the STAR format here." The University of Reading advises giving a full answer to them, because "there aren't usually as many opportunities for follow up questions."

Values-based questions often look like competency questions, since they also ask for a real example. Oxford University Hospitals says its panels ask "between two and four questions depending on the job role, all of which will relate to the Trust values." Read the trust's values before the interview, and pick examples that show them.

Competency questions in an AI interview

Some first-round interviews are recorded or run by AI. When one is scored from a transcript against set competencies, the scoring can only use what you said, so a specific example told in the first person, with a stated result, gives it the most to work with.

ROUND.1, a hiring marketplace for Hong Kong and Singapore, is one example. Its first-round AI video interview lasts about 20 minutes by default (roles can be shorter), 30 at most. It is scored competency by competency, with each score backed by quotes from the transcript. Accent, pronunciation, grammar and fluency are not scored. There is one attempt, and each role is interviewed in one language, English or Mandarin Chinese. A person at the company decides whom to hire. The full facts are on ROUND.1, explained.

For more, read what an AI interview is, how to prepare for an AI interview and the one-way video interview guide.

Notes for Hong Kong and Singapore

In Singapore, TAFEP, which promotes fair employment practices, tells employers to "consider using competency-based questions that target a specific skill or competency required to perform the job." Its examples include "Describe a project where you had to use different leadership styles to reach your goal" and "Describe how you have positively contributed to a team." The Michael Page article on MyCareersFuture sorts competency questions into five groups: individual, managerial, analytical, interpersonal and motivational. Several of its sample questions are in the table above.

In Hong Kong, the Labour Department's guide to job hunting lists questions such as "How would you handle a difficult client?" and "How would you handle conflicts between you and your boss/colleagues?" These are situational, and the guide says they test "your ability to handle adverse situations in the work environment." It suggests answering "based on your own experience, professional skills and common sense", so a real example told with STAR works here as well. Practise your examples in the language of the interview, since a story that comes easily in Cantonese can take longer to tell in English.

The rest of the interview needs its own preparation: the opening tell me about yourself, and the questions to ask at the end of an interview.