Interview questions · 6 min read
What are competency-based interview questions, and how do I answer them?
What competency-based interviews are, the competencies UK employers assess most, example questions for each, and how answers are scored against indicators.
The short answer
A competency-based interview asks you for real examples of how you've shown specific skills or behaviours, called competencies, that the employer has decided the job needs. Each question targets one competency, such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, leadership or customer focus, and interviewers score your answer against a list of positive and negative indicators. They're standard in the UK civil service, the NHS, local government, policing and many large employers. To prepare, find the competencies in the job advert or person specification, write one strong example for each in the STAR structure, and make sure each answer shows several of the positive indicators clearly.
Key takeaways
- Each question tests one named competency, and answers are scored against written indicators.
- The competencies are usually listed in the job advert or person specification.
- Prepare one main and one backup example per competency.
- The civil service uses a similar approach called Success Profiles, with behaviours alongside strengths, experience and technical skills.
On this pageThe competencies employers assess most
The competencies employers assess most
| Competency | Typical question |
|---|---|
| Teamwork | Tell us about a time you worked with others to achieve a goal. |
| Communication | Give an example of explaining something complex to someone unfamiliar with it. |
| Problem solving | Describe a time you solved a problem with limited information. |
| Leadership | Tell us about a time you led a team through a challenge. |
| Delivering at pace | Give an example of meeting a tight deadline under pressure. |
| Customer focus | Describe a time you went out of your way for a customer or service user. |
| Adaptability | Tell us about a time priorities changed suddenly. |
| Decision making | Describe a difficult decision you made and how you made it. |
How indicators work
Before the interview, the panel has a sheet for each competency. For communication, positive indicators might include adapting the message to the audience, checking understanding and listening actively; negative indicators might include using jargon, not checking understanding, or talking over people. Your job is to tell a story that clearly shows the positives. If you know the framework, you can name the behaviour as you describe it: "I checked they'd understood by asking them to explain the next step back to me."
One example answer
Competency: communicating and influencing. "Our council's housing team was changing how tenants reported repairs, and older tenants were worried. My task was to explain the change to 300 households. I ran three drop-in sessions at the community centre, wrote a one-page guide in large print, and tested it with five tenants before printing. At each session I asked people to show me how they'd report a repair, so I could check they'd understood. Calls to the old number fell by 70% in the first month, and complaints about the change were in single figures."
How to prepare
- Find the competencies or behaviours in the advert, the person specification or the candidate pack.
- Look up the employer's framework if it's public: the civil service, NHS and police all publish theirs.
- Write one main and one backup STAR example for each.
- Underline in each example the actions that match positive indicators.
- Practise aloud, keeping each answer to about two minutes.
On the day
- Expect a panel of two or three, with one person taking notes. Silence while they write is normal.
- Bring notes with your example titles. Most panels allow a quick glance.
- If a follow-up asks for more on your actions, give detail: it's a chance to score more indicators.
- Use "I", and be specific about your own part.
What happens to the gaps
Applying shows you what employers want that you can't show yet: a must-have your CV doesn't mention, or a question you couldn't answer well. Hand the job from OffLadder CV to Laddie, our AI coach, and it turns each one into three steps:
- Learn the skill: a short lesson on what the post asks for, starting from the basics.
- Try the work: a 15-minute task taken from the job itself, so you have a real example to talk about.
- Practise the interview: a five-question mock interview for that role, weighted to the parts you're least sure of.
The conversation stays in your OffLadder account. Once you've done the work, add it to your CV in your own words, and the next post you tailor for can point to it.
Questions people ask
- What's the difference between competency-based and behavioural interviews?
- They're closely related. Both ask for real past examples. Competency-based interviews are more structured: each question maps to a named competency, and answers are scored against fixed indicators, often by a panel. Behavioural interview is the more common term in the US.
- How are competency-based answers scored?
- Usually on a numbered scale, such as 1 to 4 or 1 to 7, against positive and negative indicators for that competency. Examples that are specific, recent, show your own actions and hit several positive indicators score highest. Vague or hypothetical answers score low.
- What are Civil Service Success Profiles?
- The framework the UK civil service uses to assess candidates. It looks at behaviours (like the old competencies, such as Communicating and Influencing or Delivering at Pace), strengths, experience, ability and technical skills. Behaviour questions are answered with STAR examples and scored on a 1 to 7 scale.
- Can I use the same example twice?
- Try not to in the same interview. Panels notice and it can suggest a narrow range of experience. Prepare a backup example for each competency, so you can switch if an earlier answer already used your first choice.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- The STAR method · National Careers Service
- Interview advice · National Careers Service
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.