Sample Competency Based Interview Questions

Transcription

1 Sample Competency Based Interview Questions Competency 1: Service Tell me about an occasion when you had to work hard to meet the needs of a customer. What steps did you take? Tell me about a time when you had to build a relationship with a new contact. Why was the relationship important? How did you develop it? Tell me about a time when a customer or co-worked made unreasonable demands on you. What did you do? How were the demands unreasonable? How did it make you feel? Describe a situation during which you had to deal with an angry customer or co-worker. Why were they angry? What did you do? How did you feel about it? Organizational Effectiveness

2 Competency 2: Analytical Thinking Tell me about a time you had to analyze a problem by looking at the component parts. What were the parts? What process did you use? Tell me about a time you had to use data to understand a problem. What was the problem? Where did you get the data? How did you make sense of the data? Competency 3: Critical Thinking Tell me about a time you had to interpret policy to complete a task How did you know policy was involved? What interpretation did you arrive to? How did you use the policy Tell me about a time you were able to see a problem no one else had identified. What was the problem? How did you find the problem? What did you do about it? Tell me about a time you were able to see a connection between seemingly un-related things How did you discover the connection? What did you do about it? 2

3 Competency 4: Problem Solving/Decision Making Describe a time you had to identify an issue. How did you know there was a problem? How did you identify the issue? What process did you use? Tell me about a time you solved a difficult problem that had significant impact? How did you go about analyzing the problem? What additional information did you gather? What alternative solutions did you consider? Tell me how you implemented your solution. Tell me about the most difficult decision you have made in the last six months? What was the situation? What made it difficult? What factors or variables did you consider? What did you decide? What was the result? Tell me about a time when you used company policy or procedure to make a decision when it would have been easier not to. What was the policy? How did you decide upon the course of action that you took? What was the outcome? 3

4 Competency 5: Communication Describe a time when you and your co-workers encountered a problem, disagreement or issue that was difficult or uncomfortable to talk about. What actions did you take? How did your co-workers react? Tell me about a time when you had to have a conversation with a co-worker or customer with whom you had a language barrier. How did you ensure that you understood? How did you ensure that you were being understood? How did you feel about the process? Give me an example of how you keep others informed of issues, reoccurring problems or suggestions for improvement. Are you more likely to speak to a co-worker or boss? How do you share your ideas? How do you tailor your communication to the audience? Describe a talk or presentation that you recently gave. How did you tailor it to suit the audience? How did the audience react? 4

5 Competency 6: Time Management Tell me about a time you had many tasks to complete at the same time. How do you prioritize? How do you keep track of your progress? What tools or processes, if any, do you use? Give an example of a time when your time schedule or project plan changed because of unforeseen circumstances. How did you get back on track? To whom did you communicate? How did you feel? Tell me about a time when you had to sacrifice quality to meet a deadline. What was sacrificed? How did you determine what to sacrifice? Competency 7: Influence/Negotiation Tell me about an instance where you had to negotiate with somebody. Did you get the outcome that you wanted? Did you compromise and if so, how? Tell me about a time when you were the only person holding an idea you felt strongly about. How did that feel? How did you share your position? What was the outcome? Tell me about a time when you and another person had to compromise to reach an agreement What did each of you give? What did each of you get? How did you reach the agreement? 5

6 Competency 8: Integrity Tell me about a time when you followed company policy even when it would have been easier not to. What alternatives did you consider? How did you feel about it? Tell me about a time you made a mistake. Did you inform others and if so, how? How did you discover the mistake? Tell me about a time you made a promise you could not keep. What prevented you from keeping the promise? What did you do as a result? Competency 9: Accuracy/Attention to Detail Tell me about a time that you did not complete work up to the normal standards. What got in the way? What standards did you drop? Tell me about a project you recently completed in which the standards were higher than normal. How were the standards set? How did you adjust your work? How did you feel about the project? Tell me about a project you completed that required attention to many small details. How did you keep track of the details? What tools or techniques did you use? 6