The hiring process is not an exact science – far from it in fact, and that’s hardly surprising when you consider that an organisation has just 20-30 minutes to find out as much as they can about you. Sure, they can read your CV and scour your social media profiles before the interview, but all that really tells them is what you want them to know. It won’t explain that you’re in a foul mood every morning until you’ve had your 4th cup of coffee, or that you have a real aversion to being told what to do.
The recruiters themselves will also come to the interview with their own opinions, preferences and biases that lead them to be less than objective when making their decision. Interviewers are just as guilty of making snap judgements as the rest of us, and while training and experience can help them put their personal opinions to one side, there’s no such thing as a completely objective interview.
Over the last decade, competency based interview questions have become increasingly popular as a way of negating these biases and cutting through the self-promotional spiel found in most CVs. They aim to dig beneath the interviewee’s pre-prepared answers to reveal the real behaviours of a candidate at work. And, if you’re a bilingual job seeker, this is almost certainly the kind of question you’re likely to face in your interview.
What are competency based questions?
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development defines competencies as:
“Demonstrable performance outputs as well as behaviour inputs that may relate to a system or set of minimum standards required for effective performance at work.”
Competency based questions ask candidates to provide real-life examples as the basis for their answers. Candidates should explain why they made certain decisions, how they implemented solutions and why certain outcomes took place.
The fact is that past behaviour is a good indicator of future performance. By asking a candidate how they handled a particular situation in the past – how they performed, what they learnt etc. – it will give them a better understanding of a candidate’s capability in future work situations.
Examples of competency based questions
These are examples of the type of competency based questions a bilingual job seeker should expect:
- Tell me about a time when you failed to complete a task or project on time, despite intending to do so;
- Tell me about a time you led a group to achieve an objective;
- Tell me about a time when your work or an idea was challenged;
- Describe a situation where you got people to work together;
- When did you work the hardest and feel the greatest sense of achievement?
How should you answer competency based questions?
In order to give clear, effective and varied answers to competency based interview questions, we advise all our bilingual candidates to adopt the well known STAR technique to describe:
- The Situation or event succinctly
- The Task required as a result
- The Action you took and your participation in the task
- The Result of your action
When answering competency questions, you can usually give examples from your work, study and personal life. You should not provide too much background information as the interviewer will only be interested in the behaviours exhibited. You should also use the most relevant examples to the questions you have been asked, rather than what you think are the most elaborate or impressive. Finally, it’s essential you do not make your answers up. It’s fine to take a little time think of the most relevant example. The interviewer would much rather you do that than saying the first thing that pops into your head.
How can we help?
At Linguistica Recruitment, we not only help bilingual job seekers find their next great role, but we also provide application and interview assistance to give you the very best chance of landing the job. Take a look at our latest vacancies and send us your CV today.