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  • Hi, everybody!

  • My name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company.

  • www.PassMyInterview.com, and in this tutorial I am going to teach you how to answer competency

  • based interview questions.

  • If you have any kind of interview coming up, I encourage you to watch this from beginning

  • to end because I promise it's going to make a significant difference to your preparation,

  • and more importantly, to your performance at the interview.

  • I want you to get the job.

  • Now, before I get into it, a very warm welcome to this tutorial.

  • That's me there on the right-hand side.

  • My name is Richard McMunn.

  • I am extremely passionate about helping people pass their interviews and in this particular

  • tutorial I'm going to focus specifically on how to answer competency-based interview questions.

  • As always, please do make sure you subscribe to the channel by clicking the red button

  • below the video.

  • I'm creating and uploading new videos on a weekly basis and I don't want you to miss

  • out.

  • Also, if you enjoy the content and the sample questions and answers I'm about to provide

  • you, please do hit the LIKE button, give the video a thumbs up.

  • I would very, very much appreciate that.

  • OK.

  • So, the aim of this presentation is I want to make you the standout candidate during

  • your interview.

  • I want you to pass.

  • So how am I going to do that?

  • Let's get straight into it.

  • So, first and foremost, how do you answer competency-based interview questions?

  • In order to tackle that we need to understand what competencies are.

  • Now this is going to take about a minute but it's very important.

  • Now competencies are basically a set of skills and attributes that are needed to perform

  • the job to the required standard.

  • And that is why most interviewers will utilize competencies during interviews.

  • They are actually very easy to answer, using the structure that I am about to disclose.

  • So, let's say, for argument's sake, you were going for a customer service role and a lot

  • of jobs require an ability to deliver great customer service.

  • What would be the competencies?

  • Well you would need an ability to communicate effectively.

  • You would need to be able to provide great customer service.

  • You would have to deal with customer problems as and when they arise.

  • And you would also need to work effectively whilst under pressure.

  • So, there are four competencies.

  • Now, if we take a look at the interview questions based on the competencies, what could they

  • be?

  • Well, let's have a look at the competency, ‘having an ability to communicate effectively.’

  • The interview questions would probably be: “Describe a time when you demonstrated effective

  • communication skills?” orDescribe a time when you delivered a difficult message

  • to a customer or a group of people?”

  • And you will notice there's a common theme in these competency interview questions.

  • They start off with – “Describe a timeorDescribe a situation”, that means

  • you have to give a specific example.

  • I'm gonna disclose something in a minute that's gonna help you to stand out as the top candidate.

  • Let's have a look at another competency for a customer service role.

  • You have to work effectively under pressure.

  • So, the interview questions would probably beDescribe a time when you completed a

  • difficult task whilst under pressure?”

  • OrDescribe a situation when you worked with other people to complete a difficult

  • and time sensitive task?”

  • So, how do we answer competency based interview questions?

  • We know what competencies are, we can work out what kind of interview questions we will

  • get asked!

  • Let's have a look at the structure.

  • So, this is how to structure your answers to get the highest scores possible.

  • Excuse me.

  • First of all, we start off with the SITUATION.

  • Then we tell them what the TASK is.

  • What ACTION we took.

  • And then the RESULT.

  • So, it's SITUATION, TASK, ACTION, RESULT and all you have to do is think of STAR -SITUATION

  • TASK ACTION RESULT, and I’ll tell you something in a second which will make you stand out.

  • So, when you respond to the interview questions, explain the situation you were in.

  • Then explain the task that needed to be done.

  • Then tell the interview panel the action that you took and then explain the result following

  • your actions.

  • Always make sure the result is positive following your actions, and then, this is a new thing

  • but it will make you stand out at the end.

  • Add another ‘R’ which is REFLECTION.

  • So you would say at the end of your response – “Upon reflection, I learned a lot from

  • this situation and this is what I learned.”

  • And I'll give you a couple of examples in a second of how to add the reflection bit

  • at the end to make you the standout candidate.

  • So, when responding to competency interview questions, use situation, task, action, result

  • and then reflection.

  • So, how do we answer the questions?

  • Let's take a look at a sample competency-based interview question ofDescribe a time when

  • you worked under pressure to complete a difficult task?”

  • So, here's my sample answer.

  • I'm going to utilize the star technique with the R at the end, so situation: “One day

  • at work, we received notification that one of our key stock suppliers had gone into liquidation,

  • meaning we were not able to supply our customers with their orders.

  • I volunteered to start sourcing a new supplier who could send us the relevant stock within

  • 24 hours meaning our customers would not be delayed in receiving their orders.

  • I started looking online and I drew up a short list of three potential suppliers.

  • I then conducted reviews of their service before calling the one that had the best reviews

  • to discuss commercial terms and delivery times.

  • Within two hours of commencing the task, I managed to source a new supplier who sent

  • us the goods within 24 hours, meaning our customers all received their orders on time.

  • Upon reflection I learned how important it is to remain calm under pressure and follow

  • a logical plan.

  • If you do this, you can resolve any type of problem regardless of the pressure you are

  • under.”

  • So that reflection at the end really solidifies your response and shows that you are a mature

  • and intelligent employee.

  • So, shall we take a look at another example?

  • Another competency based interview question and response?

  • Yes, let's do it.

  • OK.

  • So, “Describe a time when you changed how you did something following feedback from

  • someone else?”

  • This is a real common competency-based interview question.

  • It shows that you can take on board feedback and constructive criticism and then use it

  • positively.

  • So, once again: Situation, Task, Action, Result and Reflection, and the question isDescribe

  • a time when you changed how you did something following feedback from someone else?

  • Here's the sample response: “During an appraisal with my line manager, It was put to me that

  • I needed to improve my technical skills when using some Adobe software applications.

  • This would in turn increase my output within the team.

  • I viewed it as my job to take on board the feedback in a constructive manner and learn

  • the new skills as professionally and quickly as possible.

  • I immediately signed up to an intensive two-day online training course to learn the new software

  • applications, and during the training course I studied hard and quickly learned the new

  • skills required.

  • At the end of the course, I passed the final exam with an eighty seven percent pass mark,

  • and have since been using the new software applications which has allowed me to complete

  • more office tasks as and when required.

  • I learned a lot from that situation, and I now conduct my own six-monthly, self-appraisal

  • to look at ways I can improve to help the team increase output and performance.”

  • So, those two are fantastic responses to those competency-based interview questions.

  • Now, if you would like more, 50 for more modules to help you pass your interview, click the

  • link below the video or go to my Web site PassMyInterview.com.

  • I'll quickly show the website.

  • This is the website.

  • PassMyInterview.com.

  • There's over 550 excellent TrustPilot reviews and it is a free online interview training

  • course: you can get access to this for 30 days and you can be learning literally within

  • two minutes.

  • It's me giving you all of the tutorials on there and I cover every conceivable possible

  • interview question you could get asked and give you tips on how to answer it, and also

  • more importantly, sample downloadable responses to the interview questions.

  • So, I hope you've enjoyed that tutorial.

  • Don't forget to go to PassMyInterview.com.

  • If you have an interview coming up, I'd be more than happy to give you a few sample competency-based

  • interview questions.

  • If you put them in the comments below.

  • Don't forget to subscribe.

  • I hope you really enjoyed that guys, I love helping you to pass your interviews.

  • Thanks for watching.

  • My name's Richard McMunn and I wish you all the best in your pursuit to passing your competency

  • based interview.

  • Thank you very much.

Hi, everybody!

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