Top competency based interview questions

Commonly questioned competencies include adaptability/flexibility, collaboration/teamwork, communication, delegation, conflict management, customer focus, decision-making, and management/leadership.

Competency based interviews are structured interviews in which all the questions are asked to test some skill of the candidate.

In this article I tried to present few notable points regarding competencies based interviews along with merits of the same over traditional interviewing approach.

Teamwork interview questions

• What are the characteristics of a successful team?
• Have you ever had a role in a team project where your role was not clearly defined? How do you handle this?
• When your team encounters a problem, such as irritation with another co-worker, how do you reach a good resolution?
• Give an example of a successful project you were part of. What was your role? Why was the project successful?
• Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the end result?
• Describe a team experience you found disappointing. What would you have done to prevent this?
• Tell us about an unsuccessful team of which you were a member. What, if anything, could you have done differently?
• Tell us about a successful team of which you were a member. What was the most outstanding characteristic of that team? What did you contribute?
• What are the important qualities a person should have to become an effective team member?
• What qualities do you have that make you an effective team player?
• Do you work better by yourself or as part of a team?
• When did you last coordinate your work with others in a team project? What was your most successful contribution?
• When you feel that a team is working efficiently, except for the fact that one member is clearly not “pulling their weight”, what steps will you take?
• Describe a team experience you found rewarding?
• Describe the types of teams you’ve been involved with. What were your roles?
• Describe your leadership style and give an example of a situation when you successfully led a group?
• What type of people do you work best with?
• What factors would you consider in assembling a project team?
• Through what tools can a committee become more useful or productive?
• When you receive positive feedback about the completion of a project do you give your team any credit?
• When you are part of a team that is working exceptionally well, what do you think the reasons are for its success?
• When you have worked on a team, and your role was crucial, what was that role? In what way was this team effort different or similar to working on your own?
• What actions can a supervisor take to establish teamwork in the organization?
• What are the advantages, if any, of establishing team goals as opposed to individual goals?

Time management interview questions:

• How many hours do you normally work?
• How do you handle stress and pressure?
• Describe a time when your workload was heavy and how you handled it. -
• Tell me about the last time you failed to complete a project on time.
• What do you do when you have multiple priorities? Tell me about your typical day.
• Your supervisor left you an assignment, then left for a week. You can’t reach him/her and you don’t fully understand the assignment. What would you do?
• How do you organize and plan for major projects?
• Describe a project that required a high amount of energy over an extended period of time.
• How would you describe the pace at which you work?
• How much time do you spend on the phone? In meetings? Etc.
• How do you organize yourself for day-to-day activities?
• Tell me about a task you started but just couldn’t seem to get finished.
• What do you do when you’re having trouble solving a problem?

Attitude based interview questions

• How do you perform better under pressure?
• How do you have a cheerful attitude which makes others feel good when he’s around.
• How to you keep everything in focus and makes sure the team moves forward?
• How do you balance it by remaining positive and upbeat.
• How do you keep a balanced view on day to day events?

Analytical skills interview questions

• How would you rate your analytical ability? Why?
• How would your manager rate your analytical ability?
• Tell us about a situation where the analysis that you performed was incorrect. What would you have done differently?
• Can you tell me about a time when you discovered a more efficient way to do a work task?
• Tell me about a task that really tested your analytical abilities?
• Tell me about a tricky situation for which you found a very simple solution?
• Have you ever been in a real dilemma at work? What did you do to get out of it?
• Tell me about an assignment you worked on in which you had to amass a huge amount of data, and then analyze it?
• Can you tell me about a situation where your analysis of a problem was deemed to be incorrect? What would you have done differently?
• Are you analytical? Give us one example of your analytical abilities.
• Tell us about your analytical skills.
• Tell us about a particularly difficult problem that you analyzed and what was your recommendation?
• What steps do you take when analyzing complex problems?

Communication skills interview questions

• When you have had a boss, in the past, who fails to adequately communicate with you, how have you handled this?
• Give me an example when you had to present complex information in a simplified manner in order to explain it to someone?
• Give me an example when you had to present complex information in a simplified manner in order to explain it to someone?
• Tell me about a time when you had to be very careful in communicating delicate information. What was the possible risk involved and how did you go about it?
• What steps do you take to establish a rapport with others?
• Describe five things about the communication within an organization that must be present for you to work most effectively?
• Describe a time when you took extra effort to make sure the person with whom you were communicating with had really understood your point. How did you do this?
• How often do you believe it is necessary to withhold information from staff members who report to you? Would you say you do this regularly, not often, or never? Under what circumstances do you limit communication in your experience?
• Describe the work environment or culture and its communication style in which you experience the most success?
• How do you explain a complex technical issue to someone who has less technical knowledge than you?
• Give me an example of a time when you had to put your point across in a meeting to which most of the people were reluctant to hear.
• When you have entered a new workplace in the past, describe how you have gone about meeting and developing relationships with your new coworkers, supervisors, and reporting staff?

Cooperation skills interview questions

• Give me an example of a situation where you helped your colleague perform a particular task in which you had better knowledge on the subject?
• Can you tell me about a time when you backed off in a meeting because you felt someone else should speak or have an opportunity?
• Tell me about a time when you acted as a mediator to help colleagues resolve their differences.
• How would you show co-workers the importance of co-operation?
• Give me an example of a time when you tried your best to work with someone, but the problems still remained. What did you learn from that situation?
• Give an example of a time when you assisted a co-worker to enhance their work skills?
• Tell me about a time when you had to help a co-worker who had made a bad mistake. What did you do?
• Tell me about a time when you had to help a co-worker who had made a bad mistake. What did you do?
• Give an example of a time when you assisted a co-worker to enhance their work skills?
• How would you show co-workers the importance of co-operation?

Creativity based interview questions

• How often do you discuss and work with colleagues to think up new systems and styles of working?
• Have you ever tried a new way of doing things? Did you succeed?
• Tell me about one case when you tried to solve a problem with a totally different approach than is normally used. What was the result?
• Can you tell me about a situation, which you tried to solve a problem with ideas and methods that had not been tried before?
• Tell me about the most interesting idea that you’ve learned outside of education?
• What well-established professional practice are you skeptical about?
• How do you express creativity in your life? What is your art? that has this expression brought to your life?
• What ideas did you contribute to your department? What were the results?
• Give an example of a project you were responsible for starting. What did you do? How did it work out?
• What is the most creative thing you have done in a past job? How did it occur?
• In the last year, what innovative ideas have you had at work? Were you able to implement them? How were they innovative?

Cooperation/collaboration skills interview questions

• Tell me about a time when you acted as a mediator to help colleagues resolve their differences.
• How would you show co-workers the importance of co-operation?
• Give me an example of a time when you tried your best to work with someone, but the problems still remained. What did you learn from that situation?
• Give an example of a time when you assisted a co-worker to enhance their work skills?
• Tell me about a time when you had to help a co-worker who had made a bad mistake. What did you do?
• Give me an example of a situation where you helped your colleague perform a particular task in which you had better knowledge on the subject?
• Can you tell me about a time when you backed off in a meeting because you felt someone else should speak or have an opportunity?

Critical thinking interview questions

• What did you play with as a child?
• If you could describe Hershey, Godiva and Dove chocolate as people, how would you describe them?
• What is the chance that at least two people were born on the same day of the week if there are three people in the room?
• If you walk into a liquor store to count the bottles unsold, but the clerk is screaming at you to leave, what do you do?
• Are you a good decision maker?
• Do you always take the process on your own? On what occasions do you recognize that you need other’s help?

Decision making interview questions

• Are you firm on your decision? How many times do you regret a decision or you reconsider or change decisions?
• Describe the most difficult decision that you had taken till date. What made it so difficult?
• Can you elaborate about the decisions you reach quickly and the ones you take more time?
• If you come across a situation where you have to choose between a highly experienced candidate and a highly qualified but not so experienced contender for promotion, what would you decide?
• What do you believe is the best way to take decisions, independently or by seeking guidance?
• If you come across a situation where you have two or more options to accomplish a goal, and each one as good as the other, which option will you choose?
• How do you react when you have to make important decisions but have to make them quickly?
• Explain an occasion where you had to make a decision on your own? Were you happy with your decision making process?

Detail oriented interview questions

• How well do your work with detail information?
• Give us an example of how detail-oriented you are.
• Do you prefer to work with detail or with general information?
• What level of detail have your current and past jobs required?
• Are you a “big picture” or “detail oriented” person? How so?
• Have the jobs you held in the past required little attention, moderate attention, or a great deal of attention to detail?

Goal setting interview questions

• What (exactly) do you want to achieve? this year, 3-years goals, 5 – year goals?
• Who needs to be involved in this goal process in order to accomplish it successfully?
• Why invest time and energy into this goal?
• Why would this goal relate to purpose, vision, or organizational values?
• Who possesses the skills and talent necessary to meet the goal or do we need to train?
• What are conditions of a goal?
• What actions need to be taken and detailed tasks done to achieve a successful goal?
• What is the plan for how often goals should be reviewed against measurement criteria?
• What is the objective or challenge that needs to be reached?
• When should this future be realized and what are the requirements and deadlines?
• When will the goal be realized and how will progress be measured?
• Why are these results important and what are the benefits?
• Where will the goal and accomplishment of goal take place?
• Where does the company, department, or team need to be in the near future?
• Why is this important right now or in the next few months?

Leadership interview questions

• Explain a situation where you served as a leader during: a group project, an organized work project or activity, or a community service project. Explain in detail your role and how individuals responded to your leadership.
• Explain a situation where you had an opinion that differed from a manager. Were you able to persuade the manager to change his or her opinion?
• Explain a time when subordinates you supervised disagreed with your directives. How did you handle it?
• How do you resolve conflict? What specific strategies have you used to be successful?
• If your managers were asked to rate your leadership skills, how would they reply? What would subordinates say?
• You decided to reorganize the department or work unit that you lead. Tell me how you proceeded with the reorganization?
• Have you ever been a member of a successful team? If so, describe the role you played on the team and in its success.
• Give me an example of a time when you played a leadership role in an event, an activity, a department or work unit, or a project. Describe how you led the efforts. Tell me how people responded to your leadership.
• If I were to ask your reporting staff or your peers to comment about your leadership style, your leadership strengths, and your leadership weaknesses, how would they respond? What would this discussion tell me about you as a leader?
• Tell me about a time when you created agreement and shared purpose from a situation in which all parties originally differed in opinion, approach, and objectives.
• During your work experiences while attending college, tell me about a time when you demonstrated that you have leadership ability and skill.
• How would your staff and colleagues describe your leadership style? Give me an example to support your answer.
• What are the most important values and ethics you demonstrate as a leader? Give me an example of these in practice.
• Name some situations in which a leader may fail. Tell me about a time when you failed as a leader?
• What role does leadership play for a manager? How have you demonstrated this with your managers?
• Tell me about an innovative solution you developed to a non-traditional problem.
• In what situations do you prefer to use your leadership skills? Can you give me some examples?
• Does you like to praise team members in public? How do you express your appreciation of them?
• Have you ever tried to act as a mentor to a colleague? Was it worth it from a professional point of view?
• Have you ever tried to do a job for which you were unqualified for? How did you react at that time? Were you able to accomplish your task?
• Can you name someone who has had a big impact on you as a leader?
• How did you build your personal reputation?
• What advice would you give someone who is assuming a leadership position for the first time?
• What improvements would you like to make regarding your leadership skills?

Listening skills interview questions

• Are you capable of getting to the bottom of a situation, when some one is incapable of communicating what they really mean? If so how do you achieve this?
• Relate an occasion when you withheld your own opinion, and tried to obtain the opinion of others, and why was this action important?
• Describe an incident when you had to listen attentively in order to act quickly enough to meet a deadline.
• Give an example of a time when you had to ask direct questions to bring out diverse opinions on a central issue.
• What do you do when someone is deliberately giving you vague, dissembling, or even obstructive information, which hinders your ability to complete a task?
• How do you deal with situations when others are finding it hard to communicate effectively with you?
• Give an example of a time when you had to ask direct questions to bring out diverse opinions on a central issue?

Management skills interview questions

• Examples of strategic thinking in past situations
• Have you ever challenged, shaken old work methods.
• What methods have you used to evaluate employee’s job performance?
• What experience do you have in setting budgets?
• What systems have you developed and implemented to improve operating efficiency in your department?
• Tell me about a tough decision you had to make recently at work , how did you go about making the decision?
• How do you make your decisions in general?
• How do you reach a decision if you don’t have all the facts?
• How do you usually solve problems?
• Examples of situations when your initiative ideas for improvement have made a significant difference.
• How have you coordinated the work of your team to achieve target goals?
• Example of adaptation to changes and the difficulties.
• Talk me through a short term plan you developed and implemented for your department.
• What methods have you used to prioritize work assignments?
• Give me an example of when you successfully motivated your staff using incentives or rewards.
• Describe a time you had to motivate a staff member who was reluctant to undertake an assignment.
• Describe a time you had to provide training or coaching to different staff members on the same tasks.
• Give me an example of when you had to provide feedback to a staff member who was performing poorly, how did you go about this and what was the outcome?
• How to apply ISO 9001 for management activities?
• Please tell me top skills of management?

Motivation skills interview questions

• Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
• Imagine that you have received a coveted national award five years from now. Why did you receive the award, what is the award, and what are the circumstances under which you are receiving the award?
• What goals, including career goals, have you set for your life?
• How would you define “success” for your career? At the end of your work life, what must have been present for you to feel as if you had a successful career?
• Describe a work situation in which you can demonstrate that you encouraged the motivation of another person.
• Observing your coworkers, in your current or a past job, describe what motivated their best performance.
• You are assigned to participate on a team that has several members who are not motivated to work hard and contribute. How have you in the past, or would you, if you were to experience it, approach this motivation situation?
• Tell me about a time when you willingly volunteered for a task. Also, why were you so interested in this specific task?
• Tell me about a hurdle which got in the way of achieving an ambitious goal. How did you go about overcoming it?
• Tell me about a goal you achieved which at some points seems hopeless? Why did you keep going on?
• Describe a work related goal that you have set for yourself.
• Can you tell me at least three things that you have done in the past year to improve yourself, both business-wise and competency wise?
• Tell me about a time when you and your whole team were demoralized for some reason. What do you do to raise spirits?
• Would you regard yourself as a self-starter? Can you give me a recent example where you displayed this quality?
• Give an example of a situation/project/time when you went above and beyond your responsibility to get the job done?

Interpersonal skills interview questions

• What personal characteristics are necessary for success?
• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would that be?
• Who had the most influence on your career? On your life? Why?
• Tell me about your closest friends – their personalities, interests, occupations.
• Describe your overall relationship with most bosses you have worked with.
• Describe your personal style, work style, management style.
• Who was the best colleague you have worked with and why? Who was the worst?
• What difficulties do you experience in getting along with others?
• What kinds of people do you like to work with?
• How have you changed since high school?
• Who is the best subordinate you have worked with and why? Who was the worst and why?
• Tell me why you would be a good team player.
• How would your friends describe you?
• If your credibility were questioned, how would you react?
• What do people criticize about you? Are their concerns valid?
• Describe the kind of individuals who are difficult for you to work with.
• How have you changed since college?
• How would you rate your effectiveness in relating to others? Do you feel it is a natural talent for you?
• What causes you to be short fused or impatient with others?
• What challenges do you face getting along with others?

Initiative based interview questions

• Tell me about a time that you undertook a course of study, on your own initiative, in order to improve your work performance?
• Tell me about initiatives you have taken to improve procedures at work? Were you successful? Would you do anything different now?
• Tell me about a time you succeed in overcoming a major obstacle. How did it make you feel?
• Tell me about a time when you found a better way of doing something, which proved to be an improvement on the existing system.
• Has your supervisor ever come to you and pointed out that you had not met some of your tasks at work? How frequently does it happen?

Organizational skills interview questions

• Illustrate how you prioritize each day’s tasks?
• What do you do when a project is not coming to fruition as expected, because of inefficient planning?
• What steps do you take when the work of a colleague threatens the completion of a project?
• Tell me about a time when you managed a complicated project.
• Tell me about a time when you worked under a tight deadline.
• Tell me about a time when you had to multitask.
• Tell me about a time when you took on more than you could handle.
• Tell me about a time when you failed to delegate effectively.
• Tell me about a time when you delegated an important task successfully.
• When it is your responsibility to organize and plan a project what steps do you take?
• How do you accommodate last minute changes that have to be incorporated into your work?
• How do you prioritize the tasks to be completed in one complete work project?
• Tell me about a time when your organizational skills helped you succeed.
• Tell me about a time when your planning led to positive results.
• Tell me about a time when you missed an important deadline.
• Tell me about a time when you went the extra mile to get a project done.
• Tell me about a time when you felt overwhelmed by your workload.

Problem solving interview questions

• What are the frequent problems you have been facing in your current job which you would like to get rid of, but have not solved it yet?
• Illustrate an experience when you had to put your fact finding ability to solve a problem. How did you scrutinize them and reached a resolution?
• What types of problems are you called upon to solve in your current position?
• Describe a situation where you had to adapt and manage change but were having problems. What did you do?
• How did you handle your most challenging experience in your previous job?
• Describe the problem and the way you collect info and establish a problem solving model.
• How do you build a troubleshooting process?
• What are the steps you take for a project that requires collection of systematic data and risk management for conducting a performance analysis
• What are the steps you take to anticipate risks and resolve issues?
• Give an example of an effective/innovative solution you created to solve a problem.
• What procedure do you employ in solving problems?
• Describe a problem you discovered in your current job. How did you solve it?
• Describe a win-win situation that you have negotiated.
• What did you do when you discovered that a problem was a direct effect of inappropriate service by your organization or team member?

Planning skills interview questions

• Tell me what steps to create a plan?
• What techniques are used for planning?
• Tell me 3 big plan that you made and how to deploy and it ‘s results?
• How to control a plan?
• What elements you must be done when planning?
• Tell me contents of a plan?
• What career goals have you set for your life? What is your plan to accomplish them?
• What is your plan for your career? How would you define “success” for your career? At the end of your work life, what must have been present for you to feel as if you had a successful career?
• How would team members describe the role you played and the effectiveness of your contribution on a recent team project, department planning effort, or project?
• What are three tips you’d offer anyone who takes on a role that involves planning, making projections, and accountability for decisions?
• Describe any responsibilities that you have had in the past for manpower planning, materials and supply planning, shipping schedules, or vendor interaction?

Adaptability based interview questions 

• Have you ever worked hard on something and then had your priorities change mid-stream? How did it make you feel? What did you do?
• How have you had to adapt your work style to fit the needs of others?
• Tell me about a difficult adjustment that you have had to make in a job/position.
• How often has your work been interrupted by unforeseen circumstances? What do you do when this happens?
• Describe your changeover from high school to business school.
• It has been a long time that you are working with your current employer. Won’t it be difficult to switch over to a new company?
• How do you adapt to major changes at work?
• It is important that you apply logic to answer these types of questions.
• Every individual has different style of working. How do you adapt to an associate’s style in order to finish an assignment?
• Tell me about a change that you have had to manage within your organization.
• Describe a time when you have had to respond quickly to something within a changing environment.
• Have you ever had to introduce a change into your department that was met with resistance? How did you handle the situation?

Attention to detail interview questions

• How do keep a project checklist, covering all the details that might be overlooked?
• Describe an occasion when you worked on a project that had little room for error.
• Give an example of a time when you went beyond standard operating procedures to ensure that regulatory compliances were met.
• Our slogan is “Better Quality, Better Entertainment.” With that in mind, give an example of a time when you served that slogan in your previous (existing) position.
• Tell me about a time when you analyzed a situation and found many mistakes had been made.
• Recall a situation in which you used more than one skill at a time.
• Give an example of a time when you participated in a team effort to complete a one-of-a-kind project.
• Tell me about a time when you caught a problem before it escalated.
• Describe a time when your document-management skills benefited your department.
• Tell me about an occasion when your attention to detail was recognized by management.
• Describe a time when addressing a minor project detail made a significant difference in the outcome.
• Recall a time when a thorough evaluation of events was critical to your company’s success.
• Give an example of a problem you solved with an obvious solution that was overlooked by others.
• Tell me about an occasion when precision was important in your work.
• Describe a time when the attention you gave to your work led to additional responsibility.

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