Competency Interview

[al_Zayn]

Brothers and Sisters,

Can someone please help me with this, i wanted to know more about competency interview, this is where they ask you questions based on real life scenarios and ask you to give an example.

So they ask you questions like:

"Give an example where you went out of your way to help someone"

or "Give us an example of a situation where you had to deal with a conflict with an internal or external client",

though i can answer it, i need to know what specifics they are looking for? any particular style? any key words?

This would be better for someone to answer if they work in the recruitment department (UK to be more exact) or for those who have successfully been through many of those interviews and have landed jobs also please give an example question and answer it yourself.

also what if you can't give an example, can they reduce points?

for the help.

[not known]

Brothers and Sisters,

Can someone please help me with this, i wanted to know more about competency interview, this is where they ask you questions based on real life scenarios and ask you to give an example.

So they ask you questions like:

"Give an example where you went out of your way to help someone"

or "Give us an example of a situation where you had to deal with a conflict with an internal or external client",

though i can answer it, i need to know what specifics they are looking for? any particular style? any key words?

This would be better for someone to answer if they work in the recruitment department (UK to be more exact) or for those who have successfully been through many of those interviews and have landed jobs also please give an example question and answer it yourself.

also what if you can't give an example, can they reduce points?

for the help.

Just remember that every interview is to know the potential of an individual..

So, when they are asking you an example of how you solved such and such case. They want to see how you used your skills in the respective cases.

It's very important to give such examples. If you didn't answer, it means ur a dumb ....

By asking these kind of questions, they want to see how you solve the problem, the decisions you make, presence of mind etc..

For example, let's see ""Give us an example of a situation where you had to deal with a conflict with an internal or external client"

You might give a simple answer to them...

Simple Answer: Once our external client had a problem of mobile number swapping for the mobile sims we provided. I played a crucial role in restoring the services.

Though the above answer implies that you played a crucial role in solving the problem, but it doesn't show how you did that.. The employer wants to see how exactly you solved the problem.

Detailed Answer: Once our external client had a problem of mobile number swapping for the mobile sims we provided. I was given the responsibility to solve the issue. I first contacted the service provider and came to know that the sims provided and the number allotted to those sims didnt match because of some technical glitch. The solution was to resend the sim cards with correct mobile numbers. But by this time the old sim cards have reached all the cities of our state and only one day was left to close the sim cards delivery deadline. I immediately contacted the service provider and asked him of possibilities of activating the sim cards in their own locations. this facility was available, hence I gathered the details of all of our engineers to who sim cards had to be provided. I took the help of two of our team members and started calling each and every engineer and asked to go to the nearest store and replace the sim, for this we had to even co-ordinate with the central team of network provider and we succesfully closed the replacement of sim numbers in their respective locations only. By evening we were able to close all the replacements and thus completed the task in time."

this was just an example.. you can give more details of cases

[not known]

instead of using the terms like "I did such and such thing" or "I was the only one who completed so and so task" you should use terms like "My team did such and such thing" and "Our team worked hardly to complete so and so task"

You should your importance, but shouldn't say that everything was done by you and other's were just dummies.. it becomes a serious ego problem

plz ask if u have any further concerns..

[al_Zayn]

That has helped me alot Br AQ, i will post a couple of q's tomorrow Insha-Allah

[hayya]

Do try and answer the questions as completely as possible. The more interviews you do, the more confident you will become answering such questions.

When I first start job searching, my friend forwarded me about 21 questions and I then answered them as detail as possible (bullet points). The more points the better if your the type to forget half the answer. If you cover enough questions, then you should be able to answer most questions (they just tend to be worded differently).

Make sure you answer the question - if you dont understand, ask them to repeat the question. I sometimes ask them to repeat to make sure I've not missed off any crucials key words from the question.

If they ask you a question and you cannot think of a work related example, think of a personal one or think of something similar and word it around that. Best you answer the question then not answering it at all (I'd rather they think I got the question wrong or didnt answer it correctly due to nerves than not attempting it at all, which in my opinion is worse)

Any negativity never goes down to well, always keep it positive. For example if you were made redundant in the past, they will ask how you felt. I've been asked this twice now. YOu can say you were disappointed and hurt (dont go off swearing at the company (not that you would, but giving an example)) and then say your taking the opportunity to find something with more responsibility, better job prospects etc etc


Also, if your offered a drink, then take it, even if its just water. When your given a question where you need to think about it, then you take couple sips of water (buys you some time)


Finally, I dont think each question is based on a 'point system'. The interviews I've been, they normally ask a series of questions without writing anything down. They make notes afterwards ( I dont know) but just remember if you didnt answer one question well it doesnt mean you didnt get the job. So dont get nervoous if you realise half way through the interview you got one of the questions wrong peviously

Make an impression, stand out the crowd so that when they are reviewing the applicants, they remember you!

[Rahmaniyyah]

These competency interviews are all about the STAR method. They will basically ask you a question which will bring out a competency or two upon which they are assessing you. You can easily figure out what type of competencies they are looking for, and you will want to use key words which stand out based on that competency. For example, if they are looking for leadership, they may ask "tell us about a time in which you had to lead a group of people out of a difficult situation". Use the STAR method (below) and use key words which will be calling out to the interviewer like "planning ahead" "effective communication" "delegation" "sympathising/empathising" "learning from mistakes" "engaging the team" etc.

In all of these questions, they will ask for EXAMPLES. That means, it's something from your recent history (last 2-3 years experience). You will have to prepare at least TWO examples for each competency because you have to select which examples fits best depending on how they phrase the question - you will usually be given a list of competencies they will be assessing, or you can find it on the company website.

S - SITUATION: Explain the situation of the example which you choose
T- TASK: Explain the task which you had to complete
A- ACTION: Explain the actions YOU performed to complete the task
R- RESULT: Explain the end results of YOUR actions.

I know there was a comment above which said to use "We" instead of "I" - I have to disagree with this (for the UK - I know the bro is in India). The reason is, although team spirit is important, they are not seeking competencies of the team. They want you to use "I" for everything. Unless there's a question about teamwork, USE the word "I".

Although, there are VERY few companies nowadays which appreciate humility, or actually look for humility as a competency (maybe Medicine and Teaching only). If the company culture is humility-driven, then you should use "we" when they are testing you on the humility competency.

Anyway, here's a written example of a question which was answered for "an example of when you have worked with people who are very different from yourself":

During the winter of 2009, I volunteered to help lead a youth residential in Birmingham. One of my roles was to act as a mentor. In addition to giving a talk on the value of ethics in everyday life, I spent a lot of time interacting with the participants in small groups. It involved seeking solutions to the difficulties they were facing, with particular focus on the pressures of being drawn in by the rampant gang culture which divides communities in central Birmingham over racial lines. I also spoke with many participants individually, advising them on how to make meaningful contributions to society and how to make the best use of their education. I have since been in periodic contact with two participants, with one of them gaining entry into the Physics degree at Kings College London and the other completing A-levels now.

In the above, there was a word-limit so it is very brief. But, in a real interview, you will have no word limit. Don't waffle, but don't be too brief. Also, in your head, be very very clear on WHICH point you are talking on S, T, A, R - do them in order and do them one by one in separate sentences. In the above example, it's very clear which sentences talks about SITUATION, which ones talk about TASK, which ones talk about ACTION and which one's talk about RESULTS.

SITUATION
During the winter of 2009, I volunteered to help lead a youth residential in Birmingham.

TASK(S)
One of my roles was to act as a mentor.

ACTION(S)
In addition to giving a talk on the value of ethics in everyday life, I spent a lot of time interacting with the participants in small groups. It involved seeking solutions to the difficulties they were facing, with particular focus on the pressures of being drawn in by the rampant gang culture which divides communities in central Birmingham over racial lines. I also spoke with many participants individually, advising them on how to make meaningful contributions to society and how to make the best use of their education.

RESULT(S)
I have since been in periodic contact with two participants, with one of them gaining entry into the Physics degree at Kings College London and the other completing A-levels now.

If you have more info on the actual company or their culture, then you may be able to get more specific advice..

[al_Zayn]

for the responses brothers and sisters,

How would i fit the STAR method in if they were to ask me a question like: "Give an example where you had to go out of your way to help another colleague"?

Il give one a try, (please correct me if i am wrong):

Situation: In the years 2006-2009 i worked as youth inclusion worker in a multicultural area of Birmingham,

Task: My job role was to manage young adults; giving them instructions and help successfully deliver youth projects.

Action: We were unfortunately short-staffed at one time, due to company financial issues and this was visible due to many of our colleagues working extra hard and putting their own time and effort in, in particular our administrator / accountant who tirelessly worked day and night stabilising our project(s) making sure our expenditure is within budget and that all expenses are written and recorded, i volunteered to help him go through and fill in a lot of the paperwork that needed to be submitted before a certain deadline set by the project funders.

Result: We successfully within the time scale completed all the necessary paperwork and submitted it. In addition to that i gained a valuable insight into the field of administration and accounts and realised that they are just as much important to help any company.

Brothers, Sister, AQ, Hayya, Rahmaniyyah or anyone, Please correct, delete, replace, correctly word anything which you seem is wrong or please tell me if i need to add more.

[Ahmed]

ask yourself ,are you competent for the interview or competent for the job

and whichever happens it is by the will of allah and not by ones competence

and if you get the job it may be of no benefit unless the requisite duas and intentions are not made

[FususAlHikam]

:

"Give an example where you went out of your way to help someone"

or "Give us an example of a situation where you had to deal with a conflict with an internal or external client",

An example of when you went out of your way to help someone:

I was driving to go for dinner yesterday, super hungry, and I saw a dog by the road he looked hungry. I looked around for anyone who might seem like the owner, I couldnt find anyone. I went by the dog, he looked very tired and did not make any movements and just lay there. So I went to a near by store and got dog food and came back and gave it to the dog to eat, I also provided some water to him. Then I headed back to the restaurant only to find it closed for the night. It was about 10pm. I ended up going home and just having a couple of pieces of bread and then went to sleep satisfied that I helped a starving dog on the side of the road.

Conflict internal/external client:

External client was very upset that they didnt get their order on time, I will never forget this. I was just about to go for lunch. They were cursing up a storm because one of our employees messed up their order. I listened to the client and let them speak their mind, I heard their complaint. I then told them that I will take care of this matter immediately and get their order together in a few minutes. I prioritized them first and went and sorted out their order myself. I let the supervisor know what the situation was and informed him that I was working on it. While supervisor was talking to client I had their entire order ready in a very presentable way and gave it to them. Client was over the moon with my immediate, courteous, quick service and said they only want me to take care of their orders from now on. The client then extended their contract with our company. I went to late lunch but was happy I resolved this difficult issue. My supervisor since then puts me forward to handle all irate customers.

These types of questions are just to see your personality and how you think and how you work out a problem in your head. Key words when dealing with customers are "listening" and "prioritizing" and "immediately resolved" and they want to see how you went above and beyond whats expected of you (in the above example skipping your lunch and taking a client who is not yours just so that the company doesnt lose a client is an example of going beyond your duties), basically how much of a slave would you be to your company? Just tell them what they want to hear.

[FususAlHikam]

Remember during job interviews and on resume dont be all sufi and like a big shaikh full of tawazo and inkeysari (humility and humbleness) - job interviews and on resume is not the time to be a sufi ascetic. You should openly say that no one can do the job as well as you can and in fact you challenge anyone to come and do the job like you can do it.