![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/identifi-global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/CompetencyBasedInterviews.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\tEveryone knows that if you want to get the right answers, you need to ask the right questions. This is never more true than when you\u2019re interviewing a candidate for a role – especially online. What you ask, and how you ask it, will determine what types of answers you get – and how useful those answers are.<\/span><\/p>\n \n\tThat\u2019s why our <\/span>talent management suite<\/a> includes competency-based interviewing tools. In order to gain a detailed understanding of a candidate\u2019s abilities, and how competent they\u2019ll be in a role, you need a methodology and a structure – one which helps you find out who your candidate is and whether or not they\u2019re suited to the role.<\/p>\n \n\tWithout a system you\u2019ll be asking generic questions and getting answers that are unlikely to give a true reflection of your candidate\u2019s abilities. If you want a reliable method of finding the right person for the role, you need to use competency-based interview tools. Here\u2019s why\u2026<\/p>\n \n\tA competency-based interview does what it says on the tin: it tests a candidate\u2019s competency for the role in question. By asking pre-determined questions you can establish whether or not the person in front of you has the requisite skills for a specific role. <\/p>\n \n\tThis structured approach to interviewing ultimately allows you to get to the heart of who someone is much more effectively than loose, open-ended questions.<\/p>\n \n\tCompetency-based interviews give you the tools to test skill and ability in areas including:<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDecision-making<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tAgility<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tTeamwork<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tResilience<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tProblem-solving<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tConflict resolution<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tLeadership<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tIndependence<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tFlexibility<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tCommunication skills<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tStress management<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\t\t\tTrustworthiness and ethics<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \n\tBy employing questions that require candidates to give real life examples of their skills in action, you can target each competency in a systematic way. <\/p>\n \n\tWhen you use a methodological process or system, you create consistency. When you\u2019re hiring, this consistency helps in a number of ways.<\/p>\n \n\tHow can you compare two or three candidates if you\u2019ve just gone in and asked them questions based on their individual CVs? When you have a system, you standardise your questions. One of the benefits of this is that you can make direct comparisons between candidates. By asking all your candidates questions based on the requirements of the role, you create a metric.<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tCompetency-based interviews also help the interviewer remain impartial and on-track. With unstructured interviews you stand much more chance of unconscious bias creeping in. <\/p>\n \n\tIf the interviewer likes the candidate and starts to build a rapport with them, the interview could become more of a cosy chat than an honest indicator of a candidate\u2019s suitability. <\/p>\n \n\tIn situations like this, the person conducting the interview is likely to ask questions that yield \u2018nice\u2019 or comfortable answers. The end result is that you might come away with a positive impression but with no real knowledge of their skills or competencies.<\/p>\n \n\tConversely in a structured interview, you have a set of pre-scripted questions. Rather than letting your personal opinion of that individual guide you, by following the questions you\u2019ll get a true reflection of their competencies. This means the entire process is fairer for everyone: the recruiter is able to qualify candidates more accurately, and the candidates are judges on their aptitude rather than their likeability. <\/p>\n \n\tStructured interviews help you extract much more information from a person than you would in an unstructured interview. This is especially important in remote hiring as you have the added barrier of not being physically face to face with someone. <\/p>\n \n\tAsking someone to tell you what type of animal they\u2019d be or asking them to open-endedly elaborate on their CV will tell you nothing of any real relevance. It may, however, give you the illusion that you know what their competencies are. This is when hiring mistakes happen.<\/p>\n \n\tOur suite automates competency questions based on an assessment of that individual and the role in question. This means the questions are designed to get to the heart of the matter: how well will they do in the role? Do they have the key competencies required to meet the expectations of this position?<\/p>\n \n\tFor example, if decision making is a key part of the role in question, a competency-based interview will include questions which truly reveal a candidate\u2019s confidence and skill in this area.<\/p>\n \n\tAsking someone, \u201cWould you say you\u2019re good at decision-making?\u201d is a world apart from asking them, \u201cCan you think of an example where you had to make a difficult decision very quickly?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe second question asks for practical examples of the key competency. The result is a much more revealing and measurable answer. <\/p>\n \n\tHow the candidate answers – their enthusiasm (or lack of it), how long it takes them to think of a response, their body language when answering, their level of confidence and comfort – all of these elements paint a detailed picture. Not only will you learn how they dealt with the situation, but also what they consider to be a difficult decision. Their entire notion of what constitutes a difficult decision may be completely different to yours, and to the requirements of the role. <\/p>\n \n\tAsking a candidate to share examples of when they have demonstrated a certain competency in the past gives you a good idea of what their future behaviours will be. It also means the candidate has to give you a specific example. This in itself will speak volumes. You may think the person in front of you is incredibly confident, but what if you ask them to give you an example of a time when they challenged authority to create a positive outcome, and they can\u2019t think of any?<\/p>\n \n\tNow, let\u2019s look at the alternative, unstructured interview question: \u201cWould you say you\u2019re good at decision-making?\u201d They\u2019re unlikely to say no. Instead, they could tell you they\u2019re brilliant at decision-making, they thrive when they have to make quick decisions, they do it all day, every day, their middle name is decisiveness. If you\u2019re simply using instinct and free-flow questions, their confidence and assertion will convince you – or you\u2019ll simply be none-the-wiser. <\/p>\n \n\tAsking a candidate hypothetical or open-ended questions is effectively asking them to give you their opinion of themself.<\/p>\n \n\tRecruiting people based on how well you clicked with them in an interview, how charming they were, or how confidently they extolled their virtues is the equivalent of buying a car just because you like the colour. <\/p>\n \n\tThese factors alone will not give any real insight into how they will practically do the job; only a competency-based interview can do that. This doesn\u2019t negate intuition or the vibe you get from someone, it simply backs up those elements with reason and logic. And what you learn from a structured interview doesn\u2019t just help with the hiring process – it goes beyond simply choosing the right person. <\/p>\n \n\tWhen someone joins your organisation, if your interview revealed that stress management was a weak area, you know that\u2019s something to consider in your <\/span>onboarding program<\/a>. Going forward, the information you received during the interview could tell you which areas they\u2019re likely to need support with in terms of performance management. <\/p>\n \n\tThe more you know about someone – their weaknesses and their strengths – the more you can treat them as an individual. Ultimately, this makes it much more likely that your new recruit will be happy and productive, and that they\u2019ll stick around. <\/p>\n \n\tAnother major benefit of competency-based interviewing is the experience from the candidate\u2019s point of view. When you use a structured interview method, you\u2019re able to formulate a constructive assessment for each candidate. You can use this information to give them feedback about why they were unsuitable for the role, or why someone else was chosen over them. It also ensures clear communication, which is positive for both the candidate and you, the recruiter.<\/p>\n \n\tBy asking them the following question: \u2018This role can be very challenging at times. Can you give me an example of a stressful occasion at work, how you managed it and what the outcome was?\u2019 You provide clarity for both parties: the recruiter finds out if the candidate has the necessary experience and skills, and the candidate is given key information about the role. Maybe they themselves will decide that the role is unsuitable for them. <\/p>\n \n\t \n\tCurrently hiring? <\/span>Get in touch<\/a> to find out more about our suite of recruitment tools. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \n\t <\/p>\n \n\tImages via Unsplash and Pixabay<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Everyone knows that if you want to get the right answers, you need to ask the right questions. This is never more true than when you\u2019re interviewing a candidate for a role – especially online. What you ask, and how you ask it, will determine what types of answers you get – and how useful… Read More »Why you need to use competency-based interviews<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news-trends"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n\tWhat is a competency-based interview?<\/h2>\n
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\n\tCompetency-based interviews create consistency<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/identifi-global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Questions2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\t“This means the entire process is fairer for everyone.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\tWhy competency-based interviews work<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t“The more you know about someone, the more you can treat them as an individual.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\tCompetency-based interviewing gives you the tools to look beyond whether a candidate looks or sounds right for a role. It gives you a tried-and-tested method to delve deeper and find out if your candidate has the appropriate skills and abilities. It gives you consistency, makes it easier for the interviewer, and ultimately helps you hire people who won\u2019t just perform to an average level, but to an outstanding one. <\/p>\n\n\t <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"