Competency-based interviews: how to prepare, conduct and assess

What a competency-based interview is

In a competency-based interview, the interviewer asks the candidate to describe real situations they have experienced and how they acted in them. Instead of asking “do you work well under pressure?”, they ask “tell me about a time you had to deliver something on a very tight deadline: what did you do?”.

The answer to a hypothetical question shows what the candidate believes is the expected behavior. An account of a concrete situation shows what they actually did, with details that can be explored and assessed.

Define the role's competencies

Before writing any questions, agree with the manager on which competencies are essential for the role. Choose a few, four to six, and describe each in terms of observable behaviors. “Communication” is vague; “explains procedures clearly to people from other departments” can be assessed.

Separate technical competencies, which can be assessed through tests or practical exercises, from behavioral ones, which are the focus of the interview. All of them must be directly related to the activities of the role.

• List the role's main deliverables and challenges
• Identify the behaviors that distinguish good performance in those deliverables
• Group the behaviors into four to six competencies
• Describe what a weak, adequate and strong level would look like for each one

Build the question script

For each competency, prepare one or two main questions and a few follow-up questions. The same script must be used with every candidate for the same position: only then can the answers be compared fairly.

Behavioral questions usually begin with “tell me about a time when…”, “give an example of when…” or “describe the last time you…”.

• Teamwork: “Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague about how to do a piece of work. How did you resolve it?”
• Organization: “Describe a period when you had several tasks with the same deadline. How did you set priorities?”
• Customer focus: “Give an example of a difficult customer interaction you handled. What was the outcome?”
• Learning: “Tell me about something you had to learn quickly for work. How did you do it?”
• Follow-up: “What exactly did you do?”, “Who else was involved?”, “What would you do differently today?”

Conduct it with the STAR method

The STAR method organizes the account into four parts: Situation, Task, Action and Result. It helps the interviewer check whether the answer is complete and ask the right follow-up questions.

Watch out for answers in the plural (“we did”) or generic answers (“I always do it this way”). Ask for the concrete example and the candidate's individual role. Write down the facts reported during the interview, not just your impression.

• Situation: what was the context?
• Task: what was the candidate's responsibility or goal?
• Action: what did they actually do, and why?
• Result: what happened, and what did they learn?

Assess with a defined scale

Use a scale with a description for each level, for example from 1 to 4: 1 – did not demonstrate the competency; 2 – partially demonstrated it; 3 – demonstrated it adequately for the role; 4 – demonstrated it above expectations, with consistent examples. The descriptions should be written for each competency before the interviews.

Rate each competency right after the interview, based on the evidence noted. When there is more than one interviewer, each one rates independently before the joint discussion. This prevents the opinion of whoever speaks first from influencing the others.

Beware of biases

Every interviewer is subject to biases, which are judgment shortcuts that distort the assessment. A standardized script, notes and a defined scale reduce these effects, but it is important to know them.

• Halo effect: one positive trait, such as good communication, colors the assessment of the other competencies
• First impression: the decision is made in the first few minutes and the rest of the interview only confirms it
• Affinity: a tendency to rate more highly people whose background, tastes or origin resemble the interviewer's
• Contrast: the candidate is compared with the previous one rather than with the role's criteria
• Confirmation: the interviewer looks only for information that confirms their initial hypothesis

Questions that should not be asked

Law 9.029/1995 prohibits any discriminatory and limiting practice for the purpose of access to employment, or its continuation, on grounds of sex, origin, race, color, marital status, family situation, disability, professional rehabilitation or age, among others (Article 1). Article 2, I, makes it a crime to require any test, examination, expert report, medical report, certificate, statement or other procedure relating to sterilization or pregnancy.

Article 373-A of the CLT also prohibits refusing employment on grounds of sex, age, color, family situation or pregnancy, except when the nature of the activity is notoriously and publicly incompatible. And Law 13.146/2015 (Article 34, § 3) prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in the recruitment, selection and hiring stages, as well as any requirement of full fitness.

In practice, remove from the script any questions about plans to have children, pregnancy, marital status, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion, union membership or health conditions unrelated to the requirements of the role. If a condition for the job needs to be checked, such as availability for a shift schedule, ask every candidate in the same way and only about the requirement itself.

Protect candidates' data

Résumés, interview notes and assessments are personal data protected by Brazil's General Data Protection Law (Law 13.709/2018). Processing must have a defined purpose and be limited to the minimum necessary (Article 6, I and III). Data on racial or ethnic origin, religious belief, political opinion, union membership, health, sex life, and genetic or biometric data are sensitive personal data (Article 5, II) and should not be collected unnecessarily.

Record in your notes only what relates to the competencies being assessed, restrict access to the people involved in the process and define how long the data of unsuccessful candidates will be kept. The candidate is the data subject and has the rights provided for in Article 18 of the law, such as access and correction.

Competency-based interview checklist

• Role competencies defined with the manager and described as behaviors
• A single script for all candidates for the position
• A rating scale with a description of each level
• Notes on the facts reported, organized using the STAR method
• Ratings given right after the interview, independently
• Script reviewed to remove discriminatory questions
• Candidates' data stored with restricted access and a defined retention period