Competency-based interview and the STAR method

In a competency-based interview you will rarely be asked whether you handle stress well. Anyone can say yes to that. Instead you will be asked to describe a time when you had far too much to do, and what you did about it. The thinking behind the method is that what you have done before says more about how you will work than your own opinion of yourself. Several Swedish recruiters describe working this way. The staffing company Academic Work and KTH Royal Institute of Technology use competency-based interviews, and the Swedish Public Employment Service asks its own candidates to recall work situations, how they acted and what the outcome was.

How the method works

The recruiter starts from the job’s requirement profile. Which competencies does the job call for? Often they are the same qualities listed in the job ad, such as teamwork, structure, initiative and handling stress. Each competency has prepared questions, and in a structured interview every candidate gets the same questions. What differs is the follow-up, where the recruiter asks things like “What did you do yourself?” or “What did you learn from that?” to get past the general description and hear what you did.

The interview often takes a little longer than an ordinary conversation. At Academic Work, for example, the competency-based interview takes about 45 to 60 minutes.

The STAR method step by step

STAR is a way to structure an answer so it is concrete and easy to follow. The letters stand for:

• Situation: where you were and what was happening. A couple of sentences is enough.
• Task: what you were supposed to achieve, or what you were responsible for.
• Action: what you did, step by step. Say “I,” not just “we.”
• Result: how it turned out, and preferably what you learned.

Spend most of your time on the action, since that is where the recruiter sees your competence. The situation is only background, and many candidates spend so long on it that time runs out before they get to what they did.

Some employers use a shorter version called CAR: context, action, result. It is the same idea, with the task folded into the context.

Two sample answers using STAR

The examples below are made up to show the format. Use them as a model, not as a script.

Question: “Tell me about a time when you had a heavy workload.”

“I worked in a grocery store when a large delivery arrived a day earlier than planned, while two coworkers were out sick (situation). I was in charge of the registers that shift and had to make sure customers got help without the goods being left standing (task). I called in a coworker who had offered to work extra, opened another register and had the person most used to the stockroom unload the goods that needed refrigeration first, while I switched between the register and the fridge (action). Everything was in the fridge before closing, and the line was never more than a few customers long. Afterward I suggested a list of people who could step in at short notice, which we started using (result).”

Question: “Tell me about the last time something you were responsible for didn’t go well.”

“In a group project at school, I was the one keeping track of the schedule for a report (situation). My job was to make sure every part was done a week before the deadline so we had time to read it through (task). I sent out the plan but didn’t follow up, and three days before the deadline two parts were missing. I got the group together that same evening, we divided up the work again and I took one of the parts myself (action). We handed in the report on time, but it got a lower grade than we had hoped, mostly because of the writing. Since then I always book short check-ins instead of just sending out a plan (result).”

The second answer does not end in a success, and that is fine. The question is about what you learned, and an honest answer carries more weight than a polished one.

Common competencies and questions

Competency-based interview questions often begin with “Tell me about a time when you…” or “Give an example of a situation where…”. The competencies usually fall into four areas:

• Personal abilities, such as maturity and persistence: “Tell me about a time when you kept going even though progress was slow.”
• Teamwork and relationships: “Tell me about a conflict in a group and how you handled it.”
• How you solve tasks, such as structure and flexibility: “Tell me about a time when the plan changed at the last minute.”
• Initiative and seeing the bigger picture: “Give an example of when you improved a way of working.”

You will almost always get one or two questions about setbacks and mistakes as well. They show how you take responsibility and learn. The rest of the conversation, from “tell me about yourself” to your strengths and weaknesses, is covered in the guide to common interview questions.

Situational interview questions

Situational interview questions start from situations relevant to the job, and in practice the term means two things. The first is the same as above: tell me about something you have experienced. The second is hypothetical questions, such as “What would you do if a customer got angry with you?” Many recruiters avoid this kind of question because the answers become speculative and don’t show how you actually act.

If you do get a hypothetical question, answer it, then connect it to a real example. “I would first listen to the end and then ask what the customer needs. That is roughly what I did when…” That gives the recruiter what they are really looking for.

The case interview

In a case interview, or work sample, you solve a task similar to the job. It might be making a project plan from a set of material, working through a calculation, writing a short proposal or setting priorities. All candidates should get the same conditions, with written instructions and a set amount of time, and you should be told in advance that there will be a work sample.

A few things that tend to work:

• Ask about the format beforehand: how long it takes, where you do it and what to hand in.
• Ask clarifying questions first. The recruiter often expects you to ask about what is missing from the material.
• Say your assumptions out loud, including when you have to guess a number.
• Break the problem into parts before you calculate or write, and explain the order you will take them in.
• Finish with a recommendation. A clear “I suggest…” with your reasoning beats a perfect but unfinished analysis.

The same process often includes tests, such as a logic test or a personality test. Read about them in the guide to psychometric tests, and try our free logic test to get a feel for the time pressure.

How to prepare your examples

Start with the job ad. Underline the qualities and experience it mentions and pick out the four to six competencies that seem most important, which is roughly how many recruiters build an interview around.

Then find one or two examples per competency. They don’t have to come from a job: school, volunteering, sports and part-time jobs work well, especially if you have little work experience.

Write cue words for S, T, A and R for each example, but no script: the follow-up questions will take you off it anyway. Say your answers out loud a few times, preferably to someone else, and keep each one under a couple of minutes.

Be honest. Follow-up questions make it hard to stretch an example that isn’t true, so a less impressive but true example is always the better choice.

Not sure which strengths to bring up? Take our free personality test to see which traits stand out, then read the guide to the job interview for the rest of your preparation.