What should you say if your interviewer
asks you to describe a mistake you made that impacted others?
So maybe there was a time in your career
when you sent an email to the wrong client.
But ultimately, you were able to make it right.
So how should you approach this interview question?
Hey, everybody.
I'm Sinead, and coming up in this video,
I've got the winning strategy for answering questions
about your core competencies.
We'll explore five frequently asked competency questions,
and I've got you covered with some really great example
answers to help prepare you for your next interview.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
First, what is a competency-based interview
question anyway?
Well believe it or not, but competency-based interview
questions are some of the most common questions asked
during an interview.
You may have even encountered these questions before
without even realizing it.
Beyond all of your great skills and experience,
employers want to know how you can get your work done,
because yes, it's great to meet the job requirements,
but showing how you navigate challenges in the workplace
can help employers to see your ability to work efficiently.
So how do you answer competency-based questions?
And what's the best strategy?
All right, let's break it down.
First, identify relevant skills both before and during
the interview.
So before your interview, you can
prepare for your upcoming job interview
by studying the role and the job description.
And start thinking about how you can
draw from your own personal experience.
So for example, if you're a data scientist,
it's definitely smart to think of some stories
and past experiences that really show
your personal contributions to the field.
Now during the interview, as you answer these questions,
hone in on which specific competency each question
addresses.
For example, an interviewer is likely to ask the question that
kicked off this video to get a sense for both your willingness
to take responsibility for past mistakes
and your willingness to strive for self-improvement.
So the story you choose to incorporate into your answers
should demonstrate those abilities.
Now you can use the S-A-R method to structure your response.
These types of interview questions
are almost always asking about your behavior.
They tend to start with tell me about a time when,
describe a moment when, or have you ever?
The S-A-R method gives you the structure
to tell a succinct, impactful summary of your behavior,
because the goal here is to be short and sweet.
S-A-R stands for situation, action, result.
Tell the interviewer the situation tied
to your behavior, the action you took,
and the result you achieved.
It's easy to remember and should hopefully
help you to streamline your answer.
Now if you're ready to dive into our first example question,
be sure to like this video and, of course,
hit that subscribe button while you're
at it, because we have weekly career tips
that you definitely don't want to miss.
Question number 1, describe a time
when you worked under pressure.
Now the aim of asking this question
is to uncover your response to challenging circumstances,
like difficult clients, tight deadlines,
or high-impact projects.
So a good answer will demonstrate your ability
to stay calm and deliver great work, even
in a stressful situation.
Listen to this example answer.
In your previous role, I worked for a bridal shop.
I had a customer who had come in to check on a wedding
dress that wasn't delivered on time due to manufacturing
delays.
She was obviously upset, so I located a sample of her dress
in our store and offered to rush-order the alterations
for free.
She was so pleased with my counteroffer,
and she even wrote a positive review for our store.
Yeah, you never want to upset a stressed out bride.
However, this example demonstrates
someone who's more than capable of quick problem solving
for their customers.
Employers like to hear this.
Question number 2, tell me about a time
when you faced workplace conflict,
and how did you resolve it?
No matter how great a company may be,
we're bound to run into issues.
So what matters is our ability to listen, conduct ourselves
professionally, and solve problems
when conflict in the workplace arises.
Now the trick to answering this question
is to avoid placing all of the blame on others.
So here's an example for you.
At my last job, my team had important deadlines to hit,
but our projects kept getting held up
during the legal approval process.
I spoke to someone from the legal team
about how these delays were slowing our work,
and asked if there was any way we could support their team.
And that's when I learned that someone from their team
had recently resigned, leaving them short staffed.
As a result, we created a new submission process,
which included earlier review deadlines,
and increased documentation from my team
so that they could move more quickly.
This resolved the issue and created
a strong ongoing partnership.
Yes, conflict is addressed in this answer,
but so is the solution.
Problem solving is an incredible trait
to demonstrate in an interview.
Employers want to know how you handle problems
in the workplace because as a lot of us
have probably realized by now, they are inevitable.
Now for more tips on how to answer tricky interview
questions just like this one, you
got to check out this video right here.
Question 3, describe a time where you had
to juggle competing priorities.
Sometimes we are tasked with more than we can handle all
at one time and it gets rough.
And it's totally OK to acknowledge this.
This question is really to investigate
whether you can successfully prioritize work
when you have a ton on your plate.
Now the goal in answering here is
to demonstrate that you can prioritize based
on business impact, while also communicating appropriately
with stakeholders.
For example, when my manager was on vacation,
I quickly realized that I just did not
have the time to meet our monthly sales goal,
and to complete research on client re-engagement.
So I referred back to our yearly strategy,
and I saw that meeting our sales milestones
was our number one goal.
So I made the decision to sideline the research
project for now and meet our sales goal.
When my manager returned, I was honest
and I brought up the issue with him,
and he'd confirmed that I had made the right decision,
and we decided on a more reasonable date
to complete the research project.
Being honest and showing your ability
to recognize which work matters should take precedence
will go a long way.
Question 4, describe a time when you
had to meet a short deadline.
Let's face it.
Time management and organization are critical competencies
in almost every role.
So expect to get this question in most behavioral interviews.
A secret component of addressing this question
also involves relationship management.
How do you coordinate with others to achieve a goal?
Now here's a great example answer.
In my last role, I was project managing
the launch of a cross-functional program
with a tight turnaround.
I met with each team, discussed their responsibilities,
and asked how long they estimated
it would take to complete them.
From there, I worked backwards to create milestones
and to identify possible issues while staying
in communication with each member
throughout the entire process.
I also shared a calendar with the team,
and urged them to let me know of any possible delays well
in advance.
As a result, we launched the program on time.
Now this job seeker clearly has a great handle
on both time management and effective workplace
communication.
And for even more guidance on what powerful things
you can say during an interview just like this,
you can check out this video right here.
Question 5, tell me about an unforeseen change
in your career, and how you dealt with it.
Adaptability is key for all jobs.
So this question really wants to gauge your ability
to adapt and grow in a changing workplace.
Here's a great example answer.
A few years ago, I decided to pursue painting,
and I had plans to go to grad school.
But family comes first, and we had
a situation that desperately needed my attention.
I ended up hitting pause on grad school,
and instead, I took marketing courses online
and learned how to promote my artwork on social media.
While I didn't anticipate my career
heading in this direction, I'm proud to say I now fully
support myself as a self-taught artist
with a healthy online business.
This answer shows flexibility, humility, personal values,
and perseverance.
And I get it.
Talking about change can be difficult, so just try
to be honest and explain what you
learned from the experience.
If you are ready to start crafting your own answers
to some of these questions, be sure to hit the like button
down below and subscribe to our channel right over here.
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And for the best skills to have in the workplace,
you've got to check out this video right up here.
I'm Sinead.
Thank you all so much for watching,
and we'll see you next time.