Inside the Interview: Navigating Competency-Based Questions

Welcome to your interview journey!

Think of the interview as a conversation where you get to highlight your achievements and show how they’ve shaped your growth as a professional. We use a competency-based interview approach, which helps us focus on the key abilities and qualities needed for the role. While it may sound a bit formal, it’s really just about diving into real-life examples from your past experiences that showcase your strengths. Our hope is that this blog post will help guide you through a competency-based interview and that by the end of it, you’ll feel ready to show your skillset in your conversations with us.

What are competency-based questions, and why should you care?

You can think of competency-based questions as a way for us to dig deeper into how you apply your skills in real-life situations. They’re not about theory or what you would do - they focus on what you’ve actually done, just like solving real-world challenges. Instead of vague, open-ended questions like “Tell us about yourself,” which puts all the pressure on you to try to guess what we’d like to hear, we’ll ask you to walk us through real-life projects and challenges you’ve tackled, whether from your work, school or even side projects (we know you’ve got some cool ones).

However, we’re not looking for a perfect narrative. We want to see how you approach problems, think through solutions, and execute—whether it’s solving a bug that had everyone stumped or collaborating with a designer to perfect that UI/UX.

To help you structure your answers confidently, we recommend using the STAR method. It’s an effective way to highlight your strengths:

• S: Describe the Situation you were in (e.g., a project deadline, a tricky client request, a production issue).
• T: Outline the Task you needed to complete (what was the goal or problem you were solving?).
• A: Explain the Action you took (walk us through your thought process and steps, whether writing code, designing wireframes, or solving a scaling issue).
• R: Share the Result of your efforts (did you deploy a fix? Launch a new feature? Save time or resources?).

The STAR method keeps your responses clear and organized, making it easy to showcase the impact you’ve had in your previous experiences.

What does this look like during the interview?

During the interview, we’ll ask you to give examples from your past experiences, whether from work, school, or personal projects—where you’ve demonstrated the skills we’re looking for. We’re interested in hearing about real situations that reflect the challenges or tasks you might encounter in the role.

We know interviews can sometimes make you feel like you need to have the perfect answer right away. But here’s the truth: you don’t. We’re not timing you! Take your time, think things through, and share well-thought-out examples. We’d rather you pause to gather your thoughts than rush into a response. It’s all about being genuine and showcasing your experience in a way that feels right for you.

Why do we use competency-based questions?

The main reason we use competency-based questions is, as you might have already guessed by now because they help us get a clear sense of how you’ve handled real-world challenges and how your unique skills will help you thrive in this role. It’s all about focusing on your experiences and giving you the chance to show what you can do.

We start our recruitment process with psychometric assessments through a tool called Evali. Psychometric assessments can be used as a tool to measure someone’s cognitive abilities and personality traits. Evali can then help us create a tailored interview guide with questions matching the requirements for the role. If you’re curious to learn more about how we work with Evali, you can read our blog post about it here. From there, we let the competency-based questions guide the interview, helping us get to know more of the real you in the process.

This structured approach helps reduce bias, as each candidate is asked the same questions based on the relevant competencies for the role. As a result, we foster a more diverse candidate pool and, ultimately, a more diverse and inclusive company.

So, while “competency-based interviews” might sound a bit technical, they’re actually one of the best ways for us to see the real you and for you to show how you’ll make a great fit with our team.

How to prep like a pro

To prepare for an interview with competency-based questions, here are a few steps you can follow.

• Review the job description and identify the key competencies. Is this role all about problem-solving? Communication? Creativity? Whatever the key traits are, focus on them.
• Prepare examples that highlight how you’ve demonstrated these skills in the past. Think of past projects, side gigs, hackathons, or collaborations where you’ve shined. Use the STAR method to organize your thoughts.
• Show off your results. Be clear about what you did in each scenario. Did you lead a team through a tough deadline? Solve a problem no one else could crack? Your contributions are what matter most.

Pro tips for nailing the interview

• It’s okay to pause and think before answering. Take a moment to gather your thoughts and structure your response if needed. This shows that you’re thoughtful and deliberate in your answers.
• What types of examples are relevant? You can use examples from both work experience and education. What matters most is that the examples clearly demonstrate the competencies required for the role. If you’re early in your career, you can focus on school projects or volunteer work where you show important skills.
• Avoid hypothetical answers. Instead of explaining what you would do in a certain situation, try to find real examples where you’ve dealt with something similar. If you’ve never been in a specific situation before, it’s OK to say so. What’s important is to be honest and genuine.

We’re all about finding the right fit, both for you and for us. Competency-based interviews are a chance for you to see how your experience aligns with the role and for us to understand the unique perspective and skills you bring to the table. With the right preparation, you’ll be able to confidently highlight your strengths and walk away from the interview, knowing you gave it your best shot.