Competency based interview questions

[bettyboop1000]

I have one tomorrow for a customer care assistant.

Does anyone have any idea what kind of questions they will be?

Can you give me an example of a time when....

Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a particularly difficult customer....... be prepared to give details on the situation, what was happening, what you did to resolve it and what the outcome was.

Tell me about a time when (TMAATW) you worked in a team that didn't gel well, TMAATW you failed to achieve a goal, what did you learn from that experience, TMAATW when you had to deal with a difficult customer... Etc...

So think of maybe five scenarios from previous work or life history that you can use to demonstrate qualities. Examples may be time you had to work as a team, take the lead, work to a deadline, give feedback etc

One of your scenarios may work for multiple questions

Good news! Any employer using a competency-based interview knows its stuff. Good luck! Take your time, you can pause before answering to make sure you've chosen a good example without losing marks. If they're really good at it, they will follow up the initial question to explore what you did.

Don't make the typically British mistake of saying "we" all the time in an effort not to come across as arrogant. They are looking for evidence that you can do the job - not the team you were part of, you personally! So do talk about what you specifically did.

Structure your answer as a brief summary of the situation/background, then a description of how the situation is relevant to the question, then an explanation of how you dealt with it

It is fine, when asked a question in interview, to ask for a few moments to consider the best example. Then gather your thoughts

When giving examples use STAR -Situation , Task, Action, Result. That way you're telling a story and helps to keeping the example focused without going off on tangents and rambling (speaking from experience!).

Thanks for the responses.

I think I will be ok for most of those as in my last job, my manager went off sick for a few months and they didn't replace her with anyone. As I was the only other full time employee I just did carried on with my own job and did hers such as answering emails, ordering, collating information and organising events etc. I just need to think of a few negative things and show how I turned them into a positive.