Competency based interviews

[mammasmadhouse]

Had an interview today, didn’t get the job, not especially disappointed as felt quite uncomfortable during the interview which just added to ny nerves. Two of the panel just sat pretty much writing notes with their heads down. One if the questions was about feedback from my last appraisal, which I have never had before how would you approach answering this one?

I'd have said feedback from my manager was very good as I'd achieved all my KPIs and been involved in a project to develop my skills and knowledge further.

The heads down notes thing is totally to be expected but they should have apologized on advance and put you at ease. They need multiple notes of your answers to corroborate what you said to agree a score.

Thank you both, I think it was probably the worst interview I have ever had. I am not sure if the 2 that were writing intensely had been on panels before, another panel member looked like he was permanently frowning and couldn’t find the right place in his answer document 🙂, it was definitely an experience!

Interviewing is a skill in its own right and often people are drafted onto interview panels because of their role rather than their skills. I’d put it down to a bad panel.

The feedback question I’d answer saying that feedback from my manager was consistently strong, and outline a couple of key skills/qualities that were relevant to the job, eg my manager says they value my ability to see projects through to completion.

Remember interviews are 2 ways. It’s also about deciding whether you would like to work there

it doesn’t look like they were making any effort to be welcoming, making you feel comfortable, showing themselves to be attractive employers.

do you really want to work for people like that?