What are competencies?

The vast majority of US and UK companies, as well as many other multinational organisations, now use competency based interviews when assessing candidates for a job.

In the past job applicants would often be asked very open questions like How would you describe yourself? or Why are you interested in this position? Competency based questions are different. Instead, interviewers like to see how you have behaved in a situation and link it to a key competency. For example, Describe a situation where you solved a problem or Tell us about a time when your communication skills made a difference.

What is a competency?
A competency is the ability to do something successfully and it is made up of four elements: knowledge, skills, experience and attitude. Competencies are also called soft skills.

Here are some typical competencies
Problem-solving, verbal communication, individual responsibility, self-organising, written communication, influencing, leadership, teamwork, customer focused, multitasking, creative thinking, proactive, managing conflict, self-motivation, attention to detail, adaptable, assertive, vision, loyalty, performance driven, politically sensitive, etc... The list is endless.

People who have worked for longer naturally have more experience so some of their competencies will be of a higher level. Although in some cases they also have bad habits and may lack flexibility in a workplace which is now evolving ever more rapidly. So younger job applicants may also have some advantages when it comes to other competencies.

To help you better understand your actual competencies, you first have to increase your self-awareness and for this I recommend doing the Myers Briggs Personality Indicator Test, which I explained in a previous blog post. Then you will be ready to build your job application kit and get some interviews!