Competency-Based Interviews for SMEs

The idea with using competency-based interviewing – or behavioural interviewing is that someone’s past performance is the best predictor of future success, which equates to someone’s potential to succeed.  The easiest example is the top salesperson, if they have brought in substantial sales in their last role, they are likely to do the same in the next one.  However, not every role is as straightforward as looking for someone who is a great salesperson, so how do you use this to predict future staff performance in other roles?

Why are competency-based interviews important?

These types of interviews are 5x more accurate in choosing the right candidate for your role compared to standard interview questions.  They are most effective at predicting the difference between a top and an average performer and at predicting future potential.

What questions should you ask?

First, you can go back to your job descriptions and spend some time identifying the skills that you want this person to bring to your organisation and then design your questions around these skills.

1.      Ask questions that ask for examples starting with “Give me an example of…”, rather than scenario questions which would start “What would you do if…”

2.      Come up with a couple of examples for the same competency in case a candidate struggles to come up with a good example for the first one asked.

3.      Probe further, make sure you ask clarifying questions to make sure that you fully understand what they did, how they did it and what difference this made to them or the company.

Use positive indicators to create a scoring system

For each competency, you should come up with a list of positive indicators that the candidate would need to demonstrate to you to show that they have a level of competence.  The idea with this is so that you can compare skills between one candidate and another and subjectivity is removed.  These are the behaviours you would expect a candidate to show.  For example, if you were assessing someone on their planning and organisational skills you could give them a point for each area if they show you that they use a diary, they work with to-do lists, they are clear as to their daily priorities and that they can handle unexpected requests.  From this, you can create a pass level and can compare candidates directly.

Action points for you:

Considering this information as a business owner/hiring manager when you are next interviewing you may want to:

• Create a list of all the competencies/skills that a person would need in a role to show they can do the job and identify the top 4 to ask them about.
• Create a scoring system for comparison purposes between candidates based on the behaviours you want to see.  You may want to have just a three-point system – below competency, competent and above competency.
• Contact me for my worksheet for more guidance.

If you want help to reduce the time that you spend on recruitment as well as optimise your hiring processes and attract the best candidates book a free strategy session with me, Caroline Hunt at Emerald Starfish HERE.