Competency or behavioural-based questions are now almost always part of an interview, so thinking about what you may be asked is crucial to ensuring you're prepared! They can vary according to the company, role you're interviewing for and the interviewer(s), which means that the answers you've prepared for one interview, may not apply for another! Below are just a few examples to get you thinking. Always keep in mind the role you're interviewing for when considering what questions you might face and then prepare your examples using the STAR method covered in previous blogs.
Communication
(1) Tell us about a situation where your communication skills made a difference to a situation?
(2) How do you adapt your communication style for different situations and can you give us an example?
(3) Can you give us an example of when you had to use your communication skills to get your point of view across to someone who disagreed with you?
Compliance
(1) How do you ensure compliance with policies in your area of responsibility?
(2) Tell us about a time when you went against company policy ? Why did you do it and how did you handle it?
Conflict Management
(1) Can you give us an example of when you had to deal with conflict within your team or with a colleague and how you handled it?
(2) Tell us about a time when you had to handle a difficult customer?
Leadership
(1) Tell us about a time when you were required to step up and take control of a situation and how you handled it?
(2) Can you give us an example of when you had to lead your team in a new direction and how you approached that?
Teamwork
(1) Tell us about a time when you needed to work across the business instead of only with your team and how you approached that?
(2) How do you build relationships with new staff in your team or company and can you give us an example?
(3) Can you give us an example of when you played an important role in a project as a member of a team?
Flexibility
(1) Describe a situation where you had to change your approach half-way through a project or task and how you handled it
(2) Tell us about a time when a significant change was made to your role or a new system was introduced that had a big impact on your responsibilities and how you handed it
To sum up, behavioural-based interview questions can be answered relatively easily as long as you have good examples. This means putting in plenty of preparation and not hoping your memory will work well on the day! Don't just rely on your current role for examples - go back over all your jobs and if you're new to the workforce, think about examples from University, School, clubs or voluntary work that you've been involved with that you could use. Then practice, practice, practice!