Here at NCFE, we want to cultivate a purpose-led, collaborative, high-performance culture. To help us achieve this goal, and to contribute to our collective success, we aim to bring on board individuals who not only bring the skills and experience required for a role, but who live and breathe our values and behaviours.
Whilst the interview selection methods might differ depending on the role you are applying for (for example, you might be required to produce a presentation or complete a short task), we always include competency-style questions as part of our interview process. This means that we’re looking for specific examples of when and how you have demonstrated specific skills, values, or behaviours relevant to the job role.
Useful guidance on answering competency-based questions
It can be useful to use a structure to answer these questions and we recommend using the STAR model, as per the below:
Situation: describe a situation/problem/challenge that you have encountered
Task: describe the task that the situation required (what you were trying to achieve) or your ideas for resolving the problem
Action: describe the actions you took, why you took them, and any obstacles that you had to overcome
Results: highlight outcomes achieved and what you learned from this experience When thinking about examples, try to choose those that will allow the interviewers to see how your skills/experiences/ behaviours can be transferred to the role you are applying for.