Struggling with Competency-Based Interview Questions: Can You Share Your Success Stories?

Dear seniors, my name is Sravani. I worked with a consultancy as a recruiter and was involved in HR and office administration activities as well. Currently, I'm applying for jobs relevant to HR administration roles. Now, I'm struggling with competency-based questions that are frequently asked in the interview process. I know that I need to follow the STAR technique, but I don't have many success stories or challenging situations to explain in the interview process. I tried to answer with my situation, but it didn't work out well.

Could anyone please share some of your experiences or situations relevant to time management, leadership, helping colleagues, decision-making, and reaching targets successfully? I hope you can help me with this situation and give me some suggestions on this.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks and regards

Dear Sravani,

What you have mentioned is a downside of "Behavioral Interviewing." Behavioral interviews are good; however, these are suitable for mature job candidates. Asking behavioral questions to juniors is not so conducive.

Work Environment in Indian Companies

Almost all companies are driven by top bosses, and sustenance in employment depends on keeping the boss in good humor. The word of the top boss is the bylaw. More than a company, juniors work for the bosses. Therefore, as long as the junior does the job that satisfies the boss, everything is fine.

Effectiveness of Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions work best if the candidate has worked in a company that has a culture of empowerment. These questions can be asked if the candidate has worked in a company that has offered a sufficient degree of autonomy. In contrast, in India, employees, including managers, are straightjacketed. Failure in experiments is penalized, and the fear of failure looms large over the heads of the employees.

Recommendation for Interviewees

So, what is a way out? I recommend you request the interviewer that they have asked behavioral questions; however, you have not worked in companies that offered autonomy.

Lessons for HR Professionals

There is much to learn from the anguish expressed by a fellow member. Asking behavioral interview questions is easy. However, before asking behavioral questions to a job candidate, ask the same questions to yourself. If the candidate has worked as a recruiter and is asked behavioral questions on leadership or decision-making, it is the height of ridiculousness. Before trying these questions on the job candidate, think about what the replies would be if the same questions were asked to the HODs or managers. HR professionals have a penchant to live in the world of pretensions, and this is nothing but one more example.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar