Competency Based

One of the most powerful roles a state can play is creating collaborative space for the development of competencies and learning objectives. As states come face to face with the implementation of the common core state standards, many opportunities and questions arise:

★ Well-designed competencies

★ core competencies

★ lifelong learning competencies

Given that the innovations are still at early stage of development, the field has not agreed upon what makes a well-designed competency. Although some attributes such as learning objectives need to be explicit and measurable others are less clear.

A cluster of related abilities, commitments, knowledge and skills that enable a person (or an organization) to act effectively in a job or situation.

A typical competency based interview will last for one hour. At most major firms competency interviews will also be standardized. Consequently all applicants can expect to be asked identical questions.

A competency is a particular quality that a company's recruiters have decided is desirable for employees to possess. During interviews and assessment processes, competencies are used as benchmarks that assessors use to rate and evaluate candidates.

Competency-based innovators design two sets of competencies:

★ Academic and skills that students need for college and career preparation using different terms, innovators all include forms of applied learning competencies such as creativity, problem solving, and communication and many include personal skills such as perseverance, cultural competency and study skills.

★ Those serving vulnerable students include social-emotional literacy and navigational skills that are particularly important for students from low-income communities.

Competency based interviews may also feature questions that probe candidates on their knowledge of the company and industry they have applied to. This type of interview question tests candidates on their motivation and commitment to career.

A typical competency question could be:

Describe two situations where you have had to work as part of a team. When asked a question like this, you should be able to talk for several minutes about your participation to a particularly strong team you have been part of in the past and how your sense of Teamwork helped lead a task or project to successful completion.

Competency based interview questions are a style of interviewing often used to evaluate a candidate's competence, particularly when it is hard to select on the basis of technical merit.

Example:

For a particular graduate scheme or graduate job where relevant experience is less important or not required. Increasingly, companies are using competency based interviews as part of the selection process for experienced recruitment, as it can give valuable insights into an individual's preferred style of working and help predict behaviors in future situations.

In the case of applications for graduate jobs, candidates typically have no experience in the industry to which they have applied. Consequently it is not possible to assess their suitability for a job role based upon their CV alone. This has led to the development of competency based interviews becoming the prime way to interview inexperienced graduate applicants.

In competency based interviews, interviewers will ask questions that require candidates to demonstrate that they have a particular skill or a "key competency" the firm is looking for. Candidates will be asked to do this using examples of situations from their life experiences, to illustrate their personality, skill set and individual competencies to the interviewer.

Estimates indicate that a third of all employers are using competency interviews as part of their recruitment process. Large graduate employers are especially likely to use competency interviews as part of their graduate recruitment procedure, in particular as part of an assessment.

In competency based interviews recruiters look for evidence of competencies by asking candidates competency based questions. This style of question forces candidates to give situational examples of times in the past when they have performed particular tasks or achieved particular outcomes using certain skills.

It is likely you will be asked why you wish to work for this company in particular, and what distinguishes this company, for you, from its competitors. This question requires you to discuss your knowledge of the firm in detail and prove to your interviewer your desire for a job.

To answer this question you should describe:

★ The key strengths this firm has over its competitors in the industry (e.g. more specialized in certain niche areas, more international scope, more respected).

★ What appeals to you personally about the firm (e.g. your interests in the firm's niche areas, your relevant study at university).

★ Other relevant factors you find interesting (e.g. the impression you have of the working style at the firm, the social side of the company, the type of charitable work the firm is involved in).

Employers typically use some of the following as their competency based keys:

★ Teamwork

★ Responsibility

★ Commitment to career

★ Commercial awareness

★ Career motivation

★ Decision making

★ Communication

★ Leadership

★ Trustworthiness & Ethics

★ Results orientation

★ Problem solving

★ Organisation

Being able to get on with other people and work with them efficiently (Teamwork) is a key competency employers value and often require job applicants to demonstrate at interview. Most jobs require employees to work alongside other people, as part of a team.