Course description

"Tell me about a time when..." If those words make your heart sink, this course is for you. Competency-based interviews are used across the public sector, the NHS, councils, housing associations, charities, retail, banking and graduate schemes, and they reward preparation more than confidence. This course shows you, step by step, how to prepare honest, well-structured answers that panels can score highly.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. You follow a supermarket supervisor going for her first team leader job: from a disappointing first interview where she scored 9 out of 20, through building a bank of 12 strong stories and practising with a mentor, to an interview where she scored 20 out of 24 and got the job. Every section has a worksheet, answers, a cheat sheet and ready-made templates and workbooks.

What you'll learn

• How these interviews work: competency, strengths, values and situational questions, and how panels score answers.
• Decoding the job: reading the person specification, researching the employer and predicting the questions.
• The STAR method: situation, task, action and result, plus what you learned, with "I" not "we".
• Your story bank: finding, choosing and writing 10 to 12 stories that cover every competency.
• Common and harder questions: teamwork, communication, problem solving, customer focus, leadership, mistakes, conflict, pressure and values, with model answers.
• Delivering your answers: timing, nerves, practice, video and phone interviews, and asking for reasonable adjustments.
• Beyond the interview: application forms, assessment centres, feedback and keeping going.

Who it's for

Job seekers at any stage, including people going for their first supervisor or team leader role, graduates, career changers and people returning to work. It ends with a final project: a decoded job, a finished story bank and a full mock interview scored with a panel sheet.

What will I learn?

• Understand how competency-based interviews work and how panels score answers
• Decode a job advert and person specification to predict the questions
• Answer any competency question clearly with the STAR method plus learning
• Build a bank of 10 to 12 strong, honest stories that cover every competency
• Handle harder questions on mistakes, conflict, pressure and values
• Answer strengths-based, situational and motivation questions well
• Deliver answers calmly, on time, in person, on video or by phone
• Use the STAR method on application forms and at assessment centres, and learn from feedback

Frequently asked questions