Competency-Based Interviews

Job interviews can be nerve-wracking—but the right prep can help you stand out. The best candidates don’t just answer questions—they tell compelling stories, showcase impact, and align their skills with the role. Here’s how: ✅ 1. Answer “Tell Me About Yourself” Clearly This answer should be concise (90-120 sec) but detailed enough to showcase your career journey. 📌 Present: What you do now & key skills 📌 Past: Relevant experience & accomplishments 📌 Future: Why this role excites you 💡 Example (~2 min): "I’m a Digital Marketing Manager at [Company], leading paid media & SEO. I helped increase conversions by 40% and improve engagement by 25%. Before that, I developed a segmentation strategy at [Previous Company] that boosted email engagement by 30%. I’m excited about this role because I see [Company] scaling its digital strategy, and I’d love to contribute my expertise." 🚀 Tip: Practice out loud to ensure a smooth, confident delivery. ✅ 2. Use STAR for Behavioral Questions For “Tell me about a time when…”, structure answers with STAR: ✔ Situation – Context of the challenge ✔ Task – What you needed to accomplish ✔ Action – Steps you took ✔ Result – Impact & measurable outcomes 💡 Example: "At [Company], our email engagement was dropping. I redesigned the email strategy (A), ran A/B tests (A), and increased open rates by 25% (R)." ✅ 3. “Why Should We Hire You?” → Sell Your Value 📌 Formula: What they need → How you fit → A past success 💬 Example: "You’re looking for someone to optimize ad performance. At [Company], I boosted ROI by 40% in six months. I’d love to bring that expertise to your team." ✅ 4. Be Ready for Salary Discussions ❌ Mistake: Giving a number too early. ✅ Better: Deflect until you know more. 📌 Example Response: "I’d love to learn more about the role before discussing numbers. What’s the budgeted range for this position?" 🔥 Final Thoughts: Preparation = Confidence ✔ Use Present-Past-Future for introductions ✔ Answer behavioral questions with STAR ✔ Align your skills with the company’s needs ✔ Handle salary talks strategically 👉 Found this helpful? Reshare to help others ace their interviews! 🔥

The key to designing powerful interview questions is to focus on cognitive patterns rather than past accomplishments. Research shows strong connections between certain thinking patterns and job success. For example: • Original thinking strongly predicts innovation ability • Intellectual independence correlates with leadership effectiveness • Perseverance consistently outperforms raw intelligence in predicting achievement These research findings demonstrate why carefully crafted questions matter. To develop your high-impact questions, focus on five cognitive domains that predict exceptional performance. Follow this formula to create questions that uncover thinking patterns, not just experience: 💡 Design questions targeting original thinking: Ask about problems candidates see that others miss. Format: "What [challenge/opportunity/trend] do you notice that seems overlooked by most people in [relevant context]?" This reveals pattern recognition and the capacity for novel insights. 💡 Craft questions probing intellectual independence: Encourage candidates to articulate contrarian but thoughtful positions. Format: "Where do you find yourself disagreeing with conventional wisdom about [relevant domain]?" This assesses courage and independent analysis. 💡 Develop questions that examine perseverance: Structure questions around specific obstacles that have been overcome. Format: "Tell me about a time when you pursued [relevant goal] despite [specific type of setback]." Focus on process over outcome. 💡 Create questions measuring intellectual flexibility: Ask candidates to describe evolution in their thinking. Format: "What important belief about [relevant domain] have you revised recently and what prompted this change?" This evaluates adaptability and learning orientation. 💡 Formulate questions exploring intrinsic motivation: Probe self-directed development activities. Format: "How do you invest in developing [relevant skill/knowledge] when it's not required by your role?" This reveals a proactive growth mindset. The most effective questions avoid hypotheticals and instead target specific behavioral patterns that reveal how candidates actually think and operate. That's how you can develop interview questions that identify true potential—uncovering the cognitive patterns that transcend resume qualifications. Coaching can help; let's chat.  Follow Joshua Miller #executivecoaching #interviewing #careeradvice

Preparing for a Cybersecurity Interview? Use the STAR Method to Ace It Cybersecurity interviews often focus on how you handle real-world situations. The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) can help you deliver clear, structured answers that show off your problem-solving skills. Here’s how to use it with an example: 1 - Situation: Describe the challenge. ↳ Example: "During a routine check, we detected unusual activity in our SIEM logs, indicating a potential security breach." 2 - Task: Explain your responsibility. ↳ Example: "As the lead incident responder, my task was to investigate the breach, determine the scope, and implement measures to mitigate any damage." 3 - Action: Detail the steps you took. ↳ Example: "I led the team in analyzing the SIEM logs to pinpoint the source, collaborated with network and IT teams, and initiated our incident response plan. This included isolating affected systems and securing backup resources." 4 - Result: Highlight the outcome with metrics if possible. ↳ Example: "Within 3 hours, we contained the breach, minimizing potential data loss and reducing recovery time by 30%. This also helped prevent similar incidents by tightening network monitoring protocols. Prepare a few STAR examples before your interviews Clear, data-backed answers make a lasting impression!

I have interviewed 100+ ML/AI engineers I have never asked "explain transformers" in interviews. Here's actually what I would ask: 🔹 𝗦𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 1️⃣ "You inherit a RAG system. Users complain it's slow but accurate. How would you diagnose and improve it?" ↳ Looking for: Systematic approach, measurement before optimization, understanding trade-offs 2️⃣ "Your model works great Monday-Friday but performs poor on weekends. How would you investigate?" ↳ Looking for: Data distribution thinking, monitoring strategy, root cause analysis process 3️⃣ "You have $10K monthly budget for AI infrastructure. Design a recommendation system that scales." ↳ Looking for: Cost awareness, build vs buy decisions, incremental deployment strategy 🔹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "A production model suddenly drops from 95% to 60% accuracy. Walk me through your investigation." Winners discuss: → Check data pipeline first, not model → Look for upstream changes → Verify monitoring wasn't broken → Compare distributions, not just accuracy → Have rollback ready before investigating 🔹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "How would you build a system that summarizes customer support tickets in real-time?" I'm not looking for "use GPT-5" - I want to hear: → How do you handle different ticket formats? → What's your approach to quality control? → How do you measure if summaries are helpful? → What happens when the LLM service is down? → How would you gather feedback and improve? 🔹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲-𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "You can have fast, cheap, or accurate. Pick two and explain why." The best answers: ✅ "Depends on the use case - let me give examples..." ✅ "Here's how I'd make that decision with stakeholders..." ✅ "Can we redefine 'accurate' for this problem?" The worst: "I'd optimize for all three" 🔹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸 "Here's a Jupyter notebook that works. How would you productionize it?" I watch if they mention: → Error handling and logging → Configuration management → Testing strategy → Deployment approach → Monitoring plan → Documentation needs What gets you hired: Not knowing everything. But knowing how to figure out anything. Show me your thinking process. Tell me about trade-offs. Admit what you don't know. Explain how you'd learn it. The best engineers I've hired said: "I haven't solved this exact problem, but here's how I'd approach it..." Then they outlined a systematic plan that made sense. Your homework: →Pick any ML/AI system you use daily. →Write a one-page doc on how you'd improve it. →Include constraints, trade-offs, and success metrics. That exercise teaches more than 10 courses. What do you think? ♻️ Repost to help someone prep smarter ➕ Follow Shantanu for engineering lessons & real world 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 19000+ 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘋𝘚/𝘔𝘓/𝘈𝘐 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦: https://lnkd.in/ds_SzEUH

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬? Storytelling makes your interview memorable for the interviewers. The key to effective #storytelling is to keep it relevant, structured, and focused on demonstrating your #skills and #achievements in a way that resonates with the #interviewer and highlights your suitability for the position. Here are few examples of how you can incorporate storytelling into different types of interview questions: ✅ 1. Behavioral Questions: Q: Tell me about a time when you faced a significant challenge at work. A: In my previous role as a marketing coordinator, we encountered a #challenge when our primary client unexpectedly pulled out of a major project. The stakes were high, and the team was disheartened. As the team lead, I took the initiative to reevaluate our #strategy, reallocate resources, and re-energize the team. Despite the setback, we not only completed the project successfully but also secured a new client in the process. ✅ 2. Teamwork and Collaboration: Q-Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with a difficult team member. A-During a complex software development project, I collaborated with a team member who had a different approach and often clashed with others. Recognizing the importance of our collaboration, I initiated a one-on-one meeting to understand their perspective. Through open communication, we found common ground, identified each other's strengths, and developed a collaborative plan. Our improved teamwork resulted in meeting project milestones ahead of schedule. ✅ 3. Adaptability and Change: Q-Can you share an example of how you adapted to a significant change in the workplace? A-In a previous role, our company underwent a major restructuring. My responsibilities shifted, and I had to quickly #adapt to a new team and project. I proactively sought training in the new technology required, connected with team members to understand their strengths, and facilitated knowledge-sharing sessions. Despite the initial challenges, our team not only embraced the change but also exceeded project expectations, showcasing our adaptability and resilience. ✅ 4. Leadership and Decision-Making: Q-Describe a situation where you had to make a tough decision as a leader. A-As a project manager, we faced a critical deadline, and it became apparent that we needed to make some tough decisions to meet it. I gathered the team, outlined the challenges transparently, and facilitated a brainstorming session to generate solutions. After careful consideration, I made the decision to reallocate resources and adjust the project timeline. While it was a tough call, the team rallied together, and we not only met the deadline but also delivered a high-quality product. To sum up, ensure that you create STAR stories about the jobs you held & the experiences you have gained over the time.They create great impact during the #interview.

Good interviews aren’t magic. They’re method. Every great hire starts with a conversation. But structure is what turns that conversation into signal. That’s why top interviewers 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. They use proven frameworks to uncover how candidates think, solve, and grow. These 5 deliver clear signal - 𝘍𝘈𝘚𝘛: 🔹 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥 – for real-world performance 🔹 𝗖𝗔𝗥 – for fast, focused insight 🔹 𝗦𝗢𝗔𝗥 – for grit and resilience 🔹 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗔 – for growth and coachability 🔹 𝟱 𝗪’𝘀 – for strategic depth Each one helps your team make sharper hiring decisions with less guesswork and more clarity. ♻️ 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 to help others lead better conversations. 🔗 𝙁𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 Konstanty Sliwowski for practical systems that raise your hiring game.

Claude can be your interview coach. Most people walk into interviews and hope they remember the right story at the right time. There is a better way. For every interview I have ever done, I prepare 3 to 4 stories from my experience.  Real moments. Details I tailor to whatever scenario the interviewer throws at me. The secret is the STAR method. Every scenario-based question has the same answer structure 👇 S — Situation Set the scene. Where were you, what was happening? T — Task What was your responsibility in that situation? A — Action What did YOU specifically do? Not your team. You. R — Result What happened because of your action? Numbers, if you have them. Here is how to use Claude to prepare → Open Claude and paste this prompt: "I have an interview for [role] at [company]. Ask me about my experience and help me build 3 STAR stories I can use to answer scenario-based questions.  Ask me one question at a time." → Claude will pull your experience out of you, help you structure each story, and make sure every answer is specific and memorable. → Practice out loud until you know each story without thinking. The interviewer is not looking for the perfect answer. They are looking for proof that you have done it before. STAR gives them that proof every single time. Have you used the STAR method before? 

Recruitment is often seen as a rigid, process-driven task. But for me, it was anything but conventional. Here’s how I did it: 1️⃣ 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝟑𝟎-𝟔𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 I believe it’s nearly impossible to truly judge someone in that short span. That’s why I mostly hired people I had been observing professionally. I kept an eye on their work, habits, tone, and even how they carried themselves on social media. 2️⃣ 𝐈 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 Most of the folks I hired fell into one of two categories: - I approached them: When there were openings in the team, I reached out to people whose content or knowledge I admired on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or even in WhatsApp groups. - They approached me: When candidates reached out, I often scanned their social media profiles before conducting formal interviews to get a sense of their personality and thinking. More often than not, one can get enough hints. Social media can be a double-edged sword, but can be used positively by candidates. 3️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 I mostly used to conduct the final round. My interviews generally started with me explaining the role and that turned into a conversation. Very rarely I asked any technical questions. During this, I gauged: - Their expressions - The words they chose - Their keenness to listen - Their willingness to learn - The questions they asked at the end 4️⃣ 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 I wasn’t looking just for skillsets, that earlier rounds have checked; I was looking for alignment with my team’s ideologies, hunger, and passion. I needed to feel that they could gel with me and the team. And yes, after years in the corporate world, I trusted my gut. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬? Many of my colleagues, and even HR, agreed that I had built one of the best teams in my company. And I take immense pride in that. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 When I committed to someone, I didn’t just think about their role with me. I thought about their entire career. I made sure they grew, even if it meant supporting them after they moved on. To me, they were more than team members - they became friends.

We rejected every candidate who matched the job description. and hired the one who didn’t. No perfect resume. No textbook experience. Not even direct alignment with the role. But the moment I saw the interview, it was clear, this person had something the others didn’t. Not credentials. Not years in the industry. Presence. Drive. Coachability. We made the hire. Today, they’re not just delivering. They’re thriving. They’ve ramped faster than expected, earned the team’s trust, and added value far beyond the original scope. It reminded me of something most leaders know but often forget: A job description is just a framework. But real talent doesn’t always fit the framework. And the right person with the wrong experience can outperform the wrong person with the right one. Hiring should be about more than alignment. It should be about potential. Because you can teach skills. You can’t teach hunger.

Three unpopular ways companies can remove bias from their hiring process. 👯 More interviewers Those posts that go viral about hiring someone after a single coffee chat? Or mocking hiring managers that need a panel ? That's all bias - decisions based on gut instincts instead of with objective criteria. Instead, involve multiple interviewers with different perspectives - a peers and key stakeholders may have different interactions with the new team member, and their input can help you make a better decision. 🔎 This is backed up research from Harvard that shows that structured interviews with multiple interviewers are 2x more predictive of success in the role than unstructured ones. 🪧 Assess skills I know skills assessments aren't popular, and many people claim that they won't engage in a process that includes them. But lots of people can talk the talk and make up examples in interviews. It's harder to fake hard skills. If you're hiring a financial analyst, ask them to build a model using dummy data. If you're hiring a social media manager, ask them to create a plan for a campaign for a fake product. Work samples are great as well! And then dig in with questions to fully understand what they did, why they made the choices they made, etc. to ensure they didn't just submit something where someone else did the work. 🔎 And the research backs it up: the Aberdeen Group did a study that showed that those who completed skills assessments had a 36% higher rate of retention in their roles than those who didn't. 💰 Don't negotiate Negotiation increases inequity. When companies are big on negotiation, hiring managers will suggest things like "let's go in at X so when they negotiate we can bump up to Y." Then the candidates who don't ask for more end up underpaid. It promotes playing games and the people who are afraid to push are the ones who will be negatively impacted. Instead, companies should be transparent about their salary ranges and how compensation is determined, and then apply those practices consistently across all hires. Adjusting offers should be reserved for the rare cases where a candidate brings new information to the table around their qualifications or ability to have an impact, or the company realizes they're misaligned to the market. Now, I do know that many companies don't operate this way so it never hurts to ask, but just know that if a company comes up a lot with their offer after you negotiate, that's a signal that they were happy to try to lowball you. 🔎 And again, research backs this up: countless studies from McKinsey to Leanin to Harvard show that there are differences in who negotiates and in how negotiation is perceived, and this hurts people from marginalized groups. Like I said, these aren't necessarily popular ideas - they are more work for companies AND candidates. But they are research-backed ways to make hiring more equitable. And that's something we should all support.