- Sep 7, 2024
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So at first glance, strengths based and competency based interviews seem quite similar - they both often involve talking about past experiences, and both aim to assess whether you're a good fit for a role. However, the differences between them are there. They diverge in purpose, structure, and what they aim to uncover. Competency based interviews are designed to test whether you can do the job well based on past performance. The idea is that past behaviour is the best predictor of future success, so these questions are tightly focused on how you’ve demonstrated specific skills like teamwork, leadership, or resilience, often requiring structured responses using the STAR method. In contrast, strengths based interviews are less concerned with what you’ve done and more focused on what energises you. Rather than simply asking whether you can perform a task, they ask whether you genuinely enjoy doing it, with the belief that people excel when working in areas aligned with their natural interests and motivations. That’s why strengths questions tend to be faster paced, more open, and reflective, such as “What does a good day look like for you?” or “What kind of tasks do you enjoy most?”. Now while you might still draw on past experiences, the emphasis shifts from proving competence to revealing enthusiasm. And that’s a key distinction…in competency interviews, your evidence is scrutinised, in strengths based ones, your tone, spontaneity, and energy carry more weight. So although they might look alike on the surface, they are evaluated through very different lenses, and understanding that subtle shift is essential to performing well in both.
There are mixed views on this, but this is how I’ve always interpreted the difference. Generally speaking though, they’re quite similar.
