By Rhiannon Cole, published 29 January 2026

From our vantage point in finance and accounting recruitment, we see every day how competency based interview questions reveal whether a candidate can deliver in the role. A strong answer shows how you have demonstrated key behaviours and skills in real scenarios, not just what you think you’d do in theory. Whether you’re heading into an interview for a finance post, a leadership role or a specialist technical position, mastering this format enables you to present clear, evidence-backed examples that prove your capability. This guide explains the purpose of a competency based interview, common question themes, how to structure persuasive answers, practical preparation steps, and how Sheridan Maine supports candidates and clients in adopting this approach.

What is a Competency-Based Interview?

A competency based interview focuses on the specific behaviours, skills and capabilities required to succeed in a role. Rather than hypothetical or opinion-led questions, interviewers ask you to describe past situations where you applied competencies such as problem solving, collaboration, stakeholder management, resilience and commercial awareness.

Unlike traditional interviews that may emphasise qualifications or a broad career history, competency based questions seek concrete evidence. You are encouraged to provide structured examples that demonstrate what you did, why you did it, and what results you achieved. This reduces subjectivity and helps employers evaluate fit more consistently across candidates.

Key benefits include improved reliability in assessment, closer alignment with role requirements, and stronger prediction of on-the-job performance. Employers can systematically compare candidates using consistent criteria, while candidates gain a fair opportunity to showcase practical achievements and transferable skills. In finance and accounting, this method is especially valuable because it highlights risk management, accuracy, stakeholder engagement and ethical decision-making through real-world scenarios. As a result, well-prepared candidates who understand competency interview questions often stand out for their clarity, judgement and practical impact.

Common Competency-Based Interview Questions

Competency interview questions typically begin with prompts such as “Tell me about a time when…” or “Give an example of…” and ask you to illustrate how you handled a defined challenge. While wording varies, you will often see similar themes across sectors and levels. These competency based interview questions are designed to uncover how you think, act and deliver results in context.

• Tell me about a time you delivered a project under tight deadlines.
• Describe a situation where you influenced a stakeholder to adopt a new approach.
• Give an example of when you identified a risk and addressed it proactively.
• Talk me through a time you improved a process or system.
• Tell me about a time you resolved a conflict within a team.
• Describe a situation where you made a difficult decision with incomplete information.
• Give an example of how you handled a significant error or setback.

Interviewers are often assessing a core set of competencies. Understanding these helps you tailor your responses to the competency based interview.

• Communication and stakeholder management
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Problem solving and analytical thinking
• Planning, organisation and prioritisation
• Leadership and people management
• Resilience and adaptability
• Integrity and professional ethics
• Customer focus and service orientation
• Commercial awareness and financial acumen
• Innovation and continuous improvement

Competency emphasis changes by industry and function. In finance and accounting, expect competency based questions on accuracy, compliance, controls, audit readiness and commercial insight. In technology, interviewers may probe debugging, systems thinking and delivery within Agile frameworks. In operations, process improvement, cost efficiency and risk mitigation are common. Sales and marketing teams often focus on influencing, negotiation and customer engagement. Regulated sectors such as healthcare and financial services frequently explore ethics, governance and adherence to standards.

How to Answer Competency-Based Interview Questions with STAR

The STAR technique helps you structure clear, concise answers that highlight your impact. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result, and it’s a practical framework for responding to competency interview questions in a way that is easy for hiring managers to assess.

• Situation: Set the context. Summarise the business environment, challenge or opportunity.
• Task: Explain your specific responsibility or objective within that situation.
• Action: Detail what you did, how you did it, and why you chose that approach. Include tools, frameworks and stakeholder engagement.
• Result: Quantify outcomes and reflect on what you learned. Link the result to business goals, risk reduction, cost savings, revenue protection or customer outcomes.

Tips for strong responses:

• Select specific, recent examples that match the competencies listed in the job description.
• Focus on your contribution; use “I” to clarify your role while acknowledging teamwork where relevant.
• Quantify impact with metrics such as percentage improvements, time saved, revenue protected, error reductions or cost avoidance.
• Explain your reasoning and decision-making process, including risk considerations, compliance obligations and stakeholder perspectives.
• Demonstrate alignment with company values, such as integrity, inclusion, sustainability or customer centricity.
• Prepare two to three examples per key competency to maintain variety and avoid repetition.
• Close with a brief reflection on lessons learned and how you apply them today.

Avoid common pitfalls:

• Vague answers with insufficient detail or missing outcomes.
• Overly long stories that bury the key actions and results.
• Focusing on team activities without clarifying your personal contribution.
• Using hypothetical scenarios instead of real examples.
• Downplaying setbacks—own the issue, outline corrective actions and show improvement.
• Omitting measurable results or failing to connect your example to the role’s requirements.

When you’re asked competency based interview questions, a disciplined STAR approach ensures your answers are both persuasive and easy to evaluate. It also makes follow-up questions easier to handle, because you’ve already established the logic behind your actions. 

Example Answers Using STAR

Illustrative responses help you see how to apply STAR effectively to competency interview questions. Use these as inspiration to craft your own evidence-led stories.

These examples show how targeted, quantified evidence makes your competency based interview answers compelling. Notice how each story links actions to business outcomes—this is the hallmark of effective responses to competency based questions.

Preparing for a Competency-Based Interview

Effective preparation begins with understanding the role’s core competencies. Review the job description and careers pages to identify the behaviours and skills the employer values. Common themes for finance roles include stakeholder management, data integrity, commercial insight, compliance and process improvement. Map your experience against these areas and select examples that demonstrate depth and breadth. This groundwork pays off when you’re asked competency based interview questions, because you’ll have the right evidence at your fingertips.

Practise with mock interviews to improve clarity and timing. Record yourself or ask a colleague, mentor or recruiter to provide feedback on your STAR structure, the relevance of your examples and the strength of your outcomes. Refine your narratives to balance detail with concision, and ensure you can adapt examples to variations of the same competency prompt.

Develop a personal narrative that ties your career story to the organisation’s needs. Identify signature achievements that show how you operate under pressure, collaborate across functions and deliver results responsibly. Prepare a concise portfolio of evidence—brief data points, project summaries and outcomes—that you can draw upon. Your narrative should reflect learning agility, professional integrity and how you will contribute to the team’s objectives. When you approach competency based interview preparation with this level of clarity, you lower nerves and raise impact.

• Align examples to the job’s priority competencies; have a primary and a secondary example ready for each.
• Create a bank of metrics (e.g., cost saved, errors reduced, time shortened) to anchor your results.
• Anticipate follow-up questions about your decision-making, alternatives considered and trade-offs.
• Rehearse “tight” versions of each example (60–90 seconds) and “expanded” versions (2–3 minutes) to suit different interview styles.
• Prepare questions for the interviewer that relate to the competencies, such as how success is measured or how teams collaborate across functions.

The Importance of Competency-Based Interviews in Hiring

Competency based interview methods help employers select candidates who can demonstrate the behaviours required for success. By focusing on verifiable evidence rather than assumptions, hiring teams reduce bias and make more consistent, defensible decisions. Structured questioning and scoring rubrics allow interviewers to compare candidates on the same criteria, improving fairness and quality of hire.

Experience across the industry indicates that competency based interview questions are strong predictors of job performance, especially when combined with work samples, technical assessments and situational judgement tests. Candidates who provide clear STAR examples tend to onboard faster and perform more reliably, having already demonstrated the behaviours the role demands.

When interviews align with organisational goals, hiring decisions support strategy, culture and risk management. For finance and accounting roles, this often includes competencies tied to regulatory compliance, governance, stewardship of assets and trusted business partnering. Embedding these competencies into interview processes enables leaders to build resilient, high-performing teams that deliver sustainable results. It also improves candidate experience: a transparent, structured process helps candidates understand expectations and prepare effectively, even when faced with rigorous competency interview questions.

Competency Categories and What Interviewers Look For

Understanding what interviewers listen for across key competencies helps you tailor answers that resonate. Below are core areas and the kind of evidence that typically convinces panels when they ask competency based questions.

When you map your examples to these categories, you can respond to a wide range of competency based interview questions with confidence and precision. It also helps interviewers see clear alignment between your experience and the role’s performance expectations.

How Sheridan Maine Utilises Competency-Based Interviews

At Sheridan Maine, we embed competency based interview practices throughout the recruitment process because they consistently deliver better outcomes. For clients, we collaborate to define role-specific competencies, build structured question banks and design scoring frameworks that reflect organisational priorities. For candidates, we provide targeted preparation so they can present compelling, evidence-backed examples that match the brief and demonstrate readiness for the demands of the role.

Client outcomes include finance teams that improved first-year performance and retention by aligning interviews with competencies such as stakeholder management, data integrity and commercial awareness. One client reduced time-to-hire while raising quality of hire by introducing structured competency interview questions and panel scoring. Another strengthened internal controls by prioritising ethics and governance competencies, resulting in fewer audit findings and smoother year-end processes.

Our resources and support include:

• Role-specific competency frameworks and interview guides for hiring managers.
• Bespoke coaching for candidates focused on the STAR technique, measurable outcomes and sector-specific scenarios.
• Mock interviews and feedback sessions to sharpen delivery and relevance.
• Advisory on integrating competency based interview methods with technical tests, case studies and presentation tasks.
• Ongoing partnership with clients to refine competency mappings as roles evolve.

Whether you are preparing to interview, building a hiring process or refining assessment against organisational values, Sheridan Maine can help you leverage competency based questions to make confident, high-quality decisions. If you would like to access our guides, coaching and question banks on competency interview questions, please contact the Sheridan Maine team.

Final Preparation Checklist

• Identify the top five competencies in the job description and prepare two STAR examples for each.
• Create a results inventory with metrics (time saved, costs reduced, accuracy improved, risk mitigated).
• Rehearse concise and expanded versions of each story; aim for clarity within 90 seconds, with detail if asked.
• Align examples to company values and sector specifics, especially compliance and controls in finance roles.
• Plan thoughtful questions for the interviewer about success measures, stakeholder landscape and near-term priorities.
• Ensure your CV and LinkedIn reflect the same competencies, achievements and outcomes you plan to discuss.

Competency based interview questions reward preparation and clarity. By selecting strong examples, structuring them with STAR and quantifying impact, you give interviewers the evidence they need to make an informed decision. With a disciplined approach and the right support, you can present your experience confidently and secure the role that fits your skills and ambitions. If you’re navigating competency based interview preparation or designing a hiring process that relies on competency interview questions, we’re here to help - friendly, approachable and firmly focused on results.

If you’re navigating these shifts and need skilled accounting or tax professionals, or are seeking your next role, get in touch today to discuss hiring or exploring career opportunities.