Going for your first job can be daunting. You’ve polished your CV, found a role you like and somehow managed to get yourself through the door to an interview.
Then comes the question you’ve been dreading:
“Can you give me an example of a time when…”
Cue panic.
What if you haven’t had a proper job before? What if you don’t have years of experience to draw on? What if you can’t think of anything to say?
Here’s the good news.
You probably have far more examples than you realise.
Competency questions aren’t necessarily about your previous employment. They’re designed to find out how you behave, how you approach situations and how you respond when things don’t go to plan.
And you can demonstrate those things through school, college, university, part-time work, sport, volunteering, clubs, hobbies and everyday life.
So, if you’re preparing for an interview, here are three common competency questions you might be asked and how to approach them.
1. “Tell me about a time when you faced a challenge or something didn’t go to plan.”
This is a really common interview question because employers want to understand how you respond when things get difficult.
They’re not expecting you to have dealt with a major workplace crisis.
Your example could be:
- A university assignment that you found particularly difficult
- An exam or piece of coursework that didn’t go as expected
- A sporting challenge
- Organising an event
- A disagreement within a team
- Learning something that you initially struggled with
- A part-time job where you had to deal with a difficult situation
The important part isn’t necessarily what the challenge was.
It’s what you did about it.
Did you give up? Or did you find another way forward?
Did you ask for help?
Did you change your approach?
Did you keep going even when it became frustrating?
And what did you learn from the experience?
Try structuring your answer like this:
Situation: What was happening?
Action: What did you actually do?
Result: What happened as a result?
Learning: What did you take from the experience?
For example:
“I had a university assignment that I was really struggling with and I realised I wasn’t going to complete it to the standard I wanted if I carried on working in the same way. I spoke to my tutor, broke the assignment down into smaller sections and created a plan for completing each part. It helped me feel much more in control and I ended up submitting it on time. It taught me that when I’m struggling with something, it’s much better to ask for help and find a different approach rather than keep trying to solve it on my own.”
That’s a much stronger answer than simply saying:
“I’m good at dealing with challenges.”
Show them. Don’t just tell them.
2. “Tell me about a time you worked as part of a team.”
Another classic.
And one that often makes students think:
“But I’ve never worked in a team at work.”
You probably have.
Think about all the different situations where you’ve had to work with other people.
Maybe you:
- Played a team sport
- Worked on a university or college project
- Were involved in a society or club
- Volunteered
- Helped organise an event
- Worked in a part-time job
- Had to complete something with a group of people
The interviewer isn’t necessarily interested in whether it was a workplace team.
They’re interested in how you work with other people.
Can you communicate?
Do you listen?
Can you compromise?
Do you take responsibility?
Can you support other people?
What happens when you disagree?
For example, perhaps you were working on a group presentation at university and two members of the group had very different ideas about how to approach it.
Rather than simply saying:
“I’m a good team player.”
Explain what actually happened.
What was your role?
How did you communicate with the rest of the team?
Did you help resolve a disagreement?
What did you contribute?
What was the outcome?
Remember, employers aren’t expecting you to be the finished article when you’re applying for an entry-level role.
They’re looking for signs that you can work well with other people and learn from your experiences.
3. “Tell me about a time you had to learn something new.”
This is one of my favourites for entry-level candidates.
Why?
Because when you’re starting out, you aren’t expected to know everything.
What employers want to understand is how willing you are to learn.
Think about something you’ve had to learn recently.
It could be:
- New software
- Learning to drive
- A new skill for a sport
- Something on your course
- A new responsibility at work
- A hobby you’ve taken up
- Something you’ve taught yourself
The important thing is to explain how you approached it.
Did you practise?
Did you ask questions?
Did you research it?
Did you make mistakes?
And, importantly, what did you do when you found it difficult?
For example:
“When I started my part-time job, I had to learn a new till system which I found quite complicated at first. I asked a colleague to show me a few of the things I was struggling with and then made sure I practised them whenever it was quiet. After a couple of weeks I was confident using the system and was able to help new starters when they joined. It showed me that I’m actually quite comfortable learning new things as long as I’m prepared to ask questions when I need help.”
That tells an employer so much more than:
“I’m a quick learner.”
Again, give them the evidence.
Don’t underestimate the experience you already have
This is probably the most important piece of advice we can give anyone preparing for their first interview.
Don’t dismiss your experiences simply because you weren’t paid for them.
You might be sitting there thinking:
“I’ve only had one part-time job. I don’t have anything to talk about.”
But perhaps you’ve played sport for years.
Maybe you’ve worked alongside your studies.
Perhaps you’ve volunteered.
Maybe you’ve organised events or been part of a club.
Perhaps you’ve had to balance university, work and your social life.
All of those experiences can demonstrate valuable skills.
Reliability. Teamwork. Communication. Organisation. Resilience. Time management. Responsibility. Problem solving.
And they can tell an employer something else that’s incredibly important:
Your attitude.
At One to One, we talk a lot about “Stickability.”
It’s that combination of reliability, resilience, attitude and willingness to learn.
It’s the person who turns up, gets stuck in, asks questions, takes responsibility and keeps going when things get difficult.
You won’t necessarily find “stickability” written on someone’s CV.
But you can often see it in the examples they give at interview.
Before your interview, do this
Don’t wait until you’re sitting in front of the interviewer to think about your examples.
Spend a little time beforehand thinking about three or four situations from your experience.
They don’t need to be perfect.
Think about:
A time something went wrong.
A time you worked with other people.
A time you had to learn something.
A time you showed commitment or didn’t give up.
Then think about what you actually did.
And remember the simple structure:
Situation → Action → Result → Learning
You don’t need to memorise a speech.
In fact, we’d advise against it.
Instead, know your examples well enough that you can talk naturally about what happened.
And if you need a moment to think during the interview, that’s absolutely fine.
Take a breath.
Think.
Then answer.
Finally, don’t underestimate yourself.
Your first interview isn’t about proving that you already know everything.
It’s about showing an employer who you are, what you’ve already learned and what you’re capable of becoming.
You may not have five years of experience.
You may not tick every box on the job description.
But you might have the attitude, potential, reliability and stickability that an employer is looking for.
So go into that interview knowing that you do have something to offer.
You just need to help the interviewer see it.
Good luck! You’ve got this.
And if you’re looking for your first opportunity in York or North Yorkshire, register with us to be the first to hear about our local opportunities!