Chapter 18

What Are Your Skills and Competencies?

In This Chapter

arrow Spotting skills questions

arrow Addressing competencies questions

arrow Responding to skills and competencies questions

arrow Practicing with sample questions

With job security in today’s market going the way of the ozone layer, the operative words are skills (what you can do) and, increasingly, a newer and broader employment concept termed competencies (how well you do what you do using natural talents).

The competencies concept includes skills and such related characteristics and natural abilities as motivation, industriousness, and attitudes.

In other words, the competency-based interviewing approach attempts to look at the whole package where you’re concerned. Suppose, for example, that you’re a certified expert in Java and there’s no question about your skill level. Competency questions attempt to uncover whether you also have the soft skills you need to pursue successful work projects in which organization, cooperation, and communication ease are essential. (Or whether your quirky personality drives colleagues to the aspirin bottle.) ...

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