9. Preparation – Competency questions

A competency question requires you to give a specific example of a time where you demonstrated that particular competency.

For example, the question:

What was the most challenging thing you had to deal with on your clinical placements (or work experience) so far?

…is a competency question which links to the competency drive and resilience. You are expected to give one example of how you overcame a particular a challenge you faced on placement or in your work experience.

In order to do this in a concise way we recommend you use the STAR technique to structure your example:

Situation:	where were you and what was the context?
Task:	what was the problem or the ‘task’ you faced?
Action:	what specific actions did YOU take?
Result:	were you successful?