What is a competency?
How do you show these competencies?
How do I write a competency statement?
Tips

On the application form there is space for you to give evidence showing that you have the knowledge, skills, abilities and other personal qualities needed to perform effectively in the role you’re applying for. These are referred to as competencies. It is important to read carefully what we’re looking for in each competency. 

What is a competency?

A set of actions that someone must be capable of carrying out in order to perform well in some aspect of a job.  Critical competencies for the role you’re applying for will be detailed alongside the job description and person specification.

How do you show these competencies?

By quoting examples of when, why and how you demonstrated the skills, knowledge and other qualities in the past, you show that you have the potential to apply them in a new job in the future.

How do I write a competency statement?

Describe a carefully selected example from your previous experience, which gives you plenty of opportunity to express the required activities making up the competency.

The STAR approach provides useful guidance on writing competency statements. The STAR acronym can help you think clearly about identifying a situation, task, action and result.

• Situation - how, when, where, with whom? (Set the scene and context for your action)
  
  
• Task - what was the situation or task were you faced with? (Make clear what your responsibilities and objectives were and where relevant what resources you used)
  
  
• Action - what action did you take?
  (Describe what you did, thought, felt and why.  Focus on your specific involvement in the situation and how you went about achieving what you set out to do)
  
  
• Result - what results did you achieve/conclusions did you reach?
  (Describe the outcome(s) of your actions and the impact of your actions on others and on the situation)
  
  

The situation and task are usually combined and form the introduction, the action you took should form the main body of your answer and the result should be your conclusion.

Wherever possible your examples should be based on previous work experience, however if you feel it is appropriate you may give examples based on your home life, social life, experiences in education, voluntary work or other areas of your life.

We will be looking for your evidence to be clear, comprehensive and to display positive behaviours.

Tips

• Provide specific examples of the projects, activities and people with which you’ve been involved. Try to avoid talking too vaguely around them.
  
  
• Make sure you read the information carefully. The advert, job description and competencies will give you clear ideas as to the type of information we are looking for.
  
  
• Think about how your skills and experience relate to the job. Don’t worry if you haven’t got specific broadcast or technical skills, think about how you can demonstrate the same skills in different situations, which might be study or leisure activities.
  
  
• Think through your examples. Is there a clear structure? Think about what you did and how it contributed to the situation or the outcome. Don’t forget it is you we are interested in.
  
  
• Take time to come up with the most relevant and recent examples and try to provide different examples for each question.

Ensure you complete all additional application questions and click CONFIRM to submit your application. If you do not confirm then the application will not be submitted for short listing.

We hope you have found these notes helpful.


Good luck!!

back to top ^