Glossary
Competency
A competency is a combination of skills, knowledge and behavior that someone needs to do a job well, described so that it can be observed and assessed.
“Competency” is HR’s word for “the things this job actually requires, written so you can tell whether someone has them.” It’s broader than a single skill and narrower than a personality trait.
Skill, competency, trait
| Example | Can you assess it in an interview? | |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Writing SQL queries | Yes, with a task or specific questions |
| Competency | Analytical problem-solving: breaks down a messy question, picks the right data, explains the answer | Yes, through examples and scenarios |
| Trait | Curious | Only indirectly, and unreliably |
Competencies are useful because they describe behavior. You can hear someone describe breaking down a problem. You can’t hear curiosity directly.
Defining one well
A good competency definition has a name, a one-line description and two or three behavioral indicators. For example:
Ownership. Follows a problem through to resolution, even when parts of it belong to someone else.
- Describes following up without being asked.
- Closes the loop with the person affected.
- Talks about what they’d change so it doesn’t happen again.
The indicators become the backbone of your interview rubric.
Competency frameworks
Larger organizations often keep a framework: a shared list of competencies with levels, used across roles for hiring, reviews and promotions. They help consistency, but they can get generic. A framework competency like “communication” usually needs sharpening for a specific role. For a support agent, that might be “explains fixes simply.” For a product manager, “writes a clear one-page proposal.”
How many to screen for
For a first round, three to five. More than that and each one gets a single rushed question. Pick the ones that most separate strong from weak performers in the role, and leave the rest for later rounds.
Pitfalls
- Personality traits dressed as competencies. “Confident,” “energetic” and “a people person” are hard to assess fairly and often favor certain backgrounds.
- Overlap. “Communication” and “stakeholder management” may be measuring the same thing twice.
- Company values as competencies. Values matter, but “customer obsession” needs to be translated into behaviors before you can rate it.