The interview is built from a list of competencies drawn from the role, such as communication, resilience or planning. Each competency gets one or more questions, usually behavioural, and a scoring guide describing weak, acceptable and strong evidence. The format is widely used in the UK public sector, where frameworks such as the Civil Service Success Profiles set out the behaviours being assessed.
Tying every question to a defined competency keeps interviews focused on what the job needs and makes results comparable across candidates and panels. The approach can favour people who are practised at structured answers, so clear guidance for candidates beforehand helps level the field. Competencies should be checked against the actual role rather than copied from a generic framework, or the interview may test the wrong things.