By Zeena Jackson | Principal Recruitment Consultant, Honeycomb Jobs | 4 minute read
Love them, hate them, or tolerate them because “that’s the process”, chances are you’ve either sat through a competency-based interview, run one, or Googled “STAR interview answers” and spent half the night before an interview trying to memorise the perfect examples. For years, competency-based interviews have been positioned as the sensible, fair and evidence-based way to recruit. Structured. Objective. Defensible. The grown-up option.
But here’s the question we don’t ask often enough: are competency-based interviews still fit for today’s world of work, or are we relying on a model that hasn’t meaningfully evolved in years?
What are Competency-Based Interviews Really Trying to Do?
At their core, competency-based interviews are built on a simple assumption: past behaviour predicts future performance. They are also designed to ensure an open, fair and transparent process, giving everyone the same chance to succeed.
The intention is to remove gut feel from hiring decisions. And compared to completely unstructured interviews, competency-based approaches do bring real benefits.
Why do Organisations Still Rely on Them?
Competency-based interviews introduce consistency into what is otherwise a very subjective process. Asking everyone the same questions makes decisions easier to justify, particularly in large organisations or regulated environments. Research also shows structured interviews are generally more predictive of job performance than unstructured ones.
From a candidate perspective, expectations are clearer too. All of that matters. But it doesn’t mean competency-based interviews are without problems.
Where Competency-Based Interviews Start to Struggle
One of the biggest issues is their focus on the past. They reward people who can recall and articulate previous examples well, often under pressure. But that is not the same thing as predicting how someone will perform in a fast-changing role, in a new organisation, or in a job that looks very different from the one they held a few years ago.
There’s also the reality that competency-based interviews are now extremely rehearsed. Entire industries exist to help candidates “pass” them. Many of the most commonly used frameworks haven’t been meaningfully updated in over a decade.
The result? Polished but formulaic answers. Candidates focus so heavily on structure that authenticity, creativity and real-time thinking can get lost. Being good at interviews is not the same as being good at the job.
And now, there’s another layer to this.
AI and the Rise of the “Perfect” Competency Answer
More candidates are using AI tools to prepare for competency-based interviews, turning real experiences into highly polished, well-structured STAR answers.
This isn’t cheating. It’s the reality of modern job searching. But it does raise concerns about how effective competency-based interviews are as a predictor of success in role. Candidates can now deliver “perfect” answers they’ve practised or recited, without always being able to apply that thinking in practice.
To address this, some employers are building in situational or pivot questions that challenge candidates to think in the moment. These approaches test critical thinking, adaptability and the ability to apply past experience to new situations, offering a more realistic view of how someone will actually perform.
Neurodiversity and the Competency-Based Interview Problem
If we’re serious about fair hiring, we also need to talk about neurodiversity.
Research consistently shows traditional recruitment processes disadvantage neurodivergent candidates, including people with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. Competency-based interviews can be particularly challenging, relying heavily on rapid recall, storytelling and navigating open-ended questions like “tell me about a time when.”
Many neurodivergent candidates bring strengths organisations say they value, such as deep focus, analytical thinking and problem-solving. Yet these strengths are rarely assessed well in a standard competency interview. Around half of neurodivergent jobseekers choose not to disclose their neurodiversity at work, often due to fear of discrimination. That’s not just an inclusion issue. It’s a talent issue.
What’s Emerging Instead
Competency-based interviews aren’t disappearing, but they’re increasingly being supplemented. Skills-based assessments, work samples, situational judgement tasks and strengths-based interviews are all gaining traction.
Blended approaches are becoming more common: structured interviews for fairness, practical tasks for realism, and space for genuine conversation. These methods often benefit neurodivergent candidates too, because they focus less on performance in a high-pressure social setting and more on capability.
So, are Competency-Based Interviews the Future?
Probably not on their own.
They still have value, particularly where consistency and defensibility matter. But relying on them as the primary or only assessment method feels increasingly out of step with how work actually happens.
The better question might not be whether competency-based interviews are outdated, but why we’re still hiring for tomorrow’s jobs using yesterday’s tools.
Need Guidance on Interview Prep?
Whether you’re a jobseeker trying to navigate modern interviews or an employer rethinking how you assess talent, we help people prepare, adapt and hire with confidence. If you’d like support with interview preparation, process design or a fresh perspective on what good hiring looks like today, get in touch with the team at Honeycomb Jobs.
