Strength-based interviews

A strength-based interview asks what you enjoy, what you do well and what gives you energy, on the basis that people perform best in work that suits them. Questions are quick and often personal: “What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?”, “Do you prefer starting tasks or finishing them?”, “Tell us about a day when you felt you had achieved a lot.” In the Civil Service, strengths are one of the five elements of Success Profiles and usually sit alongside behaviour questions in the same interview.

How strengths differ from competencies

A competency question asks for proof that you can do something. A strengths question asks whether you like doing it and do it naturally. Someone can be capable of handling complaints and find it draining; a strengths interview tries to find the person who finds it satisfying.

That changes how you answer. Competency answers are structured stories. Strengths answers are shorter, more spontaneous and more about how you feel about the work. Panels listen to the content and to how you say it: tone, energy and how quickly a real answer comes.

Civil Service strengths

The Success Profiles framework includes a strengths dictionary. Each vacancy picks the strengths that fit the role, and the panel writes questions around them. Strengths in the dictionary include, among others:

• Adaptable
• Analytical
• Team leader
• Organiser
• Problem solver
• Resilient
• Improver
• Inclusive
• Decisive
• Detail focused

The advert may list the strengths being assessed, or may just say “strengths”. If it lists them, think about where in your life each one shows up. If not, read the job description and ask yourself what kind of person would enjoy it most.

Example questions

These are typical of the format:

• What energises you at work?
• Do you prefer having a plan or responding as things come up?
• When did you last learn something new? How did it feel?
• How do you feel when your plans are changed at the last minute?
• What would your friends say you are good at?
• Do you prefer to work on one thing at a time or several?
• Tell us about something you are proud of that is not work-related.

There are often more questions than in a competency interview, and they come faster. Some panels deliberately move on quickly to stop you rehearsing.

How answers are scored

In the Civil Service each strength is scored on the same numbered scale used for other elements, set out in the candidate pack. Panels look for evidence that the strength is genuine and frequent: you do it often, you do it well, and you talk about it with some enthusiasm. A vague or reluctant answer scores low even if the content is correct.

NHS trusts and some councils also use strengths-based questions, mostly for graduate schemes, apprenticeships and entry-level roles where candidates may not have much work experience to draw on. Scoring there is set locally.

Preparing without scripting

You cannot prepare exact answers, but you can prepare your thinking.

1. Read the job description and list what you would actually spend your time doing.
2. For each task, ask yourself honestly whether you enjoy it and why.
3. Think of recent moments when you were absorbed in something, at work or outside it. What were you doing?
4. Think of tasks you put off. Be ready to talk about them honestly if asked.
5. Practise answering random questions aloud with a friend who asks them in a different order each time.

Honesty helps. If you dislike something, you can say so and explain how you handle it. That is more convincing than claiming to love every part of the job.

In the interview

Answer in the first person and give a short example where it helps: “I love sorting things out. Last month I rebuilt our team’s shared folders over a couple of afternoons because I couldn’t stand not being able to find things.” Two or three sentences is often enough. If the panel wants more, they will ask.

Strengths questions are often mixed with behaviour questions, so switch modes: STAR for “tell us about a time”, short and direct for strengths. If the interview is on video, the same applies; our video interviews guide covers the practical side. If you do not get the job, ask for your scores per element. They show whether strengths or behaviours let you down, which is useful for the next application. Our guide on how to get into the Civil Service covers the wider process.