Decoding Competency-Based Interview Questions
“Courageous”, part of a short series exploring competency-based interview questions, the different angles you could consider in your answers, and what interviewers may be trying to understand from them.
The aim isn’t to tell you what to say, but rather to offer a few ideas to help you think about what a question is really trying to uncover and approach your answers with that in mind.
“Tell me about a time you had to make a decision knowing there was some risk involved.”
This question may be less about bravery and more about judgement, reasoning, and responsibility.
Angles you could consider:
• What made the situation risky?
(e.g. incomplete information, time pressure, potential impact on others, uncertainty around outcomes, or competing priorities)
• What decision needed to be made, and it couldn’t be avoided or delayed.
(e.g. a point where inaction carried its own consequences)
• What options you considered before deciding.
(e.g. alternative approaches, delaying, seeking further input, or testing on a smaller scale)
• How you assessed the risk and potential impact.
(e.g. weighing benefits against downsides, considering who would be affected, and what might happen if things didn’t go as planned)
• How you involved others, if at all.
(e.g. inviting challenge, pressure-testing your thinking, or seeking differing views before moving forward)
• How you explained or communicated the decision.
(e.g. sharing your rationale, linking it to goals, or being transparent about trade-offs and uncertainty)
• What happened as a result.
(e.g. outcomes achieved, lessons learned, or how the experience shaped your future approach to decision-making)
What an interviewer may be listening for:
• Whether you can clearly explain why a decision was made and connect that reasoning to broader goals or priorities.
• Whether you’re comfortable making difficult decisions and communicating them clearly, rather than avoiding them or over-explaining.
• Whether you approach risk thoughtfully, rather than avoiding it altogether or treating it lightly.
• Whether you invite challenge or debate before acting, and factor different perspectives into your judgement.
• Whether you reflect on outcomes and use those insights to inform future decisions.
“Courageous” questions can appear in many forms. Considering what they might be exploring, such as how you assess risk, consider impact and differing perspectives, reason through decisions, and take ownership can help guide how you share your experiences.
