HomeThe Key Competencies of a Pilot

The Key Competencies of a Pilot

During the interview the candidate will be evaluated on certain core competencies.

Core competencies are a set of knowledge, skills and capabilities that individuals possess that help determine their suitability for a role. Candidates will be asked to demonstrate their core competencies during a competency based interview.

Some of these core competencies for airlines are:

  • Highly motivated and keen to take responsibility and accountability
  • Flexible and adaptable with an enthusiastic and positive attitude to change
  • An understanding of a pilot’s influence on commercial priorities
  • Proven Interpersonal skills
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Strong leadership potential with well developed teamwork skills
    A strong focus on safety and an awareness of just culture

Some of these core competencies for the military are:

  • The ability to plan, prioritise and organise
  • The ability to carefully analyse problems, in order to generate appropriate solutions
  • The ability to motivate others and work with a team
  • Clear, concise and effective communication skills
  • The technical and physical ability required to deal with challenging situations
  • Can do all of this while working in a physically demanding and high pressure environment
Example questions on competencies:
  • Can you tell me a time when you have demonstrated being highly motivated and keen to take responsibility and accountability?
  • Can you give me an example of when you demonstrated your leadership skills?
  • Can you give me an example of when your communication skills were tested?
  • Can you tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision?

It is very important to be able to answer competency based questions using the STAR format.

  • Situation
  • Task
  • Action
  • Result

Situation: Outline the context in a couple of sentences – what problem or situation were you faced with that you had to overcome?

Task: What was your task or objective? What did you have to do?

Action: What exactly did you do? Discuss the actions you took to address the situation. Do not use we. This is something that you did.

Result: What happened as a direct result of your action? What was the outcome and was it favourable?