Competency-Based Recruitment and Selection Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Talent Acquisition Manager, HR Business Partner and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TPM-055

Before you join: Participants should have practical exposure to recruitment, selection, interviewing or line-management hiring decisions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Recruitment teams are often asked to fill roles quickly while proving that every decision was fair, job-related and based on evidence. Unstructured interviews, vague person specifications and inconsistent shortlisting can produce weak appointments, candidate complaints, poor diversity outcomes and decisions that cannot be defended. Competency-based recruitment addresses these risks by defining what successful performance looks like before candidates enter the process.

This five-day course teaches participants to build and run a selection process from job analysis through to appointment decisions. Participants learn to extract critical job behaviours, write competency profiles, convert competencies into person specifications, screen applications consistently and conduct structured behavioural interviews. The course also covers work samples, assessment-centre methods, scoring models, behaviourally anchored rating scales, adverse impact monitoring and selection documentation.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with case analysis, group design work, interview simulations and assessor calibration discussions. Participants work with realistic recruitment scenarios, including specialist, managerial and high-volume roles, and practise making evidence-based decisions under time constraints. Each participant develops a competency-based recruitment toolkit containing a competency profile, interview guide, scoring matrix and implementation plan. The course is available classroom-based in 50+ cities or live online, runs for five days from 08:30 to 16:30, and includes approximately 6.5 contact hours each day. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits HR professionals, recruiters, hiring managers and assessors who already participate in recruitment and need a more consistent, defensible method for selecting people.

What you will be able to do

  • Conduct job analysis using critical incidents, stakeholder interviews and performance evidence
  • Build competency profiles with observable behavioural indicators and proficiency levels
  • Create person specifications and shortlisting criteria linked to essential job requirements
  • Design structured behavioural and situational interview guides using STAR questioning
  • Select work samples, tests and assessment methods against validity and practicality criteria
  • Apply BARS and weighted scoring matrices to make consistent selection decisions
  • Identify bias, adverse impact and documentation risks within recruitment processes
  • Produce an implementation plan and recruitment dashboard for competency-based selection

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Conduct more consistent interviews using evidence-based questions and probes
  • Defend shortlisting and appointment decisions with documented job-related evidence
  • Write competency profiles that hiring managers can use without HR translation
  • Assess candidate evidence without relying on first impressions or personal similarity
  • Build credibility as a trained interviewer, assessor or recruitment adviser

For your organisation

  • Improves appointment quality through criteria linked directly to job performance
  • Reduces inconsistent shortlisting and interview decisions between hiring managers
  • Creates auditable records for candidate challenges, internal review and governance
  • Identifies adverse impact risks through progression-rate monitoring
  • Shortens assessor calibration time with shared scoring anchors and decision rules

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain and apply the principles that make selection methods fair, relevant and defensible.

  • Selection validity, reliability and utility in high-volume and specialist hiring
  • Criterion-related validity compared with face validity and content validity evidence
  • Adverse impact calculations using selection-rate ratios and four-fifths rule
  • Documenting job-related selection criteria for audit trails and challenge
  • Data protection principles governing applicant records, consent and retention
  • Recruitment governance assigns roles: hiring manager, recruiter, assessor and decision maker

Participants can gather and evaluate job evidence to define selection requirements.

  • Job analysis distinguishes tasks, outputs, knowledge, skills and behavioural requirements
  • Critical incident technique extracts effective and ineffective job behaviours
  • Incumbent interviews test role demands against managerial assumptions
  • RACI mapping clarifies decision rights and stakeholder expectations
  • Job-family comparison identifies transferable competencies and role-specific differentiators
  • Evidence matrices connect business outcomes to observable performance behaviours

Participants can create competency profiles with clear, observable and graded behavioural indicators.

  • Competency dictionaries separate core, functional, leadership and technical competencies
  • Behavioural indicators describe observable actions rather than personality traits
  • Proficiency levels distinguish foundational, skilled, advanced and expert performance
  • Writing competency statements with action, context, standard and result
  • Calibration workshops reconcile conflicting interpretations of competency language
  • Competency profile templates prioritise essential criteria over desirable attributes

Participants can translate competency requirements into consistent attraction and shortlisting methods.

  • Person specifications translate competency profiles into transparent attraction criteria
  • Realistic job previews communicate demands, constraints and performance expectations
  • Application forms collect evidence against essential and desirable criteria
  • CV screening matrices apply weighted criteria consistently across applicants
  • Knockout questions test minimum requirements without excluding qualified candidates
  • Shortlisting records document reasons for progression, reserve status or rejection

Participants can conduct structured interviews that collect comparable evidence from each candidate.

  • Structured interviews align questions, probes, scoring anchors and interview sequence
  • STAR questioning elicits situation, task, action and result evidence
  • Behavioural questions test demonstrated capability against defined competency indicators
  • Situational questions assess judgement through realistic future-work scenarios
  • Probing techniques separate individual contribution from team or organisational outcomes
  • Panel roles prevent duplication, leading questions and premature consensus

Participants can select and specify assessment methods that test critical job requirements.

  • Work-sample tests replicate critical tasks under representative job conditions
  • Assessment-centre exercises combine inbox, role-play, case analysis and presentation
  • Situational judgement tests assess responses to plausible workplace dilemmas
  • Ability tests require relevance, standardisation and qualified interpretation
  • Reference checks verify employment facts, performance evidence and rehire status
  • Assessment accommodations maintain comparable standards while removing unnecessary barriers

Participants can score candidate evidence consistently and document reasoned appointment decisions.

  • BARS convert competency evidence into anchored rating decisions
  • Weighted scoring models reflect criterion importance without false precision
  • Independent scoring precedes panel discussion and final consensus ratings
  • Inter-rater reliability checks reveal inconsistent assessor interpretation and scoring
  • Decision rules distinguish appointable candidates, reserves and unsuccessful applicants
  • Selection reports record evidence, ratings, risks and appointment rationale

Participants can reduce bias and manage fairness risks at each selection stage.

  • Affinity bias, confirmation bias and halo effects distort selection judgements
  • Blind screening removes non-predictive identifiers from initial application review
  • Structured scoring reduces discretion at each selection decision point
  • Reasonable adjustments support candidates with disabilities during assessment stages
  • Adverse impact monitoring compares progression rates between demographic groups
  • Feedback protocols communicate decisions respectfully without creating unsupported claims

Participants can configure a competency-based process with clear ownership and candidate communications.

  • Applicant tracking systems configure competency fields, workflow and audit records
  • Automated screening rules require validation, monitoring and human oversight
  • Recruiter service-level agreements define handoffs, response times and ownership
  • Candidate communications set realistic timelines, preparation guidance and next steps
  • Offer approvals confirm selection evidence, compensation alignment and conditions
  • Preboarding handovers transfer competency evidence into probation objectives

Participants can measure selection performance and plan implementation of improved recruitment methods.

  • Recruitment dashboards track conversion, time-to-fill, quality and adverse impact
  • Quality-of-hire measures combine performance, retention and manager satisfaction data
  • Validation studies compare selection scores with subsequent job performance
  • Selection-process audits test consistency, documentation quality and policy adherence
  • Root-cause analysis identifies bottlenecks, weak predictors and assessor capability gaps
  • Implementation roadmaps assign milestones, owners, measures and review cycles

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Competency-based job analysis template
  2. Competency profile and behavioural indicator model
  3. Structured interview guide with STAR probes
  4. Candidate scoring matrix with BARS
  5. Selection decision and audit record checklist
  6. Recruitment implementation and measurement plan

Who should attend

  • Talent Acquisition Manager — standardises selection quality across recruitment teams
  • HR Business Partner — advises managers on defensible hiring decisions
  • Recruiter — applies consistent screening and structured interview methods
  • Hiring Manager — defines role requirements and assesses candidates objectively
  • Learning and Development Manager — builds assessor capability for internal appointments
  • HR Officer — maintains recruitment records, policy compliance and candidate communications

Skills and tools covered

Job analysisCompetency profilingStructured interviewingAssessment designEvidence-based selectionRecruitment governance

Tools and standards

STAR interview technique, Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS), ISO 10667

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce selection validity, competency design and structured assessment methods. Participants analyse job evidence, draft competency statements, build interview guides and score candidate evidence using realistic recruitment cases. Group exercises test calibration between assessors, while interview simulations develop questioning, probing and note-taking discipline. Facilitated discussions examine bias, adverse impact and documentation risks. Participants finish by adapting course templates into an implementation plan for a role or recruitment process they know.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to recruitment, selection, interviewing or line-management hiring decisions. They should understand common recruitment documents such as job descriptions, CVs, application forms and interview notes. Experience of participating on an interview panel is useful but not essential. The course assumes confidence discussing job requirements with managers and reviewing candidate evidence. No prior training in psychometrics, assessment-centre design, statistics, employment law or competency frameworks is required. Participants do not need to bring an existing competency dictionary, although one may be useful for comparison.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic recruitment activities, such as reviewing applications, interviewing or working with hiring managers. No prior knowledge of psychometrics, assessment centres or formal competency frameworks is required.

Bring a current job description, person specification or recurring vacancy if you can share it without disclosing sensitive information. This gives you material for adapting the course templates to your own recruitment work.

The course is designed for recruiters, HR practitioners, talent acquisition managers, HR business partners and hiring managers. It is also useful for staff who sit on interview panels or design internal promotion processes.

General interviewing courses often focus on question technique alone. This course connects job analysis, competency profiles, shortlisting, interviews, assessments, scoring, bias controls and selection governance into one evidence-based process.

You can use the templates to redesign a vacancy, revise an interview guide or introduce scoring anchors for an existing panel. The implementation plan helps you identify owners, measures and early improvements for your recruitment process.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and includes approximately 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case work, group design activities, interview simulations, assessor calibration and implementation planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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