Strengths-Based Interview: Complete Guide & Example Answers
Everything you need to pass a strengths-based interview — how they work, the 30 most common questions from EY, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays, and expert example answers that feel authentic, not scripted.
What is a Strengths-Based Interview?
A strengths-based interview (SBI) focuses on what you naturally enjoy doing and do well — your authentic strengths — rather than asking for past examples of competencies. Instead of "Tell me about a time you led a team," you'll hear "What kind of work energises you?" or "When do you feel most like yourself?"
The premise is straightforward: people perform best when they're doing what they genuinely enjoy. Employers using this format are trying to identify whether your natural strengths match what the role actually requires day-to-day, and whether you'll sustain motivation long-term.
EY switched to a fully strengths-based format in the UK in 2012 and reported a 40% reduction in early attrition among graduate hires. The reasoning: candidates hired for competencies they can demonstrate — but don't enjoy — perform adequately in the short term but leave within 2 years. Strengths-based hiring predicts sustained performance and satisfaction, not just initial capability.
Which Employers Use Strengths-Based Interviews
Strengths-based interviews are most common in professional services, financial services, and the public sector. Employers with fully strengths-based graduate processes include:
- EY: All UK service lines use a fully strengths-based format at every interview stage. No competency questions.
- Goldman Sachs: Strengths elements at HireVue stage and analyst interviews — alongside technical and commercial questions.
- Barclays: Graduate programme uses a hybrid strengths + situational judgement format.
- Nestlé: Global graduate programme is strengths-based throughout.
- Aviva, Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group: Fully or predominantly strengths-based graduate recruitment.
- Civil Service Fast Stream: Uses a blend of strengths and behavioural (Civil Service Behaviours) questions.
See our guides for employer-specific processes: EY Assessment Guide, Goldman Sachs Aptitude Test, Barclays Aptitude Test, Civil Service Fast Stream.
Strengths vs Competency-Based Interviews
| Dimension | Strengths-Based | Competency-Based |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | What you enjoy & do naturally | What you have done in the past |
| Question style | "What energises you?" / "When are you at your best?" | "Tell me about a time when…" |
| Answer format | Conversational; short illustrative examples | STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) |
| What interviewers detect | Genuine enthusiasm vs rehearsed answers; energy levels; spontaneity | Evidence of specific past behaviours |
| Preparation approach | Self-reflection first; authenticity is critical | Evidence bank of examples mapped to competencies |
| Typical users | EY, Goldman Sachs, Nestlé, Barclays, Aviva | PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, McKinsey, Amazon |
| Hybrid format | Many employers now mix both — strengths questions alongside STAR behavioural questions. See Assessment Centre Guide for how both appear in practice. | |
Interviewers are specifically trained to assess authenticity. They look for energy level changes, spontaneous examples, facial animation, and the speed of response. Candidates who have over-rehearsed or fabricated strengths give slower, flatter answers. The best preparation is genuine self-reflection — not scripting answers.
The 30 Most Common Strengths Interview Questions
Opening Strengths Questions
- What are you good at that you also love doing?
- When do you feel most like yourself?
- What energises you at work or university?
- What kind of tasks do you find yourself doing without being asked?
- Describe a time you were so absorbed in something you lost track of time. What were you doing?
Identifying Genuine Strengths
- What do others consistently come to you for help with?
- What do you find easy that others seem to find hard?
- What would your closest friends say are your three greatest strengths?
- What activity gives you a sense of pride regardless of the outcome?
- If you could design your ideal working day, what would fill most of it?
Strengths vs Weaknesses
- What drains your energy at work, even if you're good at it?
- Is there something you're good at but wouldn't choose to do all day?
- What skills do you most want to develop in the next two years?
- Tell me about something you've worked hard to improve — did it become a strength?
Strengths in Action
- Tell me about a recent achievement you're proud of — what strengths made it possible?
- When did you recently go above and beyond? What motivated you to do that?
- Describe a situation where you made a real difference. What were you drawing on?
- Tell me about a challenge you overcame — what personal quality was most important?
Role-Fit Questions
- What aspects of this role excite you most and why?
- What would make this role feel meaningful to you?
- Looking at our values, which resonates with you most — and why that one?
- What kind of environment brings out your best work?
- How do you know when you're performing at your peak?
EY-Specific Strengths Questions
EY's graduate interviews use only strengths questions. They are looking for evidence of their core strengths: curiosity, inclusiveness, agility, integrity, and purpose. Questions typically include: "What does 'making a difference' look like to you?", "Tell me about something new you've learned recently just because you wanted to", and "What does working with people who are different from you mean to you?"
How to Identify Your Genuine Strengths
The biggest mistake candidates make is guessing what the employer wants to hear, then constructing a "strength" around it. This approach fails because interviewers are trained to detect it. The starting point must be genuine self-reflection.
The Energy Audit Method
For the next 7 days, keep a simple log. After each significant activity — a lecture, group project, job, volunteering, sport, creative work — rate it on two dimensions:
Performance: How well did I do this? (1–10)
Be honest. Not "how well do I think I should do" — how well did you actually perform relative to others who were doing the same thing?
Energy: Did this activity energise or drain me? (+/–)
Activities that are both high performance AND energising are your strengths. Activities that are high performance but draining are "learned behaviours" — skills, not strengths. Activities that are low performance but energising are areas of growth potential.
Map your results onto the 2x2 matrix
High Performance + High Energy = True Strengths (lead with these in interview). High Performance + Low Energy = Learned Behaviours (mention carefully — "I'm good at X but I prefer Y"). Low Performance + High Energy = Growth Areas. Low Performance + Low Energy = Development gaps (acknowledge, then redirect).
Common Strength Themes
If you're struggling to name your strengths, consider whether any of these resonate:
Once you've identified 6–8 genuine strengths, find a short concrete example (2–3 sentences) that illustrates each in action — you don't need a full STAR story, just a specific moment that shows the strength authentically.
Worked Example Answers
"What energises you at work or study?"
Strong answer:
I get genuinely energised by making sense of complexity — taking something that seems overwhelming and finding the underlying structure. In my dissertation, I had to analyse 40 qualitative interviews and build a framework from scratch. I actually looked forward to those analysis sessions. I'd lose track of time. I know that sounds unusual for what most people would find tedious, but that's exactly why I think consulting would suit me — the role is essentially doing that every day for real business problems.
"What do others consistently come to you for help with?"
Strong answer:
People come to me when they need to explain something complicated to someone who doesn't share the same background. On my internship, the data science team would often ask me to sit in on client calls because they said I translated their analysis into business language in a way they struggled to do themselves. I genuinely enjoy that translation role — it's where both my analytical and communication sides get to work simultaneously.
"What drains your energy, even if you're good at it?"
Strong answer:
Repetitive administrative work — I can do it accurately and reliably, but it doesn't engage me in the same way. I've learned to batch it and get it done efficiently, but I wouldn't want a role where it was the majority of my time. That said, I recognise it's part of any role at the start, and I'd approach it as the foundation for the higher-complexity work I want to get to.
Your answer should feel like genuine self-reflection first, then naturally connect to the role. If the ratio reverses — if your answer sounds like you're constructing strengths backwards from the job description — interviewers will sense it. Anchor in what's true about you, then make the connection explicit in your final sentence.
Employer-Specific Strengths Frameworks
| Employer | Format | Core Strengths They Look For | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| EY | Fully strengths-based; no STAR questions | Curiosity, inclusiveness, agility, integrity, purpose, empathy | EY Guide → |
| Goldman Sachs | Hybrid: strengths + technical + markets knowledge | Intellectual rigour, resilience, client focus, integrity, initiative | GS Guide → |
| Barclays | Hybrid: strengths + situational judgement | Empathy, analytical thinking, accountability, resilience, adaptability | Barclays Guide → |
| Nestlé | Fully strengths-based throughout | Courage, curiosity, results focus, agility, collaboration | — |
| Civil Service | Blend of strengths + Civil Service Behaviours | Seeing the big picture, making effective decisions, communicating & influencing | Fast Stream Guide → |
| NHS Graduate | Strengths elements in assessment centre interview | Leadership, empathy, resilience, curiosity, service focus | NHS Guide → |
Every employer who uses strengths-based interviews publishes the strengths or values they're looking for — on their careers site, in their graduate programme brochure, or in interview guidance sent with your invitation. Map your genuine strengths to their language. If they value "curiosity" and you naturally are curious, use that word. The vocabulary alignment signals cultural fit without being inauthentic.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Giving STAR answers to strengths questions: Strengths interviews don't want a structured situation-task-action-result story for every question. Over-structuring your answers makes them sound rehearsed and generic. A conversational, spontaneous-sounding answer with a brief illustrative example is far more effective. See our STAR Interview Technique guide for when the STAR format is appropriate.
- Claiming obvious "good candidate" strengths: "I'm a good communicator and a hard worker" tells the interviewer nothing authentic. Every candidate says this. Genuine strengths are specific — "I have an unusual ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences, which I've developed through…" is memorable and credible.
- Not having illustrative examples ready: You don't need long stories, but you need brief concrete moments. "Analytical thinking" with no example sounds hollow. "When I was mapping the survey data for my dissertation — I'd be there until midnight because I genuinely wanted to finish that section" is vivid and believable.
- Treating weakness questions as traps: "What drains you?" is not a trick. Giving a genuine, professional answer (with a brief mitigation) shows self-awareness, which is itself a scored competency. Refusing to give a real answer ("I struggle to switch off") is transparent and unhelpful.
- Not connecting strengths to the role: Even in a strengths interview, everything you say should implicitly or explicitly connect to why you'd succeed in this specific role. End each answer with a brief "...which is why I think [role/firm] would be a good fit for me" — but make it feel like a natural conclusion, not a sales pitch.
Frequently Asked Questions
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