M&G Competency Questions: 'Tell Us a Time When...' Guide
"Tell us about a time when..." questions are the backbone of M&G's interviews — video and assessment centre alike. They test teamwork, resilience, leadership and problem-solving through your real experiences. Candidates with no prepared stories improvise weakly; candidates with a story bank for each competency answer with precision. Here's how to build yours.
What M&G Competency Questions Look Like
Expect prompts like: tell us about a time you worked in a difficult team, led a project under pressure, solved a complex problem, dealt with failure, or influenced someone who disagreed with you. Each maps to a competency M&G scores: collaboration, resilience, leadership, analytical thinking, communication. The video interview typically includes several; the assessment-centre interview goes deeper with follow-ups ("what exactly did you say to them?", "what would you do differently?"). Vague answers — "we worked well together and it went fine" — score nothing, because there's no evidence to score.
How to Answer M&G Competency Questions: The STAR Method
Structure every answer as STAR: Situation (one or two sentences of context), Task (what you specifically had to do), Action (what you did — the bulk of the answer, in first person), Result (the outcome, quantified where possible). The most common mistake is a 10-second action buried in a 2-minute situation: flip the ratio. Keep situation and task to 20 seconds total, spend 60 seconds on your actions, and land the result in 15. Prepare 6 to 8 stories covering the core competencies, and know each well enough to adapt — one strong teamwork story can flex across several question wordings. Our 2027 M&G Investments Online Assessment and Video Interview Exact Questions includes the real M&G competency prompts with model STAR answers, so you can see what a scoring answer looks like.
Choosing Stories That Score
Pick stories with genuine difficulty — smooth successes teach assessors nothing. A project that nearly failed, a team conflict you resolved, a mistake you owned and fixed: these demonstrate the competencies far better than easy wins. Use varied contexts — university, internships, part-time work, societies — to show range. And always make your personal contribution explicit: assessors score what you did, not what the team did. "We decided" is weak; "I proposed X, persuaded the team, and then did Y" is strong.
No Stories, No Marks
Competency questions are scored on evidence, and evidence can't be invented in 30 seconds of prep time. The candidates who shine have their stories built, structured and rehearsed before the interview starts. Build your bank now — six stories, STAR-structured, quantified — and every "tell us about a time when" becomes a free mark instead of a scramble.
FAQ
How many stories should I prepare? Six to eight, covering teamwork, leadership, resilience, problem-solving, communication and influencing. Quality beats quantity.
Can I reuse one story for multiple questions? Yes, if it genuinely fits. Adapt the emphasis — the same project can demonstrate leadership or resilience depending on the question.
How long should each answer be? 90 to 120 seconds. Enough for full STAR; short enough to stay sharp.
What if I have no work experience? University projects, societies, sports and part-time jobs all count. Assessors score the competency, not the setting.
Preparing for M&G's competency questions? Our 2027 M&G Investments Online Assessment and Video Interview Exact Questions has the exact questions and answers — $79 one-time, instant download.
