Be concrete rather than theoretical in your answers at your job interview

​When answering a competency-based question, the interviewers are not looking for a theoretical answer of how you would ideally approach the situation. We want to hear about you and your previous work experience not a textbook answer. Nor are we looking just for an answer filled with buzzwords (or "buzzword bingo" as a participant in a interview skills course I delivered once termed it)! Instead we want to know the detail of what you did to demonstrate the particular competency. 

If your interviewers ask you to describe how you managed a team, they are looking for exactly that, an example of when you managed a team and, specifically, the detail of how you managed that team in a particular situation. You need to outline the detail of the actions you took in managing. Focus mostly on what you did and include a little bit of why you took that approach. 

This is where your homework will stand to you, as you really need to be clear and confident of the detail of what you have done, even if the work you are describing is from a few years ago. You need to include specifics and be concrete in the information you include in your answer.