Tell Me How You Will Handle It If Suddenly The Priorities Of A Project Were Changed
Here, the interviewers want to know how the candidate will act in the situation when priorities are changed. This will also reflect the candidates ability to handle stress and solve problems.
Some tips to answer this question:
- Make sure that you convey the right things to the interviewer.
- Give instances of how well you are capable of handling pressure and stress.
- Avoid boasting and no matter how frustrated you were during these situations, do not tell the interviewer.
Sample answer:
I certainly understand that there might be valid reasons for a company to change the priority of a project. The vision of a project at one particular point of time would change at another time due to various conditions. If the priority of the task that I work on gets changed, I will put efforts into understanding why this happened and I will consider that it is in the best interest of the company and start to work on the new task of higher priority rather than crib about it. The ultimate goal is to achieve big things by putting in my best efforts.
What Is Your Company’s Customer Or Client Service Philosophy
This is an impressive question because it shows that you can make the connection between how the company thinks about its customers and the end result. In other words, how the customer is treated on a day-to-day basis, and in turn, how that shows up in the product.
How It Helps You
While you might be able to find a canned response to this question on the company’s website, it’ll be useful — and possibly eye-opening — for you to hear it more candidly from an employee. How the company treats its customers could end up informing your decision to join if you are offered the job, especially if you’re applying for a job where you’ll be communicating directly with customers.
What’s One Of The Most Interesting Projects Or Opportunities That You’ve Worked On
“I like this question because it gets me thinking about my own experiences, and my response changes depending on what I was or am working on and in theory, should always be changing if I’m challenging myself and advancing,” Brown told Business Insider.
Brown says that by asking for a specific example, candidates can get a better picture of what the job entails and how people function in certain roles.
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How To Answer Hr Interview Questions
Alright, we know youre here for the human resources interview questions, and we swear weve got those coming. The thing is, you need to take a step back for a moment. After all, examples only go so far. If you dont have a great strategy for tackling HR questions and answers, you might have a harder time during your interview than youd expect.
As an HR professional, youre in a unique position. Theres a decent chance youve done at least a bit of interviewing yourself or at least have a good grasp on interviewing best practices.
But that doesnt mean HR interview questions cant be tricky. Plus, you may have less leeway when it comes to mistakes.
Why?
Well, because, theoretically, you should know exactly whats coming.
Luckily, since youre here, you can prepare to face off against those human resources interview questions. With the right technique which were about to share you can navigate traditional questions and even handle the unexpected. So, lets dig into that.
First, research is your ally. Take a deep dive into that HR job description to see precisely what the hiring manager wants to find. This is incredibly important. After all, there are multiple levels of HR professional , and you need to make sure youre ready for questions that align with the exact role.
After that, the companys social media pages are good destinations. Again, youll learn about its culture, but you can also discover details about recent achievements, which is cool.
Which Part Of The Position Has The Steepest Learning Curve What Can I Do In Order To Get Up To Speed Quickly
For some jobs, learning the technology or the internal company procedures is the most challenging aspect of coming on board. For others, it is about understanding the human network. Any guidance on how to speed up the learning process and make you effective and productive quicker can give you a significant advantage.
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If Hr Pushes For A Number
The hiring manager could just as well turn the question back to you and insist you state a number. In this case, have a range ready based on the data you’ve collected.
Lares says to be clear about your absolute minimum and put that number at the bottom of your range. Your target number should be on the lower end of your range, too, Goredema adds. Identify a high enough ceiling to give yourself room to negotiate upward later on.
How wide should your range be? That’ll depend on how much you want the job, how much the pay matters to you and how much leverage you have at that point in the hiring process.
Lares gives this example: If you’re aiming for $100,000 and are still figuring out whether you like the job, you might give a range of $95,000 to $115,000. If you really want the job, know you can negotiate other benefits and want to be flexible on base salary to speed up their decision, you might tighten your band to $95,000 to $102,000.
Keep in mind that “the wider the range, the softer it is it almost seems like you’re not saying much,” Lares says.
You can always follow up by saying these are your initial expectations based on what you know of the job and company so far, and that you look forward to discussing more concrete numbers as you advance through the hiring process.
Check out:
What Is The Company Culture
Its important to ask what the company culture is, so youll know if youll be a perfect fit. Do the bosses hang out with their subordinates? Is everyone on a first-name basis? Or are the bosses way up there where you cant reach them?
You can ask for a tour of the office, too. That is one way you can see if the company has a diversified culture. If you see laughing employees hanging out and having lunch, you can deduce theres camaraderie in the workplace. On the other hand, if the office is very quiet and serious, you might decide that you cant see yourself fitting in there.
Once you understand the culture, you can make your decision about your job offer, depending on your preferences.
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How Do You Ensure Members Of A Team You Are Leading Work Together As A Unit And Also Cooperate With You On The Project
This type of interview question is meant to see how you are able to successfully lead a team of different people with different skills to complete the project.
Example:âI ensure members work as a team by clearly specifying each member’s role in the team and the relevance of each member to another in the team. I also ensure there are regular meetings to address issues that are coming up in executing the project.
I ensure team members cooperate with me by motivating and inspiring them to put in their best. I also ensure to give adequate commendation to the group as a team.â
Hr Interview Questions: The Top 10 Questions Asked In The Hr Interview
Contributor
In the initial screening phase of a hiring process, an HR professional will ask candidates a set of HR interview questions. The purpose of these questions is to gauge the candidates basic skills and interest for the role, and to clarify various points about their application and resume.
Here, we put together a list of the best human resources interview questions for candidates, plus sample answers.
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Questions To Ask Hr Manager During Interview
Before you meet the person you’d be working for, you’ll likely meet a member of HR via a phone screening. Although this initial phone call is a standard first step for most organizations today, it’s also an opportunity for HR to take notes on you as a candidate and relay those notes to the hiring manager.
Make a good impression on HR — it matters more than you think.
Here are some appropriate questions to ask at this initial stage of the recruitment process so you can put your best foot forward.
What Do You Look For When Recruiting A Candidate
One of the key responsibilities of an HR professional is hiring the right candidates for the job. As an HR director, you will not spend much time directly interviewing candidates, unless they are for leadership positions. Instead, you will be in charge of creating policies that influence the hiring process. This question aims to understand how you will directly influence the standard hiring practices of a company.
Example:”When I hire candidates for a role, I look for expertise, culture fit and their growth potential. First, I assess whether a candidate’s skills and experience match the job description. Next, I select the candidates who stand out with theirresearch and enthusiasm. Often, these are individuals who understand the vision and direction of the company. Lastly, I look for candidates that we can mold. These are candidates who are teachable and invest in their own learning too. As an HR director, these three principles will inform my hiring policies.”
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What Is The Next Step In The Hiring Process
Knowing the steps of the hiring process can help you prepare for future interactions with the employer. For example, if the recruiter explains candidates attend a panel meeting with chief officers before they extend a job offer, then you can begin practicing answers to potential questions. Other succeeding steps to the phone interview include:
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Technical skills test
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One-on-one interview with a manager
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Tour of the office building
Do You Know Anyone Who Works For Us
The purpose of this HR interview question and its answer is tricky and most of the interviewees these days fail to give an appropriate answer.
Your interviewer wants to find out if you have relatives, friends or acquaintances working for the organization.
From a psychological point of view, they want to know if you already have a mentor within the organization.
So it is recommended that you frame a positive answer while facing your round of HR interview questions and answers.
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Whats The First Problem Or Challenge The Person You Hire Will Need To Tackle
This question shows that youre coming in focused and ready to contribute from day one. It also shows that youre making sure to look for a position that youre well-equipped to handle.
So youll build trust with the company, and show them that youre a motivated candidate. Thats a win-win.
Plus, youre going to discover the companys biggest pain point in the interview so you can speak more about that topic and further demonstrate that youre ready to solve their problem.
Or if you feel you already discussed the topic, you could say:
Thats great to hear, since Ive done similar work at my past company and helped them solve this exact type of problem. I know we touched on that past work in this interview already, but is there anything else I can provide in terms of information on the topic? Im happy to share more if so.
How Do You Evaluate The Performance Of The Person In This Position
Knowing how you will be evaluated is a good idea before going into any position. Some companies offer annual evaluations, while others offer more frequent feedback. It may also benefit you to know if you will be working directly with your supervisor who will be there to observe your work or if they will be relying on data or results that will affect your evaluation.
Related:How to Prepare for a Performance Evaluation
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Questions About Next Steps
10. Whats your timeline for next steps?
This is a basic logistics question, but its useful to ask because it gives you a benchmark for when you can expect to hear something back. Otherwise, in a few days youre likely to start agonizing about whether you should have heard back about the job by now and what it means that you havent, and obsessively checking your phone to see if the employer has tried to make contact. Its much better for your quality of life if you know that youre not likely to hear anything for two weeks or four weeks or that the hiring manager is leaving the country for a month and nothing will happen until shes back, or whatever the case might be.
Plus, asking this question makes it easy for you to check in with the employer if the timeline they give you comes and goes with no word. If they tell you that they plan to make a decision in two weeks and its been three weeks, you can reasonably email them and say something like, I know you were hoping to make a decision around this time, so I wanted to check in and see if you have an updated timeline you can share. Im really interested in the position and would love to talk more with you.
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How Has Your Previous Experience Prepared You For This Position
With this question, the interviewer is specifically interested in how your prior work experience has prepared you for the responsibilities of the position you are applying for. When answering, try to focus on specific work experiences. If you have limited or no prior work experience at all, you can also discuss how your educational experiences have prepared you for the role.
Example:In my current role, I am responsible for supporting a team of four attorneys. My job involves making sure their files are prepared for trial, assisting them with preparing legal documents, answering and responding to phone calls from clients and maintaining the attorneys’ calendars. My experience there combined with my paralegal educational experience has helped me develop strong organizational skills, time-management skills and keen attention to detail. I am excited to continue to advance my career and development by joining your team as the lead paralegal.
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Does Your Company Track Diversity And Pay Equity Among Different Races Or Gender Groups
Woodruff-Santos recommends saving this question for your first official interview, whether its with the hiring manager or with someone from human resources, rather than a screening phone call with a recruiter. As a career expert who is especially passionate about advocating for women of color, this is one of her favorite questions to ask.
At this stage in my career, where Im coming in at a senior level, I feel like I can be more direct without having any social penalties in an interview process than someone whos entry-level, Woodruff-Santos says. But if youre interviewing for an entry- or mid-level role and are feeling nervous about broaching this topic , she suggests expressing how excited you are about not only the role itself, then noting that youre looking for opportunities specifically at a company that values diversity in various ways. After that, you can ask about the companys demographic breakdowns and what they do to support workers of different identities. According to Woodruff-Santos, that information speaks volumes about the company as a whole.
So does the hiring manager or HR representatives response. If they act defensive, refuse to answer, or change the subject, thats a sign that they likely are not transparent with employees, Salemi says. It can also tell you a lot about how they treat issues of diversity and equity as a whole, Woodruff-Santos adds.
What Do The Most Successful New Hires Do In Their First Month Here
This question shows that you’re the type of person who likes to hit the ground running, instead of spending a week filling out HR forms. It also shows that you recognize patterns of success and want to replicate only the most effective performers.
How It Helps You
Every company has its weird nuances, its own environment, and its own unspoken expectations. This helps you start with a little bit of the insider info so you don’t suffer a case of “if I knew then what I knew now” in six months.
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Have You Applied For Any Other Positions
If the interviewee has been applying for other positions, is a good idea to see what types of positions they have applied for. Are the positions similar to your opening or totally different?
If you speak to a candidate who is applying for many different types of positions in many different fields it may give you an indication that the candidate does not really know what kind of job they want and are just seeing whats out there.
