The business environment in which the organizations operate and run their businesses is dominated by the ever-growing competition, legal issues, political changes, dwindling customer preferences, etc. An organization can survive and thrive in such challenging business environments only if it is able to satisfy the real needs, demands, and expectations of its customers. For some organizations, their employees are their customers. These employees are treated as assets and given huge importance as the success or failure of an organization depends upon these employees’ sweat and hard work.
Hence, it is quite essential that an organization hires talented, skillful, and honest employees for their businesses. In order to do so, business organizations require the services of a human resource department, headed by a human resource director, responsible for overseeing, managing, and handling the entire recruitment process. The role of a human resource manager is quite challenging and requires many interpersonal skills and exceptional communication skills. In return, an HR manager is highly paid and seen as a respectable designation within the business organization.
21 Best Interview Questions To Study
1) What Do You Understand By A Pre-Video Session In Hiring and Its Relevance?
This question tests your knowledge and understanding of the latest technologies and procedures using which a person is getting hired at an organization. You are supposed to have complete knowledge of the same, as you might get tested in regards to them.
Sample Answer
With the advent of technology, the hiring process has also evolved considerably. Nowadays, in order to get a better understanding of the personality, attitude, and educational aspects of a candidate, a pre-designed set of questions is assigned to a job aspirant, which he or she has to answer on a video recording mode. This helps managers not to call all the candidates for a physical interview or entertain all the applications. Rather, a few selected job seekers who conform and satisfy the requirements of the recruiters can be called for a physical interview session.
2) How Do You Conduct Mass Hirings?
This is a practical job-related question that requires you to share the techniques and procedures using which you will hire a huge number of candidates for a business organization.
Sample Answer
The primary issue in mass hiring is a compromise upon the established standards and requirements of an organization. I always make sure, that in a quest to do hirings quickly I am not skipping any routine procedure or not overlooking any defect in the educational aspect of a candidate. Further, In order to do so, I always place advertisements on leading employment applications along with scrutinizing the profiles of qualifying and desirable candidates. I always contact these candidates via telephonic conversation and email so as to further the recruitment process.
3) What Are The Two Major Benefits Of Hiring An Overqualified Candidate?
This is a practical question that not only requires you to think creatively but also tests your core principles of hiring.
Sample Answer
Sir, hiring overqualified candidates can be quite tricky sometimes and in my opinion, there are equal chances of getting enhanced benefits as well as losses. However, there are a few benefits of hiring overqualified candidates such as:
- Overqualified candidates require less training as compared to the appropriately qualified candidates, enabling an organization to save its huge training and developemnt expenditure.
- These candidates are more productive and have the ability to execute more tasks and duties in a time bound manner, helping an organization to smoothly achieve its goals and objectives.
4) How Can An Employee Adapt To A Change?
This is a personality evaluating question through which an interviewer wants to know your attitude and perception towards an organizational change.
Sample Answer
Sir, for most of the employees, organizational changes such as a change in technology, mergers, acquisitions, change in leadership, etc are hard to cope with as that pushes them out of their comfort zone. But, I being a committed and disciplined employee, is ready to accept and adapt myself in accordance with all the changes. Be assured that, I would not complain or refuse to work in a changing environment.
5) Training Employees Lead To Wastage Of Resources. Do You Agree With This Statement?
This is a practical question that not only requires you to think creatively but also tests your core principles of hiring.
Sample Answer
No sir, I totally disagree with this statement. Employees are the assets of an organization, and the level of success that an organization achieves depends entirely upon the hard work and perseverance of these employees. An organization could achieve great heights only if it is able to impart excellent and relevant training to its employees helping them to develop and evolve their skills, personality, and attitude. There are always apprehensions that a trained employee might switch over to any other organization in search of better employment prospects and salary, but the loss generated through this is quite small as compared to the benefits.
6) Please Explain The Term Goal Congruence?
This question tests your basic understanding of the various employee-centric terminologies.
Sample Answer
Business organizations work on multiple levels and employ people belonging to a diverse population having different goals, visions, and missions. In a typical work environment, there is the existence of two types of goals, which are:
- Individual Goals: Every employee, no matter working at lower level or higher level has his own set of goals, preferences and objectives.
- Organizational Goals: Every organization has its own goals, visions and mission statements.
The union of these goals is known as goal congruence which is affected by the help of organizational policies and rules.
7) What Motivates You To Work?
This is a common interview question through which an interviewer wants to know the primary factors and reasons that motivate you to work hard and achieve your goals and objectives.
Sample Answer
Sir, this question is highly subjective and depends largely upon the conditions, circumstances, and desires of a person. For me, the primary thing that motivates me and prompts me to work hard is my desire to earn widespread recognition as well as promotions at my workplace which is possible only if I execute all the tasks and duties assigned to me in a time-bound manner.
8) Hiring Highly Adept Employees Could Be Harmful For An Organization. Justify This Statement.
This question tests your knowledge and understanding of the core principles of hiring.
Sample Answer
Sir, in my humble opinion this statement is absolutely true and correct. I want to justify this statement using these two points:
- Such employees, have a stubborn attitude and they ultimately fall victim to complacency, thereby affecting their individual performamnce in a negative manner. When an employee feels that, he or she is smart enough for this position, he or she could not simply do justice to the position.
- These employees have a high turnover rate and they are ready to almost migrate in search of better prospects at almost every minute. This might affect an organization badly as that would lead to an increased employment expenditure.
9) Do You Prefer Our Organization. If Yes, Why Have You Applied With Our Rivals.
This is a tricky question through which an interviewer wants to unsettle you and wants to disturb your focus or concentration. It is common for interviewers to ask such questions, but we advise you that you prepare hard for them and never show any signs of nervousness or any sort of apprehension.
Sample Answer
Sir, this organization is the first priority for me, and considering its widespread popularity and established brand name, I believe, there are several applications for these handfuls of job openings. Hence, in order to break the shackles of unemployment and increase my chances of selection, I have applied with a few other organizations too.
10) Have You Ever Accomplished Something At A Workplace. If Yes, Please Share.
This is just another variety of a famous interview question, ‘What accomplishments are you most proud of?’ As an ideal response to this question, you are supposed to share a tough/tricky situation that you handled and managed adeptly, using your intelligence and skills.
Sample Answer
Yes sir, Being a committed and hardworking employee, I have garnered a few accomplishments while working with my previous employers. I would like to share one such instance during my previous tenure, where I was working as a hiring manager. There was an urgent project given to us by our client, which has to be completed in just six months, whereas the normal duration of such projects was at least 18 months. Hence, in order to do so, we had to hire a large team of freelancers, and that too pretty quickly. I was given this task, and initially, I was too skeptical about the same. But I accepted the challenge and was able to hire some quality freelancers in a very short span of time.
11) Share With Me Your Greatest Fear.
This is a common interview question that evaluates your personality and attitude. An under-prepared candidate might respond in a way, that, I have no fears, just in order to look bold and brave. But, this is an absolute wrong interpretation of this question. This question simply requires you to share any of your work-related weaknesses in a logical and well-structured manner.
Sample Answer
Sir, like everybody, I too am afraid of a few things in my life. The greatest fear for me is the fear of becoming too detail-oriented while working on a task. I always prefer to garner and muster as much information possible for a project, not leaving even the minutest of things. However, in a quest to do so, I tend to devote a lot of time, and sometimes I tend to overdo it, leading me to miss my deadline for project submission. I am working on this shortcoming of mine and have even joined an online class in respect of efficient project management.
12) How Do You Prioritize Between Tasks?
This is a common interview question through which an interviewer wants to know how effectively and appropriately can you manage the several tasks that you will be assigned in a single working day.
Sample Answer
Sir, I completely understand the relevance of this question. It is common for business organizations to give a few tasks that have to be completed in a single working day. In order to do so, the employees must follow an impactful prioritization technique that is based upon their own skills, capacity, and talent. For me, I always prioritize the tasks on the basis of time consumption. The tasks that would take maximum time are completed by me at the beginning of the working day only to be followed by the tasks that are less time-consuming.
13) How Do You Handle Lethargic Employees?
There could be two approaches to this question, where on one side you can be strict and simply fire such an employee and on the other side, you can be liberal and might want to offer or give a few chances to your employee before taking any harsh step. The second approach is more appropriate and followed. In our opinion, you must display a perfect balance of strictness and liberty.
Sample Answer
Sir, I always monitor and look after all the employees that are working under me. I specifically examine their performances, quality of work, and the efforts they are putting into their duties. If I ever feel that a person is too lethargic or too lazy to fulfill his or her obligations, I, first of all, would give a few warnings to him or her and if the issues still persist, I would be forced to make a change.
14) How Many People In This World Are Bad?
These are surprising questions that have the ability to unsettle you and amaze you. You might display nervous body language or a worrisome forehead in response to this question. Such a response must be avoided at all costs, rather you are required to answer confidently.
Sample Answer
Sir, In my humble opinion, Hell and God both lie within us, The good or bad nature of a person depends largely and majorly upon his or her upbringing, the living situations, circumstances, and financial conditions. If these factors are on the negative side, there are high chances that even a good person falls prey to poverty, frequent quarrels and fights, and performs a few things that are really unethical and unexpected. Regarding the number, I believe, that such people are quite less in number.
15) Can You Work In Rotational Shifts?
The multi-national culture of business organizations requires them to work day and night. For this, they are required to hire people that have the ability and adaptability to work in rotational shifts. You are expected to work in shifts, and hence you must answer this question in a positive manner.
Sample Answer
Yes sir absolutely. I have the ability to work in the day as well as night shifts as per the requirements and needs of the business organization. I have developed my stamina and concentration to a good effect for such purposes.
16) How Sincere Are You In Taking Orders?
Being a person employed in lower or middle-level management you are required to take orders from your seniors as well as leaders from top-level management. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know your seriousness, perception, and attitude towards taking as well as following those orders religiously.
Sample Answer
Sir, be assured that I am a disciplined and order-following person, who wants to work for the good and benefit of my employer organization. I have superior active listening skills that enable me to understand the primary requirements of a given order and post that, I always use my analytical skills as well as experience so as to devise a plan to execute it.
17) Can You Handle A Hectic Work Schedule?
This question requires a positive response from you wherein you are supposed to persuade your interviewer into believing that you can handle a stressful and high volume working day without compromising on your performance.
Sample Answer
Yes sir, undoubtedly. I have been in this profession for a few years and have learned the art or master tactics of handling work pressure. Be assured that, I can deliver excellent performance even during a hectic working day and would never compromise on my productivity or quality of tasks executed. For this, I can use a variety of techniques, such as prioritization, affective detail collection, high concentration, and focus, etc.
18) How Can An Organization Hire Talented Employees At Lower Cost To Company?
This is a job-specific interview question that tests your knowledge and understanding of the core principles of talent hiring and management.
Sample Answer
Sir, the more an organization increases its brand awareness by engaging itself in effective marketing campaigns and popularization strategies, the higher would be an organization’s capability to attract and hire a talented pool of resources at a lower cost to the company. This is because almost all the job aspiring candidates want to work with an established and popular brand because of a greater sense of satisfaction and social recognition. Due to this, they would be ready to work for a popular brand at a lower salary.
19) Why You Chose Us?
This is a common interview question through which an interviewer wants to check and know your level of seriousness and perception towards the organization you sought to work with. This question requires you to specify some unique organizational facts as well as achievements.
Sample Answer
Being a global recruitment organization, hiring and managing talents for some of the most successful and popular brands, operating across the world, with a presence of 90,000 employees and more than 8,000 branches, this mammoth organization speaks a lot for itself. I am deeply impressed by the work culture and ethics followed by the organization along with the usage of modern and latest technologies. In addition to this, the organization is offering a high salary along with some lucrative benefits, which further entices me to be a part of the workforce.
20) What Is Your Major Strength?
This is a common interview question through which an interviewer wants to know about your level of self-awareness and your ability to scrutinize yourself. This is the most appealing and most effective personality evaluating question, which must be prepared sincerely and appropriately.
Sample Answer
Sir, I have a lot of strengths in me, but since you have asked for a major strength, I would like to share the strength which is the closest and most dominating in me. I have the ability to work long hours at a workplace without any considerable breaks or recesses. This is primarily due to my excellent concentration and focus. which I always maintain and increase by engaging myself in regular physical workouts and meditation.
21) Do You Have Any Questions For Us?
It is a common habit for the interviewers to ask this question towards the fag end of an interviews session. Through this question, a candidate gets an opportunity to ask a few questions from the interviewer and clear all his or her doubts in relation to the organization, its policies, its working hours, etc. Hence, this question must not be skipped at any cost, as that would enable an interviewer to frame an opinion, that either you are underprepared or not serious for this position. In any case, your selection chances would be severely hurt.
Sample Questions
- What are the work timings of the organization?
- After how many years of regular employment, an employee can get promotions and regular pay hikes?
- Is it the organization’s policy to extend paid leaves during maternity/paternity period?
- What are the various health benefits and insurances offered by the organization to its employees?
- Please enumerate a list of all the allowances given by the organization to its employees.
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (for Human Resources interviews):
References
- http://sk.sagepub.com/cases/emotional-intelligence-job-candidates-inventory-interview-questions
- https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/bjon.2015.24.21.1074
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