HR Interview Questions - Quick Guide

HR Interview Questions

An interview can be broadly seen as a formal meeting arranged to evaluate a prospective employee by obtaining his/her career-oriented details, like qualification and work-experience. An interview presents the applicants an opportunity to elaborate on certain components of their resumes and talk about their areas of expertise. It also tests their ability to think critically and independently.

Depending on the position and the company you are getting hired for, you might need to appear in various types of interviews. We going to discuss here the following six types of interviews and also see what makes them so unique −

• Behavioral Questions
• Traditional Questions
• Case Questions
• Role-play questions
• Industry-specific questions
• Brainteasers

Behavioral Questions

It is estimated that 80% of the interview is made up of behavioral questions. This type of interviewing is based on the philosophy that a detailed analysis of the way you acted in certain circumstances in your previous job will give a reliable indication of the way you will act in your new job too.

Behavioral questions will be experience-based and you need a lot of practice to be able to answer them in a satisfactory manner.

STAR Technique

To answer Behavioral Questions, employ the STAR technique −

• S = Situation − (recall an incident in your life that suits the situation)
• T = Task − (recall an incident in your life that suits the task)
• A = Action − (mention the course of action you opted to address the situation or task)
• R = Result − (mention the result of your action and the outcome)

Q − Tell me about an incident where you worked effectively under pressure.

Remember that these are only sample interview answers meant to give a general idea on the approach to Behavioral Interviews. You need to formulate your own answers to suit the context and scenario asked in the question.

Sample Behavioral Interview Questions

Q1 − Describe a bad experience you had working with your ex-employer

Q2 − Describe how you handle disagreement.

Q3 − Explain a situation when you explained a complex idea simply.

Q4 − Describe a time when you had to adapt to a change at work.

Q5 − Describe a time when you made a mistake.

Q6 − Describe a time when you delegated tasks to team-mates.

Q7 − Describe when you were blamed for somebody else’s mistake.

Q8 − Describe a difficult situation that you faced and how you handled it.

Q9 − Describe a new suggestion that you had made to your supervisor

Q10 − Describe when you had to take a judgement on a difficult decision.

General Interview Questions

Compared to Behavioral Questions that deal with your situation-handling in a past scenario, Traditional or General Interview Questions tend to be more hypothetical. They can be asked in any interview and they don’t specifically cater to any particular job responsibility.

It is always advisable to memorize a few keywords on the company’s needs, problems, or goals. Make sure you visit the company’s website before the interview to uncover the needs of this specific job profile, instead of the generalized needs of the industry.

Sample General Interview Questions

Q1 − Tell me about yourself.

Q2 − What are your greatest strengths?

Q3 − What are your greatest weaknesses?

Q4 − Tell me about an incident you are ashamed of speaking about

Q5 − Why did you leave (or plan to leave) your present employer?

Q6 − The Silent Treatment

Q7 − Why should I hire you?

Q8 − Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Q9 − Why do you want to work at our company?

Q10 − Would you lie for the company?

Q11 − Questions on confidential matters.

Case Study Interview Questions

Case study based interview questions are unique because answering them requires identifying the root causes and developing an action plan based on a logical analysis.

In Case Interviews, interviewers tend to not mention important figures and details. They want to see if you have a clear idea on the industry and on what assumption you will solve the problem. In these situations, it’s okay to consider assumed data, but they need to be based on facts and logic.

Answering Case Interview Questions

Answering case interview questions can be tricky, especially when you don’t get the facts right. Do use the following tips to tackle such questions −

• Listen carefully − Paraphrasing helps in understanding the question completely before answering.
• Take time to think − Because of the sheer number of parameters needed to tackle the issue, candidates are expected to take some time to ponder on the scenario, however anything more than five minutes would be excessive.
• Ask questions − Interviewers deliberately give incomplete questions to check the candidates’ understanding of relevant parameters, so they expect a lot of questions from you which makes the entire interview quite interactive.
• Use a logical framework − Apply the principles you learned in business colleges as a framework. Examples include Porter's Five Forces and the SWOT analysis.
• Prioritize objectives − Start addressing the most important objectives and concerns and gradually move towards relatively non-priority topics.
• Try and think outside the box − Many interviewers are on the lookout for employees who can bring in creativity to their problem-solving process.
• Exhibit enthusiasm − Behaving as though you feel it's fun to tackle this kind of problem is integral to showing how well you'd fit in as a consultant or whatever position you're interviewing for.

Standard Case Interview Questions

Market-Sizing Case Interview Questions

Market-Sizing Case Interview Questions need the candidates to guess the market size for a specific product. To answer these questions, you need to have a close idea on the population of the country, the male-female ratio, different demographics, among many other parameters. A few popular examples are −

Q. How many light bulbs are there in Delhi?

Q. How many people read gossip magazines in Mumbai?

Q. How many photocopies are taken in Odisha each year?

Q. How much beer is consumed in the city of Chandigarh?

Business Case Interview Questions

These questions need knowledge on the internal working of a company. Visit their website and collect as much information as possible on their way of operations.

Q. You are working directly with <company’s name> management team. It is organizing a project designed to increase the revenue significantly. If you were provided with data and asked to supervise the project, what steps would you take to ensure its success?

Q. The firm has assigned you to consult <company’s name> intending to drop a product or expand into new markets in order to increase revenue. What steps would you take to help this company achieve its objective?

Q. You have been assigned to consult <shoe retailer’s name> with stores throughout the nation. Since its revenue is dropping, the company has proposed to sell food at its stores. How would you advise this client?

Logic Problems

Questions involving logic problems require you to be able to perform numeracy quickly. The following are a few logic problems.

Q1 − At 3:15, how many degrees are between two hands of a clock?

Q2 − A fire fighter has to get to a burning building as quickly as he can. There are three paths that he can take. He can take his fire engine over a large hill (5 miles) at 8 miles per hour. He can take his fire engine through a windy road (7 miles) at 9 miles per hour. Or he can drive his fire engine along a dirt road which is 8 miles at 12 miles per hour. Which way should he choose?

Q3 − You spend 21 dollars on vegetables at the store. You buy carrots, onions, and celery. The celery cost half the cost of the onions. The onions cost half the cost of the carrots. How much did the onions cost?

Role-Play Questions

Role-plays are considered opportunities to prove that you possess all the key interpersonal skills you have mentioned in your resume. They help employers to assess how you'll react in certain situations. During a role-play, the interviewer assumes the role of a customer/client and asks you to sell him an idea or a product.

Questions like "why should I go with your company?" "What advantages can you offer me?" or "Why are your products so highly-priced when <rival company’s name> delivers the same products at such an inexpensive price?” are commonly asked.

Preparation

In role-play questions, it’s always advisable to have a detailed knowledge of the company beforehand. Collect as much information on the company’s policies, recent achievements, their closest competitors’ best-selling products, etc.

Teamwork

In some cases, the role-play may feature a group role-playing exercise. In these situations, try your best to be an efficient team-leader but don’t try to dominate. Try to get a balance between listening and speaking.

Composure

Be calm and composed under every situation. Don’t laugh or embarrass people who couldn’t satisfactorily participate in the role-play activity.

Sample Role-play Interview Questions

Q1 − Sell me this pen.

Q2 − Introduce yourself as a kitchen gadget.

Q3 − Create a “bits-and-pieces” organization from your pocket(s).

Q4 − Listen to our conversation and repeat our preferences.

Q5 − Create a metaphorical or symbolic representation of yourself from the following items −

Industry-Specific Interview Questions

Industry-specific questions are specific to the industry you are seeking employment in. These questions evaluate your educational skill sets, professional qualification, and employment experience, so prepare your answers after reviewing your performances, current assignments, and the achievements in projects that showcase your talent in the best possible way.

We have listed five industries with the most common questions asked in their industry-specific interview −

Administration

Q1 − Can you describe your normal daily duties in your previous position?

Customer Support

Q2 − How would you handle negative feedback from a client?

Information Technology

Q3 − Explain about “s” permission bit in a file?

Finance

Q4 − Why do you want to become an investment banker?

Accounting

Q5 − What are the qualities that make for a good accountant?

Brainteaser Interview Questions

A brainteaser is a form of puzzle that requires thinking in unconventional ways with given constraints in mind; sometimes it also involves lateral thinking. On a general scale, the most obvious answers are almost always the incorrect ones.

Sample Brainteaser Interview Questions

Q1 − You’re in a room with three light switches, each of which controls one of the three light bulbs in the next room. Find out which switch controls which bulb. All lights are initially off, and you cannot see into one room from the other. You can check the room only once. How can you determine which switch is connected to which light bulb?

Q2 − Here's a mobile phone. Deconstruct it for me.

Q3 − An apple costs 40 cents, a banana costs 60 cents, and a grapefruit costs 80 cents. How much does a pear cost?

Q4 − Describe the Internet to someone who woke up from a 30-year coma.

Q5 − A scientist puts a bacteria in a petri dish at exactly noon. Every minute, the bacteria divides into two. At exactly 1 pm, the petri dish is full. At what time was the dish half full?

Q6 − Is it better to be perfect and late, or good and on time?

Q7 − "Who is the smartest person you know personally? Why?"

Q8 − You wake up early one morning and find the light in your bedroom is broke. You get dressed in the dark. Your drawer has socks of three different colors: red, yellow, and blue. How many socks do you have to take out to be certain of having a matching pair?

Q9 − Why are manhole covers round and not square?

Q10 − You are blindfolded and sit in front of a table. On the table are many coins, 10 of which have heads facing up. How do you split the group of coins into two groups such that the same number of coins are heads-up in each group? You don’t know how many coins there are and you can’t tell which side is facing up in any way.