HR Interview Questions – Set 03

Possible Answer #1:
“My ideal workplace or company is a fair one that values my contributions even as a fresher and encourages me to speak up and share my ideas.

It is a place where I can be myself, while working towards a greater goal.”

Possible Answer #2:
“My ideal company is the one which can bring forth exciting challenges. Such opportunities will bring out the best in me as I can use my interests and experiences to grow.

I like my present workplace as it offers all this along with a clean and professional work atmosphere, and more.

But I am looking forward to a company that is actively involved in social welfare, and your organization does exactly that.”

Possible Answer #1:
“Personally, I am not too fond of conflicts. I don’t like it when people are mean, so I try to avoid conflicts and tongue-lashing as far as possible.

In case such a situation arises, I let my seniors or professors handle it.

I cannot recollect the exact situation right now, but that’s what I have done in the past.”

Possible Answer #2:
“In my previous job, a client was yelling on the phone. I understand that his reaction was completely out of frustration.

So instead of taking it personally, I tried to calm him done, and ensured that his concern was well heard. How did I do it?

Well, I listened to him carefully and apologized once he finished. It ended up being a win-win situation for everyone.”

Possible Answer #1:
“I read an article in the newspaper a few months back. The news piece revolved around your corporate community service. I am not exactly a philanthropist, as I am not that rich yet, but giving back is a big part of my personal philosophy. When I read that article, I was moved.

The true excitement overtook me when I got this interview call. It will be really nice if I get to work in an organization, which follows the same philosophies as I personally do.

Because my technical skills will be recognized in other places as well, but personal philosophies are equally important.”

Possible Answer #2:
“Teamwork is what I truly believe in. When I saw that there was an opening in your organization, I made sure that my application was put in.

Being a team-player, I believe working together to achieve a higher goal is what drives success in the long run.

And my skills as an engineer and a team member will give me a 360-degree work satisfaction for me”

Freshers may skip this question as it is not relevant to their set of HR interview questions and answers.

Possible Answer #1:
“My demands as a boss are never unreal. If the workload is huge and timelines are not negotiable with my seniors, I do become a demanding boss.

Yet, as a manager, I always ensure that I help my team members progress and grow on their individual career paths.

If they are having hiccups or challenges along the way, I delegate work accordingly to make their life easy, as well as ensure project delivery on time.”

In a job interview, you can be asked to describe who you are, Describe yourself in one word or Describe yourself in 3 words, but all such questions essentially mean that you talk about your skills and qqualities.

In an HR round, you will surely face this question among all other HR interview questions and answers asked to you, and I am sure you treat it as the easiest of all questions.

Well, it’s not!

Never underestimate the possibility of scoring better points with a crisp answer, if you feel confident.

It can become a fate-changer for applicants having fewer than 5 years of total job experience.

If your degree is obviously related to the job you’re interviewing for, you can give this answer.

Possible Answer #1:
“I am a B. Tech in Computer Science/B. Com in Economics. I also have an MBA or I have completed a certification course in Digital Marketing from ABC Academy.

What else would you like to know?”

In case your degree is not as relevant as it should have been, but you feel that you have the potential to shine through, you can give this answer.

This is a useful tip for HR interview questions and answers.

Possible Answer #2:
“I have worked on an independent project work with 2 other students on Soft Skills.

I have also participated in several paper presentations on Business Communication.”

Do not forget to talk about your major subject in your UG/PG at the University and also about subjects/papers, that are relevant to the job, that you have applied for.

Possible Answer #3:
“I have scored an A in Professional and Technical Written Communication in English, in my first semester. Here’s my marksheet.”

Here you will expect a new HR interview question, and the answer to this one will be more relevant to your education.

In case there is an odd pause, start talking about cocurricular activities that you are good at.

For example, you can say this.

Possible Answer #4:
“I am a music enthusiast and a beginner level guitarist. I love to jam with my 4-member band every weekend at my place.”

Such an answer will add a light mood to the interview and make things more positive.

Professionals can also cite the above answer and highlight certain awards and accolades which they have earned during their school/college or university years.

Possible Answer #5:
“I was a good orator and always stood first in debate and elocution competitions during my school and college days.”

This question is not applicable to first-time job seekers who are about to face a round of HR interview questions and answers.

You can skip to the next question if you are a fresher.

Mostly manager and above level interview candidates are asked this question.

Possible Answer:
“Yes, I have and believe me it feels horrible. But I know how to keep emotions at bay, while I am at work.

Firing comes at the very end of road with me.

When I set up a team, I do so very carefully after considering the past feedback and history of every single team member.

But it is not always possible to choose your team.

Sometimes, you have to work with a few rotten potatoes and it is essential to remove them from the basket, to save the rest.

I have a tendency to spot poor performers within two to three months of them or me joining a new team.

Last time I spotted one, I consulted my peers and other team members.

Then, I had to set up a one-on-one meeting with the person and gave him several warnings, both written and verbal, over a 30-day period.

I helped him prepare a list of work and behavioral goals, that I decided upon after consulting the rest of the team.

Eventually I had to fire that person because he showed zero signs of improvement, drive and motivation.

That firing was for a cause and I had no other resort left in my rule book.”

Possible Answer #1:
“I can adapt quickly to new circumstances.

Since I am clear about my job role and I am mentally prepared to take up challenges, I feel I have the capacity to learn fast and apply my new knowledge.

During my student life, I had to clear new papers and projects in every semester and thoroughly enjoyed doing it.

Similarly, I will enjoy picking up new technologies in my professional life as well.”

Possible Answer #2:
“Being a Bigdata Engineer working on game analytics engine, which is in itself a completely new field, I have a great track record of adapting to new technologies.

I have picked up and implemented restful cloud application which can extract data from MongoDB or Aerospike and processes this data in Spark.

The application I built takes SQL query inputs to process and generate output in a JSON, PSV, TDE format Same is published on a tableau server and further uploaded into the AWS S3 buckets.

In order to build this API, I mastered Java/Scala Drop wizard, Spark, MongoDB, Aerospike, SQL, Tableau SDK, YAML, Maven, and SBT in just 1 year.

Whatever may be the case, the core requirements of my job role are constant. I AM a Hadoop/Spark Engineer.

Yes, it does take me some time to forge positive working relationships with new colleagues, but when it comes to technology, I am always the front runner.”

The purpose of this HR interview question and it’s 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.

Possible Answer #1:
“I’m good friends with the daughter of Mr. XYZ, who is a part of this organization.

My friend is not your employee, but thinks very highly of this organization and has been constantly encouraging me to apply.

That is the reason why I am here today, as the more I learned about this company, the more I wanted to become a part of it.”

Possible Answer #2:
“I am a friend of XYZ, who is a part of your Finance Department, but our friendship was not the primary factor for me to apply here.

Besides, I know how to separate my professional life from my personal life.

This company has a strong reputation in the market and I have always looked up to your brand.

I truly believe that I can use my skills and expertise to help my team and the organization grows.”

Possible Answer #1:
“Yes, I am quite organized. I keep all my documents, certificates and files labeled and sorted.

The labels are such that I can retrieve anything that I need instantly, in seconds. I also have a very clean desktop in my computer.”

Possible Answer #2:
“Organization comes naturally to me.

My desk, folders, software files, clothes, kitchen and everything else is always well arranged, sorted and neatly kept.

Thanks to my spouse and mom for instilling this skill as a habit in me.”

This is a very common question asked by HR personnel to candidates.

Remember that interviewers these days hardly ever get impressed by flowery responses.

So be careful while tackling this one.

Possible Answer #1:
“I have several strengths namely – I am patient, committed, honest and self-motivated.

I am the biggest dreamer I have ever come across! I forgive easily and hate to keep grudges in my heart.

My greatest weakness is that I don’t like getting interrupted when I am seriously into something.

Another one of my weaknesses is that I trust people very easily.

As I already said, I am a very patient person, so I am actively working on this lacuna.”

Possible Answer #2:
“I am impatient which is the reason why I am a quick learner.

But I honestly believe that being impatient is a real weakness.

I expect my team members to prove themselves and start delivering on the very first assignment.

In case a particular resource fails, I have a tendency to stop delegating work to them and pick up projects on my own.

I am working on this attitude and in my previous organizations, my peers helped me cope up with this to a great extent.

To compensate for my own weakness, I prep my people about my exact expectations.

Then I give them a complete scope of the assignment followed by various “checkpoint” dates, where they can update me about their progress, with a demo/presentation if applicable.

In my previous job as a Project Manager, I was handling a 15-member team of both individual contributors and business managers like lawyers, Web Designers, Graphic Designers, SEO/SEM Consultants, Editors, Writers and Callers.

I used to break the entire task down into manageable chunks for each employee, followed by stringent timelines about when they would circle back to me.

This process worked brilliantly, helped me stay within the assigned budget and helped everyone achieve their individual targets, as they learnt.”

Tip: In your HR interview questions and answers round, avoid confusing answers such as this one. It might spark a war of words. Instead of this, you need to highlight a skill-set which you feel has scope for improvement. Remember to summarize what you have been doing to improve the same. The takeaway here is that your HR round interviewer is not interested to know about your weakness. Rather s/he is interested to see how well you handle the situation!

Possible Answer #3:
“I am a perfectionist and that is my main weakness, which I also think is my strength.”

Read more answers here.