HR Interview Questions – Set 07

What are you most proud of?

Possible Answer #1:
“It is yet to come. The day I land my first job in a reputed company such as yours, will be my proudest achievement. That moment is still pending.”

Possible Answer #2:
“I am very proud of how I helped ABC company set up successful sales funnel by satisfying 60,000 hyper-responsive customers.

I even won a ‘Best Performer’ award and 100% incentive payout for the same.”

What is the difference between hard work and smart work?

Possible Answer #1:
“Hard work is what every breadwinner does today, including a rickshaw puller or a daily wager.

Smart work is what the educated masses like us are supposed to do, and some of us are actually doing it, like my father.

A well-balanced combination of both hard work and smart work is the secret formula to success.

I have friends who study all through the year and yet have 10 back papers to clear.

They do not have any interview calls in their kitty, and what do you think is the reason behind this?

It is their lack of understanding about smart work.

All year through, they were only working hard, but not smartly.

They did not prioritize their goals properly.

Again, there’s me, I do not have any back papers and have a decent CGPA. I am also attending this interview today.

Whatever might be the outcome, I feel I have prioritized my goals correctly and have worked both hard and smart.

That is the difference between hard work and smart work.”

Possible Answer #2:
“Hard work is delivering work on time with more effort and smart work is delivering work on time, with lesser effort.

I feel that is the basic difference.

Most of the times, in the corporate world, I feel a combination of both is needed to attain excellence.”

Read more answers here.

Are you willing to relocate or travel?

Freshers, do not say ‘YES!’ at once. This will only show your desperation to be a part of the company. Answer carefully like this. (This is an important tip for your HR interview questions and answers).

Possible Answer:
“I would definitely consider it. If the opportunity given to me is appropriate, rewarding and feasible, I don’t think I will have any issues with the relocation or traveling involved.”

You need to understand the purpose of this question. Answer correctly, as explained above.

What did you do in the last year to improve your knowledge?

Possible Answer #1:
“In 2016, I was in the final year of college. During that time, I did three things to improve my knowledge.

I got myself enrolled in Aptech for the Sun Certified Java Programmer course. I will appear my exam soon.

I have bought magazine subscriptions such as Dataquest. These magazines help me to stay well informed about new topics in the IT world.

I completed my final year application project based on Java. The topic was Centralized Remote Based College Information Scheme.”

Possible Answer #2:
“Being an L3 or senior level Windows/Linux Administrator I have mastered my virtualization experience on VMware, KVM, Xen, Hyper-V etc.

I made sure to understand storage and networking better last year.

I picked up PERL scripting last month and plan to pick up Ruby and Python in the next 3 months.

I am also a beginner level programmer as I learnt C++.

I mastered Chef on job and have deployed Amazon AWS to understand cloud better.

I also earned my Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) license and I am targeting RHCA by the end of 2017.”

Note: Remember, certification is the key to land a job in an IT firm. So, get certified asap in your core skills.

How do you feel about working weekends and night shifts?

Possible Answer #1:
“I am a fresher and I hardly have any exposure of the corporate world.

Back in college, weekends were no different from weekdays for us.

The assignments, tasks and projects had to be submitted within deadlines, and to do so, we would study during the weekdays.

As far as night shifts are concerned, I would like to say that I am a nocturnal person and I like to do my studies generally at night.

I have no issues working during weekends and at night, provided I get enough compensatory offs to relax and wind down.”

Possible Answer #2:
“Sir, my body clock has got tuned into regular weekday shifts from 9 to 6.

I am not comfortable working nights and weekends on a regular basis, unless there is some urgent deliverable or a resource crunch in the team, I will surely pitch in.

But working odd shifts is not good for the mental and physical health of employees and I hope you understand the same.

Yet, if the company needs my presence mandatorily at night or during the weekend for continued growth and success, I will definitely work for it.”

What do you know about us or our company?

Possible Answer #1:
“I’m a Blivkart customer myself. The company was founded by Som and Bandit Vashisht. They previously worked for Umazin.com, and then quit their jobs to start their own firm in India. Today it is one of the fastest growing companies in India and is all set to create new records. It will be more than a privilege to get through and join such a super talented team.”

Possible Answer #2:
“Yours is one of the fastest growing and leading IT firms in India. Both your mission statement and tag line, are catchy and very attractive.

Everyone I know, who is a part of this organization, is very happy about working here. I think this will be a great place for me to perform, show my talent and get recognized as well.”

What has been your greatest failure?

Possible Answer #1:
“I could not secure a perfect 100/100 in my Math paper in 12th Standard, despite my hard work.That is my greatest failure till date.”Possible Answer #2:
“Last year, we wanted to improve sales by 50% but achieved just 35% which was a huge letdown, even if there was a huge boost to our ROI.

The underlying issue was that I was on a holiday and my entire team took this last big deal for granted.

They are all star performers, but I don’t know why they took this sure shot deal so lightly.

We had built a great rapport with this client over a period of 3 months and the deal had almost been wrapped up.

That was a huge failure in the recent past for me.

Eventually, the deal slipped out of our hands and impacted the overall sales percentage.”

Read more answers here.