Human Resources Recruiter Interview Preparation Guide

Don't be thrown off by this question—just take a deep breath and explain to the hiring manager why you've made the career decisions As Human Resources Recruiter you have. More importantly, give a few examples of how your past experience is transferable to the new role. This doesn't have to be a direct connection; in fact, it's often more impressive when a candidate can make seemingly irrelevant experience seem very relevant to the role.

Discuss the academic program, the extracurricular program(s), the school spirit, the quality of your peers, and the professors.

You could discuss your goals with regards to these categories: Career goals, impact you want to leave on society, financial goals, academic goals, charitable goals.

Not every decision is popular. In fact, almost every decision is bound to make someone unhappy at some point. The key is to demonstrate how it impacted others positively and why you chose it.

For most jobs, communication skills As Human Resources Recruiter are important. It's hard to work as a team if people aren't communicating well.

At some jobs, like customer service or sales, communication skills are an absolute essential.

These questions are meant to help gauge a candidate's ability to communicate.

1. How do you prefer to build rapport with others?

2. How would you go about simplifying a complex issue in order to explain it to a client or colleague?

3. How would you go about persuading someone to see things your way at work?

4. How would you go about explaining a complex idea/problem to a client who was already frustrated?

5. What would you do if you there was a breakdown in communication at work?

6. Talk about a successful presentation you gave and why you think it did well.

7. How would you explain a complicated technical problem to a colleague with less technical understanding?

8. Do you prefer written or verbal communication As Human Resources Recruiter?

9. Describe a time when you had to be careful talking about sensitive information. How did you do it?

10. What would you do if you misunderstood an important communication on the job?

11. Talk about a time when you made a point that you knew your colleagues would be resistant to.

12. Is it more important to be a good listener or a good communicator As Human Resources Recruiter?

13. Tell me about a time you had to relay bad news to a client or colleague.

14. Rate your communication skills on a scale of 1 to 10. Give examples of experiences that demonstrate the rating is accurate.

15. How have you handled working under someone you felt was not good at communicating?

This is a new policy some companies are adopting. If the company you are interviewing for allows for it, then you should be thankful for the flexibility and convenience yet state that working from home is a privilege that you would honor. The key point you want to make is that you would still be able to focus and be just as productive working at home.

What bores you? What fails to challenge you? What fails to excite you?

Focus on the issue that impacts the business most first.

Be very careful answering this question as most organization employ professionals with an array of personalities and characteristics. You don't want to give the impression that you're going to have problems working with anyone currently employed at the organization. If you through out anything trivial you're going to look like a whiner. Only disloyalty to the organization or lawbreaking should be on your list of personal characteristics of people you can't work with.

No one likes to answer this question because it requires a very delicate balance. You simply can’t lie and say you don’t have one; you can’t trick the interviewer by offering up a personal weakness As Human Resources Recruiter that is really a strength (“Sometimes, I work too much and don’t maintain a work-life balance.”); and you shouldn’t be so honest that you throw yourself under the bus (“I’m not a morning person so I’m working on getting to the office on time.”)

Be completely honest. You don't want to lie to get the job if you're not going to work the hours required.

Discuss your passions As Human Resources Recruiter. Ideally if it's work related that's fantastic! If not, talk about your academic / extracurricular passions and WHY you enjoy them. For example: I love playing sports because of the team work aspect - it's fun winning together! (This example shows you're a team player)

This is a great opportunity for you to discuss how you've given back to the community, how you've achieved in a competitive extracurricular activity (think sports or clubs), how you've mentored others, and so forth.

This is one of the most common questions you will be asked. Give an answer relevant to the skills and qualities relevant to the position you are applying to. The interviewer is trying to find if your strengths match the job. For example, if you are applying for a job As Human Resources Recruiter where accuracy is an important issue, one of your strengths could be that you have an eye for detail. It may useful to find different words to describe similar attributes and qualities in order to avoid repetition.

Remain optimistic and do not be too specific. Good attributes include moral character, honesty, and intelligence since managers usually believe they possess these qualities.

This question is designed to find out if you get along well on team, with other and whether or not you'll be a fit with the interviewer's organization. It's a trap. Think real hard but fail to come up anything that irritated you about your co-workers. A short positive response is best.

When discussing a professional disappointment, make sure to discuss a scenario you could not control. Be positive about the experience and accept personal responsibility where applicable.

Although this would seem like a simple question, it can easily become tricky. You shouldn’t mention salary being a factor at this point As Human Resources Recruiter. If you’re currently employed, your response can focus on developing and expanding your career and even yourself. If you’re current employer is downsizing, remain positive and brief. If your employer fired you, prepare a solid reason. Under no circumstance should you discuss any drama or negativity, always remain positive.

Again, this question could get you in trouble so tread carefully. Some good answers might be that your previous job didn't provide any room for growth, that you were laid off due to a mandatory reduction in staff, that they closed their office in your state and required you to relocate, etc. Make sure not to mention anything negative about the people you worked with, the company in general or the job itself.

When you respond, keep in mind the type of position you are interviewing for like Human Resources Recruiter based job, the company culture, and the work environment. Your answer should help show the interviewer why you’re a match for the job and for the company.
Sample answers are:
☛ I’m a people person. I really enjoy meeting and working with a lot of different people.
☛ I’m a perfectionist. I pay attention to all the details, and like to be sure that everything is just right.
☛ I’m a creative thinker. I like to explore alternative solutions to problems and have an open mind about what will work best.
☛ I’m efficient and highly organized. This enables me to be as productive as possible on the job.
☛ I enjoy solving problems, troubleshooting issues, and coming up with solutions in a timely manner.

This question seems simple, so many people fail to prepare for it, but it's crucial. Here's the deal: Don't give your complete employment (or personal) history As Human Resources Recruiter. Instead give a pitch—one that’s concise and compelling and that shows exactly why you’re the right fit for the job. Start off with the 2-3 specific accomplishments or experiences that you most want the interviewer to know about, then wrap up talking about how that prior experience has positioned you for this specific role.

The key is that you openly communicate your thoughts to your supervisor to explain your position and try to come to a mutual decision together. Also be sure to listen to his/her thoughts so that you can potentially compromise. When you're pressed for a decision, make sure you've put thought into the reasons as to how you arrived at it and then decisively make it.

Describe your charitable activities to showcase that community work is important to you. If you haven't done one yet, go to www.globalguideline.com - charitable work is a great way to learn about other people and it's an important part of society - GET INVOLVED!

Think of a time where you really stood out and shined within college. It could be a leadership role in a project, it could be your great grades that demonstrate your intelligence and discipline, it could be the fact that you double majored. Where have you shined?

Be sure to paint a clear picture of your career vision that demonstrates your aspirations and goals that are realistic. This could emphasize increased responsibility, the ability to manage people and so forth

Most situations are "fixable" - the ones that are not are typically related to business ethics (someone is cheating the company, someone is stealing, etc)

Seemingly random personality-test type questions like these come up in interviews generally because hiring managers want to see how you can think on your feet. There's no wrong answer here, but you'll immediately gain bonus points if your answer helps you share your strengths or personality or connect with the hiring manager. Pro tip: Come up with a stalling tactic to buy yourself some thinking time, such as saying, “Now, that is a great question. I think I would have to say… ”

Again, be honest about sharing a story here about someone who may not have gotten along with you in the office here and explain how you were able to fix that relationship or change your attitude/action to be a better person / coworker.

Think again about the job specification and the skills needed for this role As Human Resources Recruiter. Have a paragraph prepared highlighting how you will be able to do the job and what you can bring to the team. It goes without saying that this paragraph should be positive.

List three attributes that you aspire to attain / build in the next few years - and then explain how you would develop those.