HR interview questions and answers | Download PDF notes about HR interview questions and answers

HR interview questions and answers | Download PDF notes about HR interview questions and answers.

Hi guys, To hire suitable candidates, every company conducts various rounds of interviews to measure the candidate’s technical and behavioral prowess. HR interviews are done to gauge the personality- strengths, and weaknesses of a candidate to handle the role and then understand whether the candidate is suitable to do the job. Sometimes, the interviews are conducted to decide how well the candidate can fit into the company’s work culture. Generally, these rounds are done at the end of the recruitment process after the technical skills evaluation.

The HR interview rounds can make or break your opportunity to join your dream company. Hence it is best to keep some tips in mind to ace this interview.

• Do not fake! Be yourself. Bluffing during the HR interview should be avoided at all costs.
• Answer to the point and while answering, be honest and truthful.
• Wear comfortable but formal clothes. Keep accessories to a bare minimum.
• Reach the venue on time. If the interview is scheduled online, then log in at least 10-15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time and ensure that your connection set up is alright.
• Do not sound dull while answering. Be enthusiastic and interactive with the hiring managers. In case the interview is online, then remember to keep your video on.
• Lastly, have a smile on your face.

In this article, let us see what are the most commonly asked HR interview questions and understand why the questions are being asked and what would be the sample acceptable answers to those questions.

1. Tell me about yourself.

This is the universal question asked at the very first of any interview. It sounds easy, right? But this is the most important question where the candidates fail to create an impression with the interviewer as most of the time they are not aware of what exactly needs to be said.

Sample answer:

I am an energetic person, an effective communicator, and a quick learner. I was also one of the top students in my batch while I was pursuing a B.E degree in the XYZ domain. I worked on various projects related to the software domain which provided me a great deal of technical exposure along with the importance of working in a team and the value of client satisfaction. I have worked on developing various enterprise-level web applications for helping companies solve problems like ensuring business continuity, market research analysis, etc. So, I believe I am a good fit for technology-centric roles in your company.

2. Why do you want to work for our company?

Another popular question asked by the interviewer is to make sure that the candidate has understood the job requirements and help the interviewer understand the reason behind choosing their company for that job. You should answer in such a way that the interviewer gets convinced that you are a great fit for the role. 

Sample answer:

I feel that with my current skill sets and my experience in the XYZ domain, the job requirements this role presented are a perfect match for me. I could visualize myself in that role as it aligned with my career aspirations, skills, and expertise. Besides, I have researched your company and found that it has impressive and promising projections which made me excited to be a part of the amazing future. I would take pride in working under the great leadership of this company and I found this place to be a perfect fit for utilizing my expertise along with the promising aspect of personal growth.

 

3. What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

HR asks this question to get to know more about your characteristics and your suitability for the job. It is also one of the standards and most commonly asked questions.

Sample answer:

I think one of my greatest strengths is that I am a great team player. I am also a self-motivated and quick-learning individual. Whatever task that I set to do, I always give my best and complete it diligently and well in advance. My weakness would be that I am learning to master people skills while meeting new individuals. I get nervous while talking to new people. I have been working on this for quite a long time and I can say with utmost confidence that I have come a long way.

4. Why are you looking for a change?

Yet another commonly asked question for experienced candidates, the interviewer wants to understand what made you look for different opportunities and identify if there are any red flags. Whatever the reason for changing your job, do not talk negatively about the current employer. Do not divulge information about how bad the work environment was, and how poor the salary was as these are of no concern to the interviewer. Keep the answer professional without sharing your woes.

Sample answer:

The reason I am looking for change is that I feel like now is the time to expand my horizon. I have worked in my current company for quite a long time and while I am grateful for all the opportunities that were presented to me there, I want to go beyond my current role here, explore different avenues and take up challenging roles and I believe that your company will be the perfect place for me to push and grow myself as an individual.

5. Tell me about the gap in your resume?

This question comes up when the interviewer finds something interesting and out of ordinary in the resume. Some examples could be a job that could be unrelated to what you are seeking or a job that lasted only for some months or in some cases, the outright gap between two consequent jobs. Here, HR wants to make sure that the gaps are not due to any red flags. 

Sample answer:

After the completion of my bachelor’s degree, I started working continuously for 8 years without taking any break. This sort of impacted my productivity and also harmed my work-life balance. Hence, I decided to take a break of 6 months to clear my mind, make amends with my family, and also do solo travel to different places. I also gained some lessons during this break such as the importance of work-life balance, organizational ability, and a fresh new perspective on life.

6. How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10?

The main point while answering this question is to not convey that you are perfect. This would indicate that there is no scope for improvement and would showcase yourself as overconfident to the interviewer. Also, remember to not undervalue yourself too. This would show that you don’t have any self-confidence. 

Sample answer:

I would like to rate myself an 8. 8 because I know that I am not perfect and there is always a scope for learning and improvement. Continuous learning is the most fundamental part of personal and professional growth.

7. What is your biggest achievement so far?

Make sure to discuss only your work-related achievement. Pick up your most recent achievement of yours and answer this question. 

Sample answer:

I have achieved several milestones to date in my career as a software developer. The most recent one is of the time when we were working on a critical component of a product pertaining to customer payments. We were working round the clock for around 2 months and I was a core developer. I was made a lead to this component for completing the task in another 2 months.

To meet the deadline, we ensured that we upskilled ourselves to learn all the aspects of the development of this module and also brought in a few more resources to complete it faster. Post the deployment, I trained our team to support the platform proficiently. Ultimately, we could complete the product well in advance of the deadline. When the product was launched, the higher management was super proud of us and our team was awarded for our outstanding performance in the quarterly town hall. It was a very proud moment for me.

8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Now, this question is the trickiest and deadliest one among all. This can prove to be a trap and you might not even be aware of it. While the question might seem casual, the main purpose of this question is to find out how long you are planning to stay in the company if hired and how your vision fits the vision of the company. 

Sample answer:

Over 5 years, I would love to utilize all the opportunities that this company provides me to learn by utilizing the internal and external training programs. My ultimate career goal is to become a Technology Architect and hence I would look forward to developing various products that represent the vision of this company and be a part of making a difference along with quickening my journey of becoming a Tech Architect.

9. Why should we hire you?

The recruiter asks this important question to understand how well you would fit into the position because every hire is a risk to the interviewer in case they turn out to be unfit. Your answer to this question can make or break your interview. Hence, prepare well for this question and make sure to convey to the interviewer why you are the perfect fit for the position.

Sample answer:

I am a self-motivated and very open-minded person who can learn very fast. Looking at the job description and my experience in the field of web development, I am confident that I am very much suitable for this role. I enjoy solving problems and I am a great team player. I also believe that my values are aligned with this company’s values. I think this position will support my interest and also give me interesting and exciting opportunities to contribute to the growth of this organization. I am very much excited about this opportunity. 

10. How do you deal with criticism?

The main intention to ask this question is to see what your attitude toward feedback is and how you react to it. The main point here is to let the interviewer know that you are always open to constructive feedback. You should not show yourself as a stubborn or ignorant person who is not capable of taking any input for your growth. 

Sample answer:

I am always enthusiastic about learning new things and during the process, I might tend to make mistakes. If someone provides me with constructive criticism, I am always open to it and I will work on correcting myself and learn from my mistakes. This would help me grow and move forward. If the feedback is negative, then I am mature enough to ignore the feedback and continue working on doing my job to the best of my capabilities without dampening my spirit.

11. Tell me about a time when you experienced difficulty at work while working on a project.?

Now, this is a broad question as difficulty can be of any type. This question is asked to assess what are the things that you consider as difficult and how you go about solving that difficulties. While answering this:

• Focus on describing a problem that was related to your work using the STAR approach.
• Do not answer negatively or bad-mouth any supervisor or any company.
• The interviewer should be made to understand the cause of the problem.
• Avoid bringing up personal problems in your life.
• Focus on the learnings of the problem rather than dwelling too much on the damage. 

Sample answer:

There was a time in my current company when I received a bug report from our client which stated that the databases were performing below the mark when a complex query was called excessively from the interface.

The first thing I did was check the logs to perform the root cause analysis. Doing this gave me a rough idea of where the bug started appearing. I reproduced the bug only on the production server and I tried replicating the same on my local system. While debugging, I found out that there was a bug in the Java code where some lines were commented out by the developers who had already left this company.

I fixed this code quickly and did a round of performance testing on the application to ensure that this doesn’t occur again. The issue was fixed at the end of the day and we were able to get the server up and running with enhanced performance. We learned an important lesson to perform regression testing after every phase of releases to ensure the old functionalities were working fine along with the newly developed ones

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