HR interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself:
The most often asked question in interviews. You need to have a short statement prepared in your mind. Be careful that it does not sound rehearsed. Limit it to work-related items unless instructed otherwise. Talk about things you have done and jobs you have held that relate to the position you are interviewing for. Start with the item farthest back and work up to the present.
2. Why did you leave your last job?
Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co- workers or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an opportunity, a chance to do something special or other forward- looking reasons.
3. What experience do you have in this field?
Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for. If you do not have specific experience, get as close as you can.
4. Do you consider yourself successful?
4. Do you consider yourself successful?
You should always answer yes and briefly explain why. A good explanation is that you have set goals, and you have met some and are on track to achieve the others.
5. What do co-workers say about you?Be prepared with a quote or two from co-workers. Either a specific statement or a paraphrase will work. Jill Clark, a co-worker at Smith Company, always said I was the hardest workers she had ever known. It is as powerful as Jill having said it at the interview herself.
6. What do you know about this organization?
This question is one reason to do some research on the organization before the interview. Find out where they have been and where they are going. What are the current issues and who are the major players?
7. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?
Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job. A wide variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement. Have some good ones handy to mention.
8. Are you applying for other jobs?
Be honest but do not spend a lot of time in this area. Keep the focus on this job and what you can do for this organization. Anything else is a distraction.
9. Why do you want to work for this organization?
This may take some thought and certainly, should be based on the research you have done on the organization. Sincerity is extremely important here and will easily be sensed. Relate it to your long-term career goals.
10. Do you know anyone who works for us?
Be aware of the policy on relatives working for the organization. This can affect your answer even though they asked about friends not relatives. Be careful to mention a friend only if they are well thought of.
11. What kind of salary do you need?
A loaded question. A nasty little game that you will probably lose if you answer first. So, do not answer it. Instead, say something like, That's a tough question. Can you tell me the range for this position? In most cases, the interviewer, taken off guard, will tell you. If not, say that it can depend on the details of the job. Then give a wide range.
12. Are you a team player?
You are, of course, a team player. Be sure to have examples ready. Specifics that show you often perform for the good of the team rather than for yourself are good evidence of your team attitude. Do not brag, just say it in a matter-of-fact tone. This is a key point.
13. How long would you expect to work for us if hired?
Specifics here are not good. Something like this should work: I'd like it to be a long time. Or As long as we both feel I'm doing a good job.
14. Have you ever had to fire anyone? How did you feel about that?
This is serious. Do not make light of it or in any way seem like you like to fire people. At the same time, you will do it when it is the right thing to do. When it comes to the organization versus the individual who has created a harmful situation, you will protect the organization. Remember firing is not the same as layoff or reduction in force.
15. What is your philosophy towards work?
The interviewer is not looking for a long or flowery dissertation here. Do you have strong feelings that the job gets done? Yes. That's the type of answer that works best here. Short and positive, showing a benefit to the organization.
16. If you had enough money to retire right now, would you?
Answer yes if you would. But since you need to work, this is the type of work you prefer. Do not say yes if you do not mean it.
17. Have you ever been asked to leave a position?
If you have not, say no. If you have, be honest, brief and avoid saying negative things about the people or organization involved.
18. Explain how you would be an asset to this organization.
You should be anxious for this question. It gives you a chance to highlight your best points as they relate to the position being discussed. Give a little advance thought to this relationship.
19. Why should we hire you?
Point out how your assets meet what the organization needs. Do not mention any other candidates to make a comparison.
20. Tell me about a suggestion you have made.
Have a good one ready. Be sure and use a suggestion that was accepted and was then considered successful. One related to the type of work applied for is a real plus.
21. What irritates you about co-workers?
This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get along with folks is great.
22. What is your greatest strength?
Numerous answers are good, just stay positive. A few good examples: Your ability to prioritize, Your problem-solving skills, Your ability to work under pressure, Your ability to focus on projects, Your professional expertise, Your leadership skills, Your positive attitude
23. Tell me about your dream job.
Stay away from a specific job. You cannot win. If you say the job you are contending for is it, you strain credibility. If you say another job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be dissatisfied with this position if hired. The best is to stay genetic and say something like: A job where I love the work, like the people, can contribute and can't wait to get to work.
24. Why do you think you would do well at this job?
Give several reasons and include skills, experience and interest.
25. What are you looking for in a job?
See answer # 23
26. What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
Do not be trivial. It would take disloyalty to the organization, violence or lawbreaking to get you to object. Minor objections will label you as a whiner.
27. What is more important to you: the money or the work?
Money is always important, but the work is the most important. There is no better answer.
28. What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is?
There are numerous good possibilities:
Loyalty, Energy, Positive attitude, Leadership, Team player, Expertise, Initiative, Patience, Hard work, Creativity, Problem solver
29. Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor.
Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of your boss. If you fall for it and tell about a problem with a former boss, you may well below the interview right there. Stay positive and develop a poor memory about any trouble with a supervisor.
30. What has disappointed you about a job?
Don't get trivial or negative. Safe areas are few but can include:
Not enough of a challenge. You were laid off in a reduction Company did not win a contract, which would have given you more responsibility.
31. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure.
You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an example that relates to the type of position applied for.
32. Do your skills match this job or another job more closely?
Probably this one. Do not give fuel to the suspicion that you may want another job morethan this one.
33. What motivates you to do your best on the job?
This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are: Challenge, Achievement,Recognition33. What motivates you to do your best on the job?
34. Are you willing to work overtime? Nights? Weekends?
This is up to you. Be totally honest.
35. How would you know you were successful on this job?
Several ways are good measures:35. How would you know you were successful on this job?
You set high standards for yourself and meet them. Your outcomes are a success.Your boss tell you that you are successful
36. Would you be willing to relocate if required?
You should be clear on this with your family prior to the interview if you think there is a chance it may come up. Do not say yes just to get the job if the real answer is no. This can create a lot of problems later on in your career. Be honest at this point and save yourself uture grief.
37. Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead of your own?
This is a straight loyalty and dedication question. Do not worry about the deep ethical and philosophical implications. Just say yes.
38. Describe your management style.
Try to avoid labels. Some of the more common labels, like progressive, salesman or consensus, can have several meanings or descriptions depending on which management expert you listen to. The situational style is safe, because it says you will manage according to the situation, instead of one size fits all.
39. What have you learned from mistakes on the job?
Here you have to come up with something or you strain credibility. Make it small, well intentioned mistake with a positive lesson learned. An example would be working too far ahead of colleagues on a project and thus throwing coordination off.
40. Do you have any blind spots?
Trick question. If you know about blind spots, they are no longer blind spots. Do not reveal any personal areas of concern here. Let them do their own discovery on your bad points. Do not hand it to them.
41. If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?
Be careful to mention traits that are needed and that you have.
42. Do you think you are overqualified for this position?
Regardless of your qualifications, state that you are very well qualified for the position.
43. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience?
First, if you have experience that the interviewer does not know about, bring that up: Then, point out (if true) that you are a hard working quick learner.
44. What qualities do you look for in a boss?
Be generic and positive. Safe qualities are knowledgeable, a sense of humor, fair, loyal to subordinates and holder of high standards. All bosses think they have these traits.
45. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others.
Pick a specific incident. Concentrate on your problem solving technique and not the dispute you settled.
46. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
Be honest. If you are comfortable in different roles, point that out.46. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
47. Describe your work ethic.
Emphasize benefits to the organization. Things like, determination to get the job done and work hard but enjoy your work are good.
48. What has been your biggest professional disappointment?
Be sure that you refer to something that was beyond your control. Show acceptance and no negative feelings.
49. Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job.
Talk about having fun by accomplishing something for the organization.
50. Do you have any questions for me?
Always have some questions prepared. Questions prepared where you will be an asset to the organization are good. How soon will I be able to be productive? and What type of projects will I be able to assist on? are examples.
And Finally Good Luck
All d bst give ur bst to the
Company
Interview Questions
Here are 10 questions that can help you pinpoint flexibility and character. Including these questions in your
interview should add only about 20 minutes to your current routine and will tell you a great deal about each
candidate.
1. Can you work this weekend?
This is a great question to ask early in the interview. Watch closely for an initial reaction. Obviously the
candidate will be surprised. You haven't even offered the job and now you want to know about this weekend.
Since most help desk analysts have to work odd hours, you want the candidate's first response to be a
resounding yes. Something like "I've actually already promised to work at my current job for some of this
weekend." "When exactly do you think you need me?" is good, too. What you don't want to hear are excuses
that explain why the applicant isn't available.
2. Tell me about your current job. What do you like about it? What do you dislike?
This is another good question for weeding out those applicants who just won't want to deliver. While "heads
down" programmers are great, the help desk needs analysts who enjoy talking to users. Avoid candidates whose
favorites have more to do with the systems than the users. Good answers indicate that the applicant enjoys
talking with users or investigating tough problems.
3. What kind of people are your current users? Do you like them?
This sounds like a dumb question. Who's going to say they hate their current users because they're terrible
people? Actually, I've known that to happen. The applicant had little patience for needy users and didn't mind
telling people. Patience is a virtue desperately needed on a help desk.
4. What was your best subject in high school?
Don't let cliché questions put you off. Just because people expect a question doesn't mean you can't learn a lot
from their answers. Obviously the applicant wants to impress you and may say something like "computer class."
That's not a bad answer, but people who liked math should be quite good at problem solving even non-math
problems. Also, applicants who admit to liking English will have the communications skills you seek.
5. What operating system do you prefer and why?
You probably don't really care what operating system anyone prefers. However, you do care that anyone you
hire knows about operating systems and is able to articulate why one or another is preferable.
6. What role do you think computer support analysts should play in the company?
There are a lot of good answers to this question. The important thing here is that the candidate mentions the
needs of the users in his or her answer and not just the systems.
7. Assuming you have to work for a living and all jobs pay the same, describe the job you want (don't say
this job).
Question seven is similar to question two in that you're looking for an answer that includes people. Support
analysts must deal with users day in and day out. The job is a lot easier for someone who actually likes to work
with people.
8. I would like to set up a second interview with our evening supervisor. Can you come back this evening
at 7:00?
Once again, this is not about the evening supervisor. The answer should help you judge how flexible the
candidate is and how well he or she handles less-than-ideal situations. Obviously, you should only ask this
question if you are giving second interviews and you have someone available at 7:00.
9. Write a paragraph explaining how DHCP works.
This task is good for both experienced and inexperienced candidates. It seems like a test of knowledge, but
actually it's a test of communication skills. If the candidate admits no knowledge of DHCP, explain it to him or
her and then request the paragraph. If the candidate returns a well-written explanation, this person could be a
good support analyst.
10. Complete the following word problem.
At 7:00 A.M., a train leaves Palo Alto, CA, carrying 30 passengers with laptop computers and a lot of work to
complete before they are due at their respective offices. At 7:15 A.M., the train arrives at the San Jose station
(20 miles away). During that time, eight passengers completed their work. Of the remaining 22, 10 completed
40 percent, eight completed 50 percent, and four completed 80 percent. How much further must each group
travel before they have enough time to complete the work they each have due?
And the answer is...
Not a lot of people are going to be able to answer question 10 correctly, but that's not really important. The point
is for the applicant to see the humor in being asked a train question on a job interview. Not being ruffled and
giving the correct answers would be great as well, but not any more important. In case anyone needs to know,
group one only completed 40 percent of its work and must travel 30 miles further. Group two completed 50
percent and must travel 20 more miles and group three completed 80 percent and have five miles to go.
Ask away
Obviously each manager is going to have his or her own interviewing technique that shouldn't be replaced.
These questions should be used in addition to those that you have developed over the years. The combination
and a lot of patience should make the search for the newest member of your team a great success, and maybe
even a little fun. To share your thoughts about this article, please post a comment below.
Questions used for Work Study / Interns
Name Date Interviewed by
Tell us a little about yourself…
Classes taken to this point related to information systems, networking or programming:
What are your personal strengths and weaknesses?
Are you more likely to fix something yourself or ask for help?
When you are faced with a problem, how do you acquire the knowledge to solve it?
Which word best describes you? Doer Influencer Relater Thinker
What do you see yourself doing in five years?
When you find yourself in an ethical dilemma, how do you respond?
Tell me about your current (or recent) job. What do you like about it? What do you dislike?
What was your best subject in high/college school?
What platform / operating system do you prefer and why?
What is the OSI model?
What role do you think helpdesk support should play in meeting the needs of schools?
What experience have you had in the following:
􀂉 Web development
􀂉 Training/teaching
􀂉 Troubleshooting
􀂉 Project management
Complete the following word problem.
At 7:00 A.M., a train leaves Palo Alto, CA, carrying 30 passengers with laptop computers and a lot of work to complete
before they are due at their respective offices. At 7:15 A.M., the train arrives at the San Jose station (20 miles away).
During that time, eight passengers completed their work. Of the remaining 22, 10 completed 40 percent, eight completed
50 percent, and four completed 80 percent. How much further must each group travel before they have enough time to
complete the work they each have due?
And the answer is...
Not a lot of people are going to be able to answer question 10 correctly, but that's not really important. The point is for the
applicant to see the humor in being asked a train question on a job interview. Not being ruffled and giving the correct
answers would be great as well, but not any more important. In case anyone needs to know, group one only completed 40
percent of its work and must travel 30 miles further. Group two completed 50 percent and must travel 20 more miles and
group three completed 80 percent and have five miles to go.
What interests do you have outside work?
Why should I hire you?
What questions do you have of us?
Complete the following word problem.
At 7:00 A.M., a train leaves Palo Alto, CA, carrying 30 passengers with laptop computers and a
lot of work to complete before they are due at their respective offices. At 7:15 A.M., the train
arrives at the San Jose station (20 miles away). During that time, eight passengers completed
their work. Of the remaining 22, 10 completed 40 percent, eight completed 50 percent, and four
completed 80 percent. How much further must each group travel before they have enough time
to complete the work they each have due?
Questions used in Hiring Regular Staff
Interviewee Date
1. Tell us a little about yourself…
2. What interests do you have outside work?
3. What are your professional strengths and weaknesses?
4. Which word best describes you? Doer Influencer Relater Thinker
5. What do you see yourself doing in five years?
6. What goals do you have for the coming year?
Personally
Professionally
7. When you find yourself in an ethical dilemma, how do you respond?
8. Why should I hire you?
9. What questions do you have of us?
Interviewer
Technical Skills Inventory
Name Date
Check all that apply and indicate years of usage.
Yes Platform # yrs Yes Platform # yrs Yes Platform # yrs
UNIX DEC/VAX OS/2
MS DOS Windows 3.X Tandem
Macintosh Windows 95/NT Others
AS/400 MVS
Yes Programming # yrs Yes Programming # yrs Yes Programming # yrs
C RPG Lotus Notes
C++ TSO/ISPF PowerBuilder (IEF)
Visual C++ Assembler Perl
Basic Java CGI
Visual Basic Pascal Delphi
COBOL TAL PIC
CICS HTML Other
JCL SAS
Yes Database # yrs Yes Database # yrs Yes Database # yrs
DB2 Oracle Informix
Access SyBase IMS/DB
Paradox SQL Other
FoxPro Dbase
Yes Software # yrs Yes Software # yrs Yes Software # yrs
CAD/CAM Communications Graphics
Spreadsheets (Project Workbench) Desktop Publishing Other
Word Processing
Yes Hardware # yrs Yes Hardware # yrs Yes Hardware # yrs
Installation/Setup Upgrad--Mac Repair
Upgrade--IBM Networks Other
Yes Networking # yrs Yes Networking # yrs Yes Networking # yrs
Banyan VINES Novell WAN Protocols
Windows NT LANtastic Bridges/Routers
IBM Lan Server LAN Manager Other
Yes Types of Positions # yrs Yes Types of Positions # yrs Yes Types of Positions # yrs
Programming Desktop Publishing Telecommunications
Application Development Graphic Design Finance
Systems Analysis Systems Testing Quality Assurance
Technical Management Financial Services Human Resources
Networking Technical Training Project Management
Operations Business management Product Management
Database Management Secretarial/Clerical Industrial Engineering
PC Maintenance/Assembly Human Factors Engineering Web-Site Design
Help Desk--Mainframe Manufacturing Other
Help Desk--PC/LAN Accounting
Coding--Cobol Data Communications
Design--Object Oriented Voice Communication
