General HR Interview Questions - Set #2

When would you expect your next promotion?

It's difficult to predict an exact time for this due to a variety of reasons, so you may straightaway answer this by saying "Well... it's pretty difficult to give you an exact time frame without knowing the hierachical structure of employees in the company, the responsibilities attached to each of the positions in that hierarchy, what all does it take to reach to next level in the company, and how long does it take to reach in the best case, etc. The only thing which I can say here is that I'm very sure of exceeding the expectations the company has from me with my focused hard work & right attitude and in reply I certainly expect to reach to the next level in the hierarchy in the minimum possible time frame."

Why are you looking for a change / a new job?

Almost a certain question in all your interviews if you're making a switch. Freshers will be lucky here. Anyway, the key here is to focus on what value addition the new company can provide you. At the same time, do mention all the skills you developed while working for your current company. Change is the only constant thing in life, so no body minds if you have a valid reason. But, criticising the current company may cost you dearly, as even the new company knows that you're not (in most of the cases) going to stay there for the rest of your career, and hence you might be saying similar stuff about them at some time down the line. You may answer this question by saying "I've worked for <these many> years/months and it's been a nice stay so far. I've grown both as a person and as a professional here. Now my expectations have exceeded and I'm not able to align myself with the goals of <the current company>. I need some diversification - different projects, different environments, different technologies, etc. to enhance other skills, which I couldn't do here." If you're moving from a company not having any on-site opportunities to a company having that then you may go on and add "My current company is not having any on-site opportunities and I'm looking for working in a different culture, different environment, different country, etc. This will not only help me to grow even better as a professional, but also provide me an opportunity to earn extra, which is undeniably an important motivating factor". If you think that you're going to get a very good salary hike in the new company then you may mention that as well because they anyway know that and hiding that won't impress them for sure.