General HR Interview Questions - Set #3

Sell yourself / Market yourself

It certainly depends upon the person/position, but the key here is to focus on what you have to excel in the position you applied for. You can obviously not market something convincing unless you show the positives and the relevance of the product to the prospective customers. If we take the example of a person applying for a design/development position then a sample answer might be "I'm a prospective technocrat, who is having the required skills and abilities to attain great success in the field of software design and development. Being an avid learner, I just need to get a suitable platform to showcase my talent in discovering, inventing, implementing, and learning new things on every possible opportunity I get or be able to create".

How can you assure, you'll have a long association? (OR won't leave us)

I guess the key here to be honest here. One may say this "Honestly speaking I don't think any one can assure you that. A long association is not something which is entirely dependent on me. It's the company as well which is equally responsible and if both me and the company will keep taking care of each others rational expectations, then I don't think I'll even think of moving from here. What I can assure you is that if I'll keep getting good working environment and competitive growth, hike, & recognition, then I'll try my level best not to disappoint my employer - not even slightly".

What will be an ideal job for you?

The position you applied for must be at least partially ideal, if not completely. In case the position is only partially ideal, you may go on mentioning the missing aspects of the position, which either you're not aware or currently not on offer with the position. But, don't forget to explain why you would be fit for those missing aspects and how you can excel if given an opportunity. You would probably like to use your skills, abilities, strengths, and attitude to justify your answer.

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.

Why would you like to work for us?

Like most of the other HR questions, this question will also have different answers for different people and positions. The key here is to focus on what all main qualities (required to be successful in the role you applied for) the company is good at. You can almost always find few quite good things about the company you are looking for.

Hmm... so start focusing on what are the areas the company is really good at from an employee point of view such as innovation, actual development work, quality of development work, etc. Completed? Good. You would now be having a list of the areas the company is impressive at and you're half done by now. What's next? Nothing great. You just need to see how the position you applied for, will fit in the scheme of the things.

So, a person applying for a design and developmet position may start with saying "I would like to work for the company for quite a few reasons and one main reason is that the company is really innovative and it's regarded as one among the best for this in India (or globe whatever). This will give me a chance to develop and refine my skills to a great extent and in turn it will help me growing as a better developer...". You can go on saying why you're suitable for such a company/position by saying "I've always been considered as a good problem solver. During my stay in the previous company (Or in my college - for freshers) I got few opportunity to prove my worth and I managed all of them successfully... I'm a good learner and my focused work can really produce good results. This position/company will only motivate me to try and do even better."

Then you can move on to the work environment the company can provide for you. Without a conducive working environment no company can draw best out of its employees and certainly won't be a favourite among the professionals. In the worst case if you think that the company is not that good in that area then also you got to respect the company and term it at least 'decent' in your interview :-)

You can probably then move on to the other specific benefits, the position can offer you, like on-site opportunities, client interaction, trainings, etc.

Finally, if you're getting a good pay hike then you may like to be little honest and mention that also as one of the reasons, but saying that in the last part of your answer is preferable. It'll not be good idea to start your answer straightaway mentioning that point. Be honest, but do avoid being brutally honest :-)

General HR Interview Questions - Set #1

What concerns do you have about the job?

I don't think it's a good idea to mention any concerns. If it's so serious just don't go for that job otherwise it would be quite light to be avoided. Agreed?

So, you may confidently say "I don't have any concerns at all. I believe I've the right skills and abilities required to be successful in the position. I'm looking forward to the challenge and I believe I'll stay focused to prove my worth... blah blah :-)"

What concerns do you have about the company?

Again, no concerns for the same reasons. You may say "I don't have any concerns about the company. I've researched about the company and found it quite good in terms of work, environment, performance based appraisals & promotions, etc. So, no concerns at all. Just looking forward to have a long association with it"

How soon will you start contributing to the company?

You may say "Well... I don't have enough idea of the complete set of responsibilities, the trainings I need, etc. associated with the position. So, I don't think I'm a good position to comment on it as of now. But, I can assure that my learning curve and time taken to start working on the projects will be as per what the company expects out of an new recruit, if not better."

Introduce yourself / Tell something about yourself / Describe yourself

It’s probably the most common question. It’s very simple to answer this question, but a decent answer requires you to keep few things in mind before coming up with your version of the answer. Answer to this question should be concise and precise. Normally this is the first question in any interview and an effective answer to this question will boost your confidence for the entire interview. As we all know that first impression is of utmost importance, so it may be better for you to work on the answer to this question in advance instead of giving an instant reply. All the interviewers know that the candidates already know this question, so the answer you give in the interview is normally supposed to be the best you can give. Beware of it :-)

Try to cover your name, place you’re from, the highest degree you hold, years of experience (if applicable) in one-two lines. After that, you should present your qualification in the best possible way to align the acquired skills with those needed for the job you’re applying for. Don’t let the panel know that you’re not even aware of the major skills required for the job. If you feel that only a subset of skills required can be aligned with the skills you’ve acquired by your qualification, work exp, etc. then try to present yourself well aware of the gap and do mention the path you’ll follow the imbibe rest of the skills not only to make yourself fit into the profile, but to excel in that. Your learning skills, analytical skills, problem solving skills, and most importantly your attitude will come handy in such a situation. Figure out the instances in your life where you really proved something similar by using any of these (or may be some other skill). The interviewers may ask an example. You should be ready with that. But, don’t rush into the example straightaway. You may prefer to take a pause (few seconds) before explaining that example. Always keep in mind that the more interactive the session is, the better it may be for you. If you’re about to speak at length about something, present only the gist first and then seek their approval before explaining the whole idea. In the end, don’t forget to ask them if you really answered everything they wanted. For example, you may ask “Is there anything specific you wanted to know and I didn’t cover so far?”

Avoid including your percentage, CPI, honors/awards, etc., which you’ve already mentioned in your resume. You may lose their attention by doing so. They already know, so no point repeating the same. They’ll anyway ask you to elaborate on something they really want.

If you’re applying for a profile, you’ve already been into somewhere (or maybe in current employment) then try to include a reference to that in your answer. They’ll probably ask you to explain or elaborate on that. The point I’m trying to make here is that every sentence you speak while answering this question should either reflect or give you a chance to present one or more of the reasons why they should consider you a better candidate for the profile.

Sample answer:- (As I've already said that the complete answer to this question will result from the interaction you would have with the panel. This sample answer is just a starter. They may intervene in the middle. You’ll anyway end your answer by asking them if they want you to cover anything else.)

“My name is <…> (this is also there in your resume, but it’s normally included :-)). I’m from <place … city and state should suffice>, have completed my schooling from <place>,

from <institute> (prefer using the name of the university only, if you think your college/institute is not among the very well known colleges/institutes). I’m currently working (if applicable) with <company> for <years> as a <profile>. I’m handling/managing/doing <mention whatever you do>. I’m quite friendly with my friends/colleagues and like to work in a team. I’m looking for <the position you're looking for> and I believe my skills and abilities are rightly suitable for that. I like to play <the sports you like>... Anything specific you wanted me to cover and I didn’t do so far?”

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What are your strengths?

You should certainly work on this question beforehand. Chalk down all the better qualities you have, which you can put to use in the profile you’re applying for. If you can find even 1-2 strong points suitable for the job, you’re done. But, don’t forget to find the real life examples to assist your answer (in case they ask you).

Which qualities are the interviewers looking for greatly depends upon the particular job, but the traits listed below will probably suit to most of the job-profiles:-

Good Learning Skills: No one possesses mastery of all the skills and it’s certainly not required at all. We all need to learn various things on a continuous basis to perform to the best of our abilities. You need to be a good learner for almost every thing you do (or aspire to do) effectively and efficiently in life.

Being a good learner means you’ve got the ability to concentrate and focus hard on the particular art/skill, understand the basics, think of that art/skill from various dimensions, align your skills and abilities with the requisites of that art/skill, and last but not the least you’ve got the temperament to keep working hard until you really become successful. Being a good learner indirectly means that you know how to put your efforts on use in the right direction.

You’ll certainly be having a number of good examples to assist your answer. We all learn quite a few things with time/need. You just need to pick few good examples and speak your heart out when asked.

Sound Analytical & Logical Abilities: Don’t you think that it’s a must for any profile you’re applying for, especially for all the profiles which involve creativity, innovation, out of the box thinking? Engineering, Research, Management, etc. are major fields where people need very good analytical and logical abilities. However, it’s a pre-requisite to all other fields (the level may vary) as well and it’s a great help to have sound analytical skills to make the best use of the resources available, right decision at right time, find better ways of doing the same thing, etc. It’s indirectly related to your learning skills as well as you will probably not be a good learner unless you have sound analytical skills. But, from that perspective all the soft skills are inter-related. You can hardly imagine any of them in isolation.

Good Communication Skills: Depending upon the profile the mode of communication may vary, but for all the profiles it’ll be right there among the most sought after qualities. To be a good team player, you got to have the ability to communicate properly among the team members and other people involved in the overall process. Individual contributions may not result into a significant product in most of the cases and if you’re that good an individual performer, you’ll probably not apply for any job :-)

Perseverance: Not every time you get success in the very first go. In fact, very rarely you savor success on the very first attempt. It applies to every aspect of life and not only to your job. We keep learning new things and the more enthusiastic we’re about it while learning, the better we learn (in most the cases). Again, it got inter-related with learning skills. I believe, this trait is very tightly integrated with learning skills, but I’ve put it separately because not everything you try to learn, you actually end up learning that. There may be many underlying reasons for that. But, perseverance lets you actually realize your true potential and it’s more likely that you’ll at least learn few other things during the entire process. You can hardly define a limit to the level of expertise you may have for any skill. Perseverance helps you keep aiming for higher limits and subsequently achieving that :-)

These are just a few traits from a long list, which you can hopefully build for yourself. Think about all those strengths in advance and pick the best (1-2) according to your own set standards. Most of these strengths have almost equal weightage. What really matters is how well can you really explain (and prove if asked) the one you’ve picked for yourself.