HR Specialist Interview Questions for Hiring Managers

We have been testing and refining interview questions with our clients for several years. Here are 15 that penetrate to the core of several critical performance areas and are extremely difficult to dodge, game, or fake: 1. We all have things about us that make it hard for other people to work with us. What makes it hard to work with you? (Collaboration). 2. How do you approach a complicated problem that you have never seen before? (Critical thinking and problem framing). 3. Tell me about a time when you had to go with your gut instinct and intuition to make a hard choice under pressure? (Judgment, responding to uncertainty and ambiguity, synthesis, confidence). 4. Tell me about an important skill you have developed on your own? (Self-directed learning agility). 5. Please share a specific experience that shows you have your ego under control? (Hubris/humility). 6. What was the last idea or suggestion you presented to your organization that was rejected or accepted? What happened? (Influence, courage, and innovation). 7. When was the last time you got some tough feedback? What did you do? (Coachability and tolerance for candor). 8. Give me an example of a time when priorities suddenly shifted. What did you do to respond in that situation? (Adaptability and resilience). 9. What’s the most pressing question you are asking yourself right now in your role and don’t have an answer for? (Curiosity, mental tenacity, and problem solving). 10. When was the last time you failed to act quickly enough? What happened? (Strategic thinking, initiative, urgency, and confidence). 11. Tell me about a time in your professional life when you failed to meet objectives you had committed to. What did you do? (Ownership, accountability). 12. What would your peers, direct reports, and manager say about you? How would they describe your patterns? (Self-awareness) 13. Can you identify an area of performance where you personally have set the standard? (Drive, value, performance). 14. Give me an example of a time when you didn’t do the best work of which you are capable. (Self-reflection and accountability). 15. Tell me about the little things you do to ensure that you are acting ethically and with integrity. How do you sweat the small stuff? (Ethics and integrity). The interview is typically the culminating stage of the hiring process. Everything else–resumes, references, assessments, portfolios, networks and connections–becomes secondary support. The precious few questions you choose to ask in the interview will shape the entire experience. Sharp or blunt, they are the instruments that draw out the information you will likely use to make your hiring decision. #hiring #interviewing #culture

Here are 5 'sneaky' questions to help you spot a good (or bad) manager in your next interview ↓ 1) "How important is employee feedback to you? What mechanisms do you use to collect it, and discuss it? ↳It’s easy to say feedback is important, but taking an actionable step to collect feedback validates the words. ↳I also like to ask this question to multiple interviewers, to ensure stories are consistent. - - - 2) "Can you share an example of a time when you took action to address employee feedback? How did the employee/team react? ↳I’m looking for a manager who cares enough about the feedback to address it seriously, and thoughtfully. ↳Great leaders consider suggestions from anyone, at any level. - - - 3) "How would approach an employee who’s just made a mistake that negatively impacted your business?” ↳Great people leaders know mistakes will happen. ↳What I’m looking for are managers who have ‘seek to understand’ conversations first, and a coaching mindset. - - - 4) "What kind of systems do you have in place for communicating with your team, and conducting 1:1’s?" ↳There needs to be a consistent 1:1 framework in place. No excuses. ↳Effective communication, where everyone understands the objectives, is central to any team's ability to perform. - - - 5) "How would you approach a situation where an urgent work need comes up, but your employee is out of office?" ↳I like to leave this one fairly open-ended. ↳Gives me space to see how they approach the question and think critically. Look for information on how they set boundaries between work and personal life. —————— When it comes to career satisfaction, Your future boss will likely have more influence than: - Title - Compensation - Direct Reports Screen the people you'll be working for. They're screening you. ♻️ Repost to help other job seekers. Follow for more daily career content.

Aside from the behavioral interview questions I think are critical for every hire, below are some of my personal favorite interview questions for assessing "softer" skills. "Based on your experience what are some ways you would recommend we shape this role?" (What I'm looking for: confidence, how they apply past learnings, how they share opinions, a sense of ownership) "What's it like to disagree with you? And can you share some examples of how this has played out in past roles?" (What I'm looking for: a willingness to speak up and influence, but also a willingness to disagree and commit...self awareness, empathy) "Tell me about a time you learned something the hard way." (What I'm looking for: humility, grit, growth mindset, maybe even sense of humor) "What am I not asking that you think I should know?" Another version of this same question is: "if you had a mulligan in this interview and could change an answer or add something that you haven't shared yet, would you want to?" (What I'm looking for: things they share suggest what they view as important…also, critical thinking. You'd be surprised how many people say "Nothing") My final interview question "If I gave you an offer tomorrow do you feel like you have all the information you need to say yes or no confidently? If not what more can I share with you?"  (This is just a loose pre-close and I personally like to end an interview with the candidate driving) What are your favorite interview questions? #interviews #recruiting