Human Resources Interview Questions & Answers

I was sat with two people from Network Rail who had question sheets where they were taking notes. The interview started with me having to ask the 3 questions I had been asked to prepare. They answered they efficiently. They then commenced the interview. They asked general competency questions as well as motivations to work in HR and on this scheme in particular.

The difference between a HR practitioner and HR business partner.

Engage in the group activity. Listen to others in the group and try to keep the focus on the aim of the task. In the reflection, be honest with what you think went well/badly. Reflection is important to improve and they're looking for you to say things could have gone better if you'd done x, y and z. Take your time in the interview; they are happy to wait for you to gather your thoughts. Make the most of the grads - they were so friendly, and really made me want the job!

After registration, we were given our groups and shown to a seating area where we were to wait. We individually had our documents checked at a time between activities. In the group task, we were given a scenario and had time to think independently before starting the discussion. Part way through the task we were given additionally information to throw a spanner in the works. We were observed by a panel of people. After the task, each of the candidates was assigned a member of the panel who took to individually complete a reflection/review questionnaire. The questions included how we think ourselves and the group did, and what we individually and as a group could have done differently/better. This was an informal discussion with the interviewer scribing my answers. We also completed the interview. As well as this, we had a presentation from graduates already in their first year of the scheme in which they told us about their experience on the scheme and what they felt were the highlights. This also included a Q&A portion. When these grads weren't giving presentations they stayed with the candidate waiting between tasks to answer any questions and give more information about their experience.

First stage is a standard online application form about your education and experiences and all personal information. Then there was a numerical and verbal reasoning test to complete, both around 20 mins each. Practice tests can be found online. Main tip is don't worry if you don't finish all of the questions in either test; the most important thing is to give correct answers, so be as accurate as you can even if you can't get through all questions. Secondly there was a standard competency-based telephone interview with a recruiter which lasted around 45 minutes. This was made up of the usual competency questions (so make sure you prepare some example answers that you can refer to) and some business-related questions; I was asked about a business that had not been performing well recently and was asked to talk about four issues relating to that performance. Again, prepare, read through the business news online and in the paper, I'm a history graduate so wasn't familiar with a lot of this but a couple of weeks of preparation really help! Then came the immersive assessment centre.

Definitely the business questions; I had chosen an example of a business not performing well, but that was all. So when I was asked to talk about four issues relating to that business I was lost for words! Don't panic, just let the interviewer know that you are gathering your thoughts. A lot comes down to common sense - think about why that business isn't performing well, is it a technical issue or a personal error? How can the issue be rectified? I managed to come up with three issues quite quickly, but struggled on the last one, I think I said something completely random. However I do think they appreciate the effort, as I was successful!

Sounds obvious, but PREPARE. It is so easy to prepare for an interview/assessment centre at KPMG. On their recruitment website there is a list of the nine competencies they look for. For the telephone interview come up with two or three examples of each competency that you can refer to, the interviewer will TELL you what competency they are looking for. Each exercise at the assessment centre TELLS you what competencies they are assessing! It really is that simple. Read up on the business news, check BBC and the Evening Standard has a good concise business section. KPMG come up in the papers, so look out for them. I applied for HR but all candidates have to demonstrate business and commercial awareness - this is one of their competencies. At the assessment centre, take each task separately and be honest about your performances. Be professional, but mostly importantly relax and be yourself. If you try and enjoy each stage of the process you will find it easier!

KPMG has an immersive assessment centre designed to give you a day in the life experience that you don't get with other assessment centres. You are working for a fictional professional services company (basically KPMG). The tasks were a written analytical exercise, an e-tray exercise, and then two role play exercises; one with a fictional client, and one with a 'manager.' In the written exercise you're given a lot of information about the company you work for and a client company and are given an hour to write a report about the strengths and weaknesses of the client company and what your company could do to help them. Again, as a history student this was unfamiliar to me, but a lot of it is common sense; structure your report and pick out different bits of information relevant to the section you are working on. You are given all of the information you need, what is important is what you do with it. Try and include facts and figures from the information to strengthen your report. Second was the e-tray exercise. This was a mixture of multiple choice questions (i.e. what is the best response to give), drafting different responses to emails and looking at email attachments and sending the correct reply based on the information in the attachment. Main tip - some of the emails will have a certain time to be completed by; I didn't notice this and had a bit of a panic at the end though luckily I got everything done! Scan through all emails and check for these time limits before you start working through them. But it is pretty straight forward. Lastly were the two role-play meetings which I was dreading the most. The first is with the fictional client you wrote the report on earlier; you are given about 15 minutes to prepare. If I remember correctly the client had accepted our initial proposal for a project but wanted a more detailed second proposal, the purpose of the meeting is to understand what the client wants in this proposal. BUT there is a twist - you are told that the two companies have worked together before but there was a breakdown in the relationship. This WILL come up in the meeting. KPMG hire professional actors for these meetings, and they will not break character. Some of the other candidates I spoke to said their 'client' had a personality quirk, e.g. they were really reserved or quite aggressive. I was lucky in that my 'client' was pretty laid back. The most important thing is to get into character yourself and take control of the meeting - you are in charge of the time and where the meeting goes, honestly just pretend the situation is real. Be professional and friendly and don't shy away from the issue of the previous breakdown. Acknowledge it. The last meeting was with your 'manager,' and the purpose was to feedback about the client meeting. This is your first one-on-one with this manager, so as well as asking for info about the client meeting they also ask if there are any ways they can help mesh your working team together. This is a slightly easier meeting as the 'manager' takes control. You can relax a bit more with this one, but still be professional and friendly in your responses. DO NOT LIE about how you think the client meeting went - although you have different assessors sitting in the two different meetings with you, they undoubtedly compare notes. So if you had an aggressive client and you do not think the meeting was that productive, say so. After every task there is a ten minute self-review exercise which is also assessed. Pretty simple - they ask what you think went well, what didn't go so well and what you would do differently in future. Again, be honest about your performances, as KPMG want to see that you are self-aware and can reflect on your experiences. Overall I really enjoyed the day!

The whole process ran very smoothly with regular contact from Mercedes-Benz to check how everything was going. I felt that there was quite a strong personal touch throughout. Having applied to quite a few different schemes, that's NOT always the case!

I had a telephone interview which included my motivations for working for Mercedes-Benz UK. I was also asked about how customer-focussed I was, and asked for examples of when I've delivered excellent customer service. It was clear to me just how much emphasis Mercedes-Benz put on their customers from the questions asked! This was conducted at a Dealership which gave me a chance to see how the business operates at the practical level.

I was also interviewed as part of the Assessment Centre by a member of the HR team, this was conducted at Mercedes-Benz world, the UK Mercedes Brand centre and museum which was awesome! This interview was more geared towards my career path and previous extra-curricular and work experience.

Also at the assessment centre I was asked to prepare a presentation based on some data provided to me. The time-frames were tight so that's what made this particularly difficult.

Thoroughly research the company values and structure of their operations in the UK. Mercedes-Benz in the UK is actually 3 companies who all work together under one umbrella! There is such variety on offer in the graduate programme too so be yourself and be honest about what you want to get from the scheme.

The assessment centre ran very smoothly. It was conducted at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey (which I urge you to check out if you're applying!). We had time to mingle as applicants before it started which helped to ease nerves. There was a group presentation, an individual presentation and an individual interview. I found the assessors very professional and personable.

i had an initial phone interview with the recruitment agency and then a phone interview with the person hiring before a final face to face interview with her and her line manager. I enjoyed all three interviews, which isn't something you can easily say about a job interview! At all times I felt at ease and gained a lot more insight into the role and the company itself.

After my phone interviews I actually wanted the role more than before the phone call! She sold it very well to me.

I didn't get the job because I was a lot more nervous during my face to face and while I did do research I didn't feel relaxed enough to answer their questions as well as I could have.

I was asked about something that frustrates me and I tend to lack patience a lot and so I didn't quite know how to say it without sounding rude or making a big thing out of it. I eventually said that I tend to get frustrated by when things aren't moving quickly but that I have gotten better over the years, which is true.

The people I met were very nice and helpful. I was nervous, but this was down to me and the interviewers were very friendly throughout all interviews.

I would suggest that candidates do as much research as possible but not let an interview worry you too much. If you don't get the job fair enough, just try harder next time. Going to an interview really helps you understand more about what kind of person an industry or sector is looking for and so you can tailor your future CV, answers, jokes etc towards that!

And that's all the cliche advice I have... But cliche or not it is definitely true!

I did not perform any kind of assessment test.

After filling out the application form and answering some competency based questions I was invited to participate in a video interview. I had to answer 5 questions via video and submit a copy of my CV alongside my video entries. The process was simple, set up your webcam and microphone so you are positioned correctly in the screen and test that everything works. There was also an opportunity to complete a practice question before completing the interview. Once you had proceeded to the interview itself, you watched a video of a person asking the question, then had 30 seconds to prepare an answer before it started recording you. You could also select to answer before the 30 seconds was up. The 30 seconds was useful for a couple of questions to get your answer together. You then had roughly 2-3 minutes to record your answer. So you had to be precise and clear. I think it was an excellent way of screening candidates, it gave a sense of the company and felt a bit more like Virgin Media were interested, than just completing online tests.

What do you think the main concerns of the People Director are?

Treat it like a proper face to face interview, and use the 30 seconds to prepare an answer. Try and be as natural as possible, which can be difficult when you are just talking to your laptop!

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My initial step to gain the interview was an online application describing qualifications and experiences in a face to face roll and dealing with high work loads, the application lasted around 20 minutes. The next stage was an invitation to interview received via email. At the interview I was met by a member of staff and asked to wait, I waited for around 5 minutes before being greeted by a member of the panel and escorted to the room to meet the other 2 members. We sat in the room and got the formalities of introductions out the way during the first 5 minutes, the panel then explained they were going to ask questions related to the post and whilst one would ask questions the other 2 would write the answers and change from time to time. It was a very relaxed interview and jokes were pushed around to ease the pressure on all parties.

Describe a time when I have had to deal with high work loads and stress on top of that, how did I cope and what would I have done differently?

Be relaxed, dress as required (ask before hand if not stated) be professional but also sociable, i cracked jokes (maybe out of nerves) but it worked, I was told they would let me know in 5 days but I got a call after 5 hours. Portray yourself how you would want someone going for that position to portray themselves to you.

Relaxed and informative, no pressure to answer questions quickly, members of the panel were easy going and made the experience alot more enjoyable.

It was a video interview, which lasted approximately 30 minutes. The video interviewing tool allowed me to practice one question several times to prepare and get used to the process. After that, there were about other 5 open-questions prepared, which were timed and had clear instructions (there were details about what my answer should include, and I had time to prepare my answer and also a limited amount of time to answer).

Tell us about a recent industry change? (e.g., policy).

''If your video interviewing tool allows, take advantage of the company’s practice questions. This will not only help you get ready for the interview but will also allow you to get comfortable with the technology. Use the practice questions to work out kinks, such as your background and your wardrobe.''

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Preliminary selection phase:

You should first get your CV shortlisted, then a set of tests are sent to you by email (numerical and verbal reasoning). Both are feasable with some practice, and I found them less hard than other companies.

Phone interview:

If you are successful after your tests, you get a phone interview. It is focused on your motivations and background, and also on what you know about Skanska, and why Skanska?

Assessment day:

Following your phone interview, they decide or not to invite you to the assessment day in their company in Rickmansworth.
The tasks are actually described below. Otherwise, the assessment day lasts about 6h, with a lunch break in the middle of about 45mn.
No overall format, nothing to prepare before, just get ready for a normal interview.

-If you should select one skill or attribute that for you defines perfectly what HR is, what would it be?

-Tell me about a time when you had to persevere to achieve your objectives, and that you are especially proud of?

-Who are you when you are/are not in a good mood?

-What type of people do you get along with?

My main advice is just to be yourself. Do not overthink your answers, the interview process is really straight forward and well organised. The interviewers do everything they can to put you at ease.

Of course you really need to research the company extensively before, especially their ethics and core values (5 zeros, sustainability) and pick 2 or 3 projects that Skanska got involved in.

You should definitely be passionate about HR, and make the difference; only 1 will be successful out of 10 people invited to the assessment day.

First we arrived in the morning and we had a global presentation of about 20mn on the company itself, its markets and its core values.

Then we had a group exercise: the objective was to build a bridge with a certain budget, certain requirements, in 1 hour. We had all kind of materials to buy to build the bridge, so a car could stand on it for 3s. We were set up by groups of 4-5 people.

After I was interviewed by 2 HR practitioners, with questions focusing mainly on myself, my background and career, my personal life, what I like. I also had "What do you know about Skanska?" as an entry question. But the interview was a 2 way process really, very interesting and relaxed, not pressurised at all. The aim is for you and for them to evaluate if you could be a fit, and if yourself you want to work for this organisation.

We then had to do a presentation in front of 2 other HRP; with a preliminary 45mn prep, the subject was "What skills and attributes do you think are required to be a successful HR graduate"? The presentation was about 10-15mn oral, followed by a short discussion on yourself and the subject.

Finally, we had to write 2 short essays based on ethic dilemma. Again, 45mn to complete the task, the subjects were related to ethical issues with regards to the use of Facebook, and the other was on the use of offensive language at work (male dominated sector).