Recruitment Interview Questions & Answers

My initial telephone interview was very short. Having spoken to a very nice manager for this primarily IT oriented recruitment company for 15 minutes about why I think I would be a good recruiter, I was invited for a face-to-face interview at their office in London. Once there, I met with the same person who interviewed me over the phone. We talked about the company, the role I was interviewing for, and quickly drifted off topic into personal conversation. The "interview" lasted for about 1.5 hours during which I incorporated my past experiences to emphasize why I think I would be good for this position while a the same time keeping the conversation light and easy. The manager was impressed with my manner of speaking fluently and stepped out for 10 minutes to get a senior-manager who asked me some more direct questions including my language skills, why I would be suited for the role, what I have done in the past to communicate with people and what expectations I have of Templeton. Having interviewed on a Thursday I was invited to return on Monday for a final informal meeting with the owners. However, Monday past and I did not hear from Templeton until Wednesday when I was told that the owners, on Monday, decided to restructure the company and are not taking on any graduates at the time.

The interview with Templeton was the most informal interview I had ever attended with no difficult questions being asked. The managers did not expect you to know about the companies history or philosophy but rather only seemed interested in how comfortable you are holding a conversation with people you've never met before.

Templeton are looking for motivated and easy going people. A professional,friendly and approachable manner seem to be the main characteristics Templeton and Partners desire.

The company itself seemed rather small and the interview took place in a very small room 3 floors below the actual office space. The whole building appeared to be under renovation and the 12 employees were casually walking around with their wireless headsets. With a goal of breaking out of the UK recruitment market, Templeton employees spoke only English. I was told that my language skills, specifically German are of interest as they want to expand into the German market.

Started in a group introduction where I had to do a 30 on the spot in "welcoming" of myself to the other candidates and interviewers.

Then a 3 min interview with the candidate next to me to then prepare a 1 min presentation about why they should get the job.

Then an exercise about what items to salvage from a sinking ship to survive at sea.

When I reached the next round of interviews, I had 20 mins to create a 3 minutre presentation on myself and why I would be perfect for recruitment and Las Fosse.

What is my inspiration to enter recruitment?

Try and be as personable, outspoken and yet measured as you can. Their business is built on a family-esque ethos so being friendly, cooperative and interesting is key. Also do your research; I did a tremendous amount of background research and that is what separated me from the other candidates, even though I did not get offered the job

See above

The interview was not as nerve racking as I initially thought it would be. I received a great reception from the interviewer. The questions were pretty straightforward and no trick questions were asked. It was a one to one interview, therefore, you feel a bit more at ease than when other candidates are present. which can sometimes cause you to be tense.

Not difficult, competency based questions. An example will be when was the last time you demonstrated resilience?

Stay calm and show interest in the organization so prep in advance and have questions ready to ask them. Also if you didn't understand a question rather than making a mistake just asked the interviewer to repeat it again. Better to answer correctly than not answering it right at all.

No assessment was carried out on that day.

The initial process was a phone interview with an Internal recruitment consultant who asjed generic questions such as why recruitment and what are my goals etc. Then I was invited to the office to meet the team manager but actually met 5 people in the process, it took a total of 3 hours, from trainee consultants to director of the company.
I was asked a few questions about the company and why would I lie to be a part of the team. I was also asked why recruitment with additional questions on what a recruitment consultant does. When I finally met the team manager he got me to speak in front of the new trainees to see if I could hold a conversation. He then asked me to sell him something and we did a role play. Finally the director of the company asked me more technical questions such as entrepreneurial questions and also selling technique.

You are locked in a room with a phone and a cv, the phone can only call numbers, on the cv you have the person's information and they're phone number. To get out the room you have to place that person into a job. You have no jobs to place them into, so you have to find one and then place them. How would you do it?

Ensure that you do enough research on the company and be prepared to do role plays. Thru talk a lot so you have to be able to hold a conversation with everyone that you meet because it could be from 2 people to 5 people.
I would also recommend you read a lot of different selling techniques because I was asked to sell 2 items to them by two different people. Try not be be nervous because they will use that against you. Eye contact and speaking clearly is also very essential, make sure that you are engaged with everyone you meet and approach them professionally. Every you meet asks you the sane questions so be prepared to repeat a lot and not sound frustrated.

I did not attend an assessment centre

Initial telephone interview was first carried out, followed by an invitation to attend the assessment centre. Here, we did various exercises, first an elevator pitch, followed by a paired exercise, then a group exercise then a final individual pitch. The whole process from start to finish, lasted for just under 3 hours.

Those to do with the group exercise - where we were challenged on our decisions.

Be realistic about whether it would be best suited for the type of person you are, before agreeing to attend the assessment centre. It's simply not enough to have fantastic skills, abilities, talents, and good solid grades. You need to be able to really stand out from such a small group, physically and verbally.

N.B. You had to pass each stage to get to the next.

First task: had to briefly introduce ourselves, university, degree etc.

Second task: a paired exercise where we had to interview another individual and vice versa about some of their background, education, career aspirations etc. Then, we were required to present the individual we interviewed to the rest of the group.

Third task: a group exercise where we all had to work together to figure out how to overcome a given scenario.

Final stage: Given 20 minutes to prepare a 3 minute individual presentation as the final chance to really sell yourself (skills, abilities, ambitions, hobbies/interests, why you would be best suited for the job etc).

The phone interview was relatively simple, they ask questions about your experience and why you want to work in recruitment.

The interview lasted for around 10 -15 minutes. I was asked questions such as tell me about yourself, I was asked to take the recruiter through my CV, I was asked to give examples demonstrating that I was motivated and resilient and I was asked to explain why I was money motivated.

I received feedback immediately after and was invited to an assessment centre the following week.

The most difficult question was why you want to work in recruitment. They want you to have strong reasons and specific answers. Before the interview they provided a PDF document which basically told you want they want to hear. They want you to be money motivated and know what you want to do with the money and interested in career progression.

Read over all of the documents they send and if you're not given feedback after your phone interview ask for some as it gives you an idea what they are looking for in the assessment centre. Try to be confident or at least show that you are as the people that did in my assessment centre made it through to the next stage.

The assessment centre involved group tasks followed by a one on one interview if you are successful in the group stage.

The day lasted for around 3-4 hours. On my assessment day there were just over 10 people. Before you begin you are seated in a waiting area giving you time to get to know the other candidates. We were there for around 30 minutes longer than the time they said it would start. Eventually someone came through and took us to a room just off to the side.

They ask you to fill out a form and attach your cv to it. We watched a presentation about the company and the roles they recruit for. We were then asked to introduce our selves to everyone and give a fun fact about something other than ourselves.

One of the group tasks was to rate statements inividually then in groups of 3-4 come to an agreement on the ratings. I assume this was to test our negotiation and persuasion skills. Another of the tasks involved splitting into two and selling the person you are partnered with. You have to relay their experience and skills in relation to the role they are interested in. I think the people that performed best where those that really tried to sell the person instead of just giving information about them.

After a break, in a sort of x-factor like fashion they split the group and took half of us outside. When outside they told us we will not be making it to the next stage. I found this quite dramatic and it was unfortunate that I did not get to have a one to one interview to really sell myself. Overall the experience with graduate recruitment was OK, it was my first assessment centre and it's given me an idea of what to expect for future ones. Hopefully other assessment centres give you the opportunity to be assessed on a full range of activities not just what I thought were a few basic group tasks.

I had an interview with the internal recruiter after my assessment centre. I was asked why I chose their company and if I had applied elsewhere. I came back the following week for a telephone test and a few more interviews with my current manager and then the company director. I was asked about my commitment to the company

Why did I choose recruitment and not stick to a typical chemical engineering job?

Come in confident and ready to get stuck into the tasks. Try to quickly learn the names of the other trainees to make the tasks run more smoothly. Be smiley and yourself. Listen to the tasks carefully and keep an eye on the time to make sure you show your great time management skills. The telephone test might seem daunting but just talk on the phone as though you were talking to an old family friend.

I had an assessment centre with an introductory presentation and individual introductions followed by group tasks. The task I remember the most was pitching a fellow candidate to the rest of the group. Those who got through to the interview stage had an hour after the assessment centre to grab some lunch and then return for an interview.

Following initial phone conversations with the recruiter, a face-to-face was arranged with the client company. This interview was a 'traditional' one-to-one format with one of their senior managers. It started off quite informally and we spoke about various aspects of the role and how they related to things I had done at university - mostly the extra curricular stuff. They were interested in the leadership qualities and ability to overcome adversity that these extracurricular activities had given me.

Following the first interview I was invited back after lunch to meet the managing director, and then I was offered the role via my recruiter later that day!

What are your weaknesses?

Be confident and be yourself. They aren't looking for particular background or personality types, but rather people who are confident and outgoing while being happy in their own skin. Think about times you overcame challenges and adversity, and think about times you have been in a competitive team environment, such as a sports team or something similar.

Met with senior management, met with the MD. It was all quite informal.

Initially, I had a brief telephone conversation with a member of the recruitment team. This was to identify my reasons for applying for the job, why i'm interested in the role and my key competencies. I was then invited to a group interview. There was 11 of us at the group interview, all with a diverse range of degrees and experience. We started with an ice breaker to introduce ourselves, this was simply telling everyone our name, our degree and which University we studied at. Next we were split into pairs. Our task was to pick any item from the room and to effectively sell it as the new must have item for 2013, without selling it's original function. For example, a pen could not be sold as a writing implement. We were given a short time to do this. We then presented our item to the group as well as 2 of the companies employees. Our final task was individual. We had to prepare an individual oral presentation on 'why I am suitable for this role'. Again, we were only given a short amount of time to do this. We had to give our presentation to the group as well as to the founder of the company and some of the higher managers. We was also asked to give an interesting fact about ourselves.This presentation was to last no longer than 60 seconds. Afterwards we were told we would be contacted by 4pm in regards to whether or not we were successful.

The paired task was very difficult. Although, our idea wasn't important and it was our presentation skills that were, it was difficult to come up with an initial idea.

Make an effort to stand out from a large group, don't fade into the background.

In a group interview certain individuals do stand out more, meaning that it is harder for others to get noticed.

It was a one on one where I was given a very short space of time to prove myself and make myself stand out amongst the other candidates.

I was asked why I wanted to be in recruitement, and why I felt I would be successful.

Apart from that it was just a genreal discussion about me on a personal level.

I had to make sure I tailored my answers to attributes needed for the job. Bringing in examples from my experience as shown on my CV.

It was brief with no tasks, just a conversation. A brief discussion of my CV and how I had gained more experience in this sector.

I had to really fight back to prove I had the skills to be successful in the role.

It felt quite brutal with no time for me to ask about the company itself.

If having a large family would affect my commitment to a job which required long hours.

Research what the recruitement industry is all about, what you have to do on a daily basis and the qualities that you need. Doing this illustrates to the interviewer just how serious you are.

I had no real experience in sales and so I went and got a job in telesales afterwards. This made my CV stand out even more.

Be on the ball, dont ease in slowly, hit the ground running with clear examples.

Most importantly show your ambition and awarness of the financial structure that you could be rewarded from in the future.

Resreach the different sectors the company is involved in so you can show you have an understanding of evcents which really drive the company and so you can prove you understanding the business areas and indeed international areas that you would be involved in.

I did not make it through to this stage