Recruitment Interview Questions & Answers

I arrived at the offices in London for a face to face interview for what I thought was a job with Buchanan Search. However it soon turned out that there wasn't actually a specific role I was applying for and in fact it wouldn't be with Buchanan Search at all. They were interviewing me to see if I would fit any roles that their current clients needed filling.
I was asked about my work history and my reasons for applying for this "job". I was asked how people might recruit candidates in this sector and how they might find a new client to work with. I was also asked how much money was a motivating factor in my choice of jobs. I didn't have to perform any tasks. The interviewer mainly boasted about how brilliant his company was and was very patronising.

I found all of the questions hard to answer once I realised that they were not based on one specific job. I was very confused as to why I wasn't being asked about myself and my work ethic.

Do not apply for this role if you are expecting to be interviewed for a graduate scheme role within the company Buchanan Search. They are interviewing you to see if they would like to put you forward for other roles within their clients companies. They are not interviewing you to work for them. If you are looking for a recruitment company to have you as a candidate on their books then this is right for you.

The offices were very modern and clean. I was interviewed in a meeting room, just me and the interviewer. The interview lasted barely 20 minutes.

Initially I was contacted on the phone by a Manager at Eurostaff. they were interested in me based on my European language skills (German, French, English) as well as my diverse academic background (European Studies). The interview lasted about 30 minutes during which I was asked about my reasons for wanting to join a recruitment company and how I think I would be suited for the job. Having said that I sounded very confident and engaging (I did some research on Eurostaff, which always helps) I was invited to an interview at their London Headquarters a week later. The face-to-face interview with a different manager than the one undertaking the previous phone interview lasted for about an hour. We discussed my CV, my ambitions and what I thought a recruitment position required as well as financial matters. Since Eurostaff are a recruitment company focused on recruiting talent from European countries to join clients in the UK, they explained their company structure and the way they usually go about recruiting, as well as the level of targets they tend to set themselves (in my case they were looking for someone to recruit upper management from the financial sector in Germany and other German speaking countries.) A day later I was invited to meet the senior management staff which, unfortunately, never took place as we could never agree on a set time.

Having never worked in recruitment before, the most difficult question concerned my expectations i.e. "How many people do you think you will, on average, recruit in a month?"

Also, "what traits do you think a recruiter should have at Eurostaff." This question required knowledge not only of the recruitment process, but also what the Eurostaff environment looks like and how I thought I would fit in.

Thankfully no generic interview questions like "describe a mistake you made and how you dealt with it" were asked. Eurostaff focuses on the individual and the recruitment process rather than generic interviewing.

I have learned that recruitment companies are very good at selling themselves and often promise things they cannot keep. Unfortunately Eurostaff withdrew their interest after stringing interview dates with senior managers along for three weeks even though they showed fantastic interest in me during the initial face-to-face interview. Be prepared for setbacks and do not be afraid to ask directly how serious they are about strengthening their team.

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The interview process had five stages. This began with a 30 minute telephone conversation and then progressed onto a 45 minute long Skype call. After my application was progressed I made the first of three trips into Mayfair, London for face to face interviews. I met separately with four Managing Consultants and answered questions that mainly focused on conveying my personality to the interviewer. They were most concerned with establishing what I was like as a person, rather than determining if I would be able to do the job. Then, one week later, I met separately with the two directors of the company in a 90 minute interview that was very thorough. Finally, one week later, I returned to London to complete a 15 minute presentation about my knowledge of the recruitment industry and why I felt I was a credible candidate for this application process.

Tell us about the tasks you would expect to be conducting in your first month?
- There is very little information available on the intricacies of recruitment available online and therefore had I not done detailed preparation, I would have been stumped.

Dress in a navy suit and have a smart, professional haircut. Arrive 30 minutes early to establish where your interview will be (and grab a coffee for the nerves!). Read as much as is possible about the industry online beforehand. The trickiest questions were all industry specific.

Most importantly, however, is to be yourself. They are looking for a hard-working, honest, entrepreneurial minded individual and if you tick these criteria and give a good account of yourself on the day(s) you will be fine!

A beautiful, glass building in the centre of Mayfair. The interview was carried out in a very relaxed, informal manner and conveyed the laid back culture of the company despite the location of its offices.

I was interviewed by a senior member of the legal recruitment team, who previously worked in the city as a lawyer. He asked several key questions surrounding my ambitions to orogress, why their firm and the training that could be offered. It was a real challenge as the atmosphere was very intense and extensive preparation about the company is required. Mostly questions will be drawn from your CV yet I would recommend checking the culture of the firm as they are very corporate before arriving to see if it would be the correct fit.

What is the average day in the life of a 2 year qualified consultant with this firm?

Know your CV, understand the legal sector of recruitment and what makes it different, the legal sector is much more fast paced in a lot of regards and you need to be able to be comfortable conversing with some top performing people on the city, if you don't have the confidence to do that then this isn't the job for you, dress smart, have a good answer for exactly why London and this sector. This interview is very intense however with the correct preparation you can get through it! I was very nervous going in and I think they picked up on that but the conversation began to run smoothly after a while. It's just about being able to explain exactly why you want to do the role and being confident that you have the right personality to succeed.

A large majority of the interview consisted of competency based questions and questions such as: why London? What makes Taylor Root different etc.

First interview was in the London office, for both G2 and Vivid.

Was asked about my CV and motivations as well what kind of person I was outside work/study.

G2 decided to interview me further by way of telephone with a sales manager from the head office.

Progressed to next stage where I was asked to travel to the head office to meet the sales manager who interviewed prior and the director of G2.

The interviews were organised very well and I was continually kept updated by internal recruitment.

If I gave you £1000 right now, what would you do it?

Look at yourself internally as a person before thinking joining as the company is very big on continual learning and self development.

Be prepared for questions which are very probing based on the things you say and what you have done on your CV.

Management can read you like a book. So don’t try and give answers that you think they want to hear.

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