- Tell me about yourself
- Who is your role model and why?
- What motivates you to do a good job?
- Could you tell me the difference between confidence and overconfidence?
- Do you know the difference between hard work and smart work? Could you share an example for each?
- What was the toughest decision you ever made?
- Can you work under pressure?
- Conclusion
One of the major responsibilities of an HR executive is to create and maintain a safe and supportive environment for employees in the company. Hence, HR executive interview questions include a blend of behavioral and situational interview questions.
So, if you are preparing for your upcoming interview for an HR executive job, you have landed on the right blog.
In this article, we discuss 7 common HR executive interview questions.
Let's begin!
Tell me about yourself
"Tell me about yourself" is an ice-breaking interview question that every recruiter asks to know more about the candidate and get them to ease into the job interview. While it seems very straightforward, it is crucial to prepare for this HR interview question.
You can find out more about how to answer "Tell me something about yourself."
Who is your role model and why?
Recruiters ask this HR executive interview question to understand if your values and beliefs align with the company. The recruiter also gains insight into your personal values and what motivates you to do a good job. You can talk about a role model in your field, personal life, or even a mentor.
Here's how you can answer this HR executive interview question;
"My role model is my mother. The reason for saying so is she plays so many roles and the way she balances all her responsibilities shows her excellent PR skills.
All the while juggling all her responsibilities as a working professional, wife, daughter-in-law, and mother signifies her amazing time management skills. She has always excelled in all her roles, hardly ever slipping in temperament.
She used to keep time aside for herself to unwind whether it was a trip or a day out. I have always been awed at how gracefully she manages everything and tried to follow her footsteps when carrying out my duties as an HR executive."
What motivates you to do a good job?
Through the job interview question "What motivates you to do a good job?" the recruiter wants to find out the aspects that will keep you motivated to work well.
Here is how this HR executive interview question can be answered;
" My greatest motivation is the need to feel challenged. I believe challenges in the job help me to push myself and there's always something to learn. I don't want to feel stagnant so early in my career as I believe I have just started and there's a plethora of valuable lessons that can help me grow in the field."
Could you tell me the difference between confidence and overconfidence?
An important task of an HR executive is to hire the right people for their respective jobs and understand if the candidate is confident or not. An overconfident candidate can disrupt a team's dynamics which can affect their performance in the long run.
You can answer such HR executive interview questions like this;
"In my opinion, there's a fine line between confidence and overconfidence. For example, I can do this job, is an optimistic statement that showcases faith in your own capabilities. But when you say, I am the only one who can do this task correctly, this highlights overconfidence and indirectly demeans other people's capabilities."
Do you know the difference between hard work and smart work? Could you share an example for each?
Recruiters ask "What is the difference between hard work and smart work?" to gauge your work ethics. Through your answer, the recruiter can understand how you would utilize your time to complete tasks.
Such HR executive interview questions can be answered in the following manner;
" In my opinion, the basic difference between hard work and smart work is the amount of time you spend in completing a task. Hard work indicates the time you spend on completing many tasks. Whereas smart work indicates prioritizing the tasks and completing them accordingly.
For example, if you give 5 tasks each to a hard worker and smart worker, the former will start working on all the projects at the same time. While, the smart worker will first prioritize the tasks and then start working on the tasks based on priority."
What was the toughest decision you ever made?
This is one of the important HR executive interview questions as the job profile requires you to face difficult situations and the recruiter wants to know if you are capable of it.
"I believe the toughest decision is when I have to discuss increment policies with employees. It is a bit of a challenge as they have their points but we are also bound by company policies and that can lead to dissatisfied employees which means there could be an increase in the employee attrition rate.
HR positions come with their advantages and disadvantages and facing dissatisfied employees is never an easy task to handle. I try to empathize with their situation as much as possible but state clearly that the company rules do not allow me to make decisions otherwise and I also provide them with some improvement tips for the next year's performances."
Can you work under pressure?
"Can you work under pressure?" is a common interview question for people applying for job roles that require one to work under pressure.
Recruiters try to gauge your problem-solving skills, logical thinking ability, and ability to deal with high-pressure situations through this job interview question.
Conclusion
In conclusion, acing an interview to become an HR executive requires preparation and the right talking points. With these interview questions, we hope you will be able to crush any interview.
Apart from practicing interview questions, brush up on the other interview tips to bag the HR executive job.
All the Best!
