HR Questions – Set 2

NOTE : Frame your answers in a proper structure.

Feel free to utilize STAR Framework – Situation ; Task ; Action ; Result

Or

PARLA Framework – Problem ; Action ; Result ; Learning ; Application

Q1 – Describe a situation where you faced a conflict and how did you resolve it?

Ans 1. In my last workplace, I had a colleague who always came in late at work. We used to
start late because of her and often submitted our work very close to the deadlines. It was
not a one off instance but an everyday affair. It was taking a toll on the performance of the
team. She was a good person and a good friend so no one wanted to check her in the fear of
ruining a professional relationship. She knew exactly what was going on but did not do
anything to correct it and no one was happy about it. I took it upon myself to go to her and
discuss why she was not able to make it to the office in time. She told me about a personal
problem and I listened to her empathetically. I realised that her situation was very much real
and that it would be impossible for her to be punctual in the morning. Being a professional
employee and a good friend, I pushed the timings of our morning meeting a bit and rolled
over some other work for the morning. Everyone was comfortable with my solution and able
to deal with any pressing tasks they had in the morning which may interfere with work. I
even talked to our manager and checked if this suited him. In the end everyone was
content.

Q2 If you are the CEO of a company, how would you select your team?

Ans 2. I would look at the past record of the applicants, both academic and professional.
The relevance of professional experience to the role I am hiring for will carry the most
weight. Further, I would like to take a look at the achievements and the extra-curricular
record of the applicants. Only the candidates who have achieved something in their lives
will be shortlisted since I believe that these things are important and display the overall
personality of a person. The final selection criteria would filter those candidates whose
values will resonate with the valued at my firm.

Q3 – Have you ever faced a situation which brought about an ethical dilemma in your life /
situation when you compromised on values?
I have never in my entire life compromised on my values. I have principles and I believe
that compromising on our values will only make us lose our own self-respect. Further, it is a
globally accepted fact that compromising on ethics may give us leverage in a situation but is
always catastrophic in the longer run. As a personal wish, I want to live in a world full of
values where no one is afraid of being cheated and in the words of my ideal, Mahatma
Gandhi you should be the change you want to see in the world. I have never and would
never compromise on my values.

Q4 - What sets you apart from other candidates to consider you for the job?

Ans 4. I think that I stand out because of my soft skills. I have worked on my soft skills
since college and even won several competitions. The importance of soft skills in the
professional lives cannot be understated and you are the judge to my skills. Further, I am a
people person and am easy to talk to. I make friends easy and I have been the favourite
spot for people in my life to go and share their feelings. Secondly, I am a man of values. I
have never compromised on my values, even during the most challenging of circumstances
and I believe that is what sets me apart from the other candidates.

Q5 - What has been your biggest failure in life? What were your learnings from it?

Ans 5. At my last workplace, I was trying to get my business back on track and I had a lot
on my plate. Things were challenging. Work made me stay up for long hours, miss my meals
and often eat junk food. My work was going good but my health was suffering. After this
went on for sometime, I got tired and fell sick. I had to take a few days off. During this time,
I had to reschedule my client meetings and stay at home. That was when I realised my
mistake. I compromised my health. Now I have made it a point to focus on my health at all
times. I work out regularly, take timely meals and eat healthy food. I am now a staunch
believer of the fact that health is wealth.

Q6 – How would you convince a team member who likes to work individually, into working
efficiently in a team ?

Ans 6. I will take a one to one meeting with the person to understand the reason for his not
being a part of the team and try to solve the problems he is facing. I will even try to
organise informal lunches or breaks for the team to get to know each other and bring
everyone closer. I think that once someone starts feeling like they belong to the team, they
will automatically start working with the team.

Q7 -What is the biggest risk you took that paid off?

Ans 7- At my real-estate related plywood business, things were very challenging during the
covid lockdowns. I had an option to wait till the situation eased or make an investment for
targeting the niche population in their home and office renovations. It was a huge risk but I
knew the market and calculated the possibilities. I took advice from everyone I could.
Finally, I went ahead and stocked up my warehouse. A bad investment in those times would
have been punishing.However, I contacted our past clients and reached out to potential
ones. I convinced several of them to undertake renovations. I made my own proposal more
attractive with a reasonable cost and complete package with an assurance against further
lockdowns. In the end, it all worked out and my business was able to survive the restricted
lockdowns while maintaining our sales.

Q8 - Describe a situation when you were praised for the efforts you put in beyond
requirements

Ans 8. At my workplace, my team was once assigned a project to survey a district and
assess the energy needs. In the team of two it was a close deadline and our client was in a
rush to get things done. At the end moment, my teammate expressed a personal concern
and did not join the survey. I was alone in a job that required two heads but I knew that my
firm was in an impossible situation and that the client would be disappointed with the
performance if we did not deliver on time. I took it upon myself to complete the survey by
myself. I worked day and night, took short breaks and ceased all personal activities. I went
over myself and did not trouble the upper management of my company with the situation.
Finally, I delivered the work on time. When my manager found out what had happened from
my colleague, he praised me a lot and thanked me for my efforts.

Q9 - Describe a situation when you changed your attitude/behaviour for making things work

Ans 9. Once I did not welcome any suggestions from my juniors and so the first day of an
event which was supposed to be the biggest event for the whole academic session of the
college ended up into a disaster. It was the time of the college fest. We confronted a
problem and I was deliberating with my team on an important matter. My juniors suggested
something regarding the same which the other members of my team thought to be
legitimate but I was reluctant. But, later after the things turned out to be worse I realized
that the suggestion was acceptable and that would have been implemented much earlier.
Learning from this mistake, I didn’t fume away anybody’s advice just because he/she is
junior. I took up the meeting again and used a different approach to solve the problems.
This time I accepted suggestions and finally, we made the fest a huge success.

Q10 - Describe a situation when you persuaded team on an idea / used tact and diplomacy
to get things done

Ans 10. A part of my last job was that of a warehouse supervisor I tried to convince the
logistics manager to change the organization of the entire warehouse but they considered
the existing system effective enough. I had earlier seen a warehouse functioning in another
firm and so I knew what they were doing wrong. I did not give up though. Preparing a
visualization on my laptop, and doing some calculations and forecasts, I showed them
exactly, in numbers, how much we can shorten the expedition time with the new model. I
further, convinced my logistics manager to take a trip to the warehouse I had seen earlier.
Finally, they were convinced and we got a green light.

Q11 - Describe a situation when you had trouble with people. How did you manage the
situation?
And 11. I was the manager of an after-school training program for K-12 children to train
them after school as part of an NGO, and I had a new volunteer who struggled from her first
day. Her co-teachers said that she had low energy in the classroom, and she seemed
unhappy to be there. I sat down with her and a few of our fellow volunteers. We had a
conversation about how her first couple of weeks had been, and she explained that she
was struggling to engage with her class of older students. After a long conversation, we
realized that she was much more interested in working with our younger students. We
shifted her to a position working in the after-school class for kindergarten students, and she
flourished. She received top marks from her students and co-teachers.

Q12 - Describe a situation when people criticized you. How did you handle the situation?

Ans 12. I organised a huge fest in college which was supposed to be the biggest cultural
event of the entire academic year and it attracted a lot of praise from everyone but there
was a section of the students who did not take it good and were promptly criticizing my
team on our minor shortcomings. It shattered us to see the efforts we had made over
months being taken down by the entire section. However, I decided to take an optimistic
approach. I convinced my team to overlook the unjustified criticisms and focus on improving
our own selves on the valid points made against us. We talked to some students of our own
college who attended the fest and were close to us and received a genuine feedback for our
work. We finally collaborated with a lot of other social clubs of our college to understand a
solution to our shortcomings and worked towards making our fest more exciting the next
year. The following year, we met the expectations of everyone and left no scope for any
criticism.

Q13 - Describe a situation when there was difference in opinion with team and you went
ahead with your decision, what was the final outcome and how did your team members
react to it?

Ans 13. I was once working for bidding on the Smart Cities Project of the government of
India in mobility and we had to develop an identification software. Facial recognition was the
widely accepted approach but I veered off the usual path and suggested gait analysis. My
colleagues wanted to go with the usual approach but since I knew gait analysis was more
accurate and would recognise people even when they have their faces covered, I went ahead
with it and presented it to our managers but again, this idea was rejected because of a lack
of precedence. I also went ahead and joined the others for developing facial recognition. The
next year COVID stuck and everyone started wearing masks. Facial recognition failed.
Finally, my suggestion was entertained by everyone.

Q14 - Favourite marketing campaigns? Why?

Ans 14. Patanjali’s campaign is my favourite marketing campaign. For the longest time in
India our traditional medicines and domestically produced goods were sold without brands
but it had a huge market share, more than the branded products sold. Patanjali successfully
established its image as a trusted supplier of domestically produced branded goods and
captured the market shares of foreign multinational companies in FMCGs. It further
established the correct brand ambassador who successfully captured the targeted
customers. This attracted people towards the brand. The marketing strategy of Patanjali has
allowed it to become one of the biggest companies in India. Today it is focussing on bringing
more products in the domestic domain. I has been successful in swamping the market with
its plethora of goods and capturing a huge market share.

Q15 - Give an example where you showed leadership skill

Ans 15. I took over the reigns of my college society in 2017. My juniors and seniors loved my
leadership style and I initiated many new activities for the society like travelling all over
India and competing with the best. People followed me and had faith in my abilities as their
president. I feel like winning over the people was my biggest achievement and it further
made my journey smoother. I even designed a curriculum for our society and that
curriculum is being followed by everyone till date. At the end of the year we concluded with
a big fest attracting participants and crowds from all over India.

Q16 - How will you try to achieve a work life balance in life? Will job or life be given priority?

Ans 16. I believe that there is no perfect work life balance. There are times in every job
where the work has to take precedence over personal life and there will be times in life
where work has to be set aside. Having said that, I think I will identify the moments and
prioritise. Work is always important and will take precedence over every small thing in my
personal life. Further, the role being offered is aligned with my passion and when passion
becomes profession, I don’t think I will have to strike a balance, I will be doing what I love.

Q17 - Don’t you think hiring a person with work experience is better for the company? (In
case the candidate is a fresher)

Q18 - What are your expectations from the company or the job? (Choose any 2 companies
from a domains and answer)*
Ans. 18- I want the company to provide me with a diverse range of tasks for my personal
learning. I am a team player so I would want to work in teams. I realise that I will be
working under industry leaders in your company and I look forward to their mentorship. I
don’t ever want to stop my upskilling which makes me like challenging work for my personal
growth.

Q19 – What was the feedback given by your manager when you left your organization? Have
you worked on those suggestions? (Only for Work Experience Candidates)

Ans 19. He expressed his gratitude for getting admission to a b-school and thanked me for
my service to the company. According to him I was always hardworking, dedicated and
innovative in my work. He further asked me to never stop learning and diversify my skills to
suit the dynamic demands of the industry. He told me that in spite of all my qualities, I still
had a long way to go before I become a manager. I realise how important the job of a
manager is and have been going to a b-school to inculcate those qualities.