Professional Documents
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2. What are some of the important things to consider while trying to attract the right candidates?
Answer:
Every company has its own strategy when it comes to recruitment. Here are few things that every
company should try and incorporate into its strategy:
i. Complete job advertisement: A right advertisement will help your potential candidates
understand the job role. Describe the job role. Give a rough salary range. Take time over your
advertisement as it will help you get relevant CVs at your desk which will save time in your sourcing
process. Something that looks complete looks more authentic and attractive to candidates.
ii. Let the process be simple and smooth: It becomes difficult for the applicants to take multiple
days away from work to attend the interviews. If the process is too long many candidates may get
into other conversations or just lose their way. Try to have an organized and smooth interview
process.
iii. Create Employer Branding: Develop your employer brand so that the candidates are attracted to
you.
iv. Be flexible with interview schedule: Most of the candidates will have busy schedules. Try to be
accommodative.
vi. Revert to the applications received: It may be difficult to get back individually when the number
of applications is large. Try to revert individually, if you can otherwise have a system to do it
automatically.
Answer:
i. Identifying your needs: Make a list of all the responsibilities the current person is handling. Is
there anything additional you want the new person to handle?
iii. Sourcing: Get the right kind of profiles. Job portals and social media are quite popular these days.
iv. Identify the right profile: Shortlist the most suitable profiles based on the job description and
interest exhibited by the candidates.
v. Telephonic screening: Talking to them in detail over the phone gives you quite a clear idea about
their suitability and interest.
vi. Face-to Face Interview: You can invite the most suitable candidates for a face to face interview.
vii. Making an offer: Make an offer. The candidate might accept or refuse it. Don't take it for
granted.
viii. Hiring the candidate: Once the candidate accepts the offer, you can extend an appointment
letter.
ix. On boarding of the candidate: Once the hiring process is completed the recruiting executive
needs to make sure that the candidate shows up for their first day at work.
4. What things would you include in your job advertisement to make it attractive to potential
candidates?
Answer:
Job advertisement is the first thing that applicants see while looking for a job. You need to make an
impact instantly to attract the job seeker. Following are the things you need to include in your job
advertisement:
i. Write more about the company: The candidates are more interested in the company they will be
working for. Provide information about the office, the perks what the company is offering, etc.
ii. Write the right title: To ensure that the job reaches the correct audience and reaches the top of
the search results, optimize the job title with proper keywords.
iii. Job responsibilities and skills required: Write complete and relevant things while staying to the
point.
iv. Make mobile-friendly ads: People use mobile phones more for Internet browsing now and this
includes job hunting. Make sure that you ads are attractive on mobiles.
5. What are the things, you would avoid in your job advertisement?
Answer:
In order to get a good and relevant response to your ad posting, you need to avoid a certain things
like:
i. Avoid Job title like gurus, rock stars, etc. All these titles express the expertise of the job seeker. But
in reality, no one uses these words when searching for a job.
ii. Don't just write what you expect from the job seekers. Write a bit about what the company is and
what are you offering.
iii. Do not stuff your ad with too many keywords. Use relevant keywords in the text body of the ads.
iv. Do not let the ads look incomplete. They affect your credibility and lead to a low apply rate.
6. What is the role of communication in improving the candidate experience?
Answer:
There is always an increasing need to hire trained professionals and as we see a decline in employee
loyalty the recruitment companies are turning more towards candidate rather than clients. And,
communication plays a key role in the whole process till the time the candidate has actually been on-
boarded. Following are certain things you can consider:
i. Providing confirmation at every step of the recruitment through a phone call or email, to keep
them updated.
ii. Inform the candidate if they have been rejected. Knowing the status makes them have more trust
in you for the next time.
iii. Provide basic information about the interview location, address, and timing. Taking a
confirmation from the candidate in advance is helpful for the candidate and the client.
iv. The job description provided by the client may not be very clear. Give them a better insight into
the role and company.
v. The candidate may need some extra information about the company, especially the experienced
professionals who know how important company culture is. Also, some candidates may want to
know how the company handles maternity and paternity leaves which may not be available on the
company website.
When the recruiter provides the required information to the candidate, it makes for good candidate
experience and helps to get the best talent.
7. As a recruiter what are the social media practices you need to pay attention to?
Answer:
Now a day's recruiters are using social media platforms as a platform to look for talent. Here are the
few things that they need to change while using these platforms:
i. Only posting jobs: While using social media you have to engage your audience. You need to
regularly post useful educational and entertaining content. Don't just post the job ads.
ii. Only using LinkedIn: While most of the people have their account on LinkedIn but the number of
users using LinkedIn on monthly basis is too low. Include multiple platforms in your strategy. For e.g.
Facebook works very well while hiring for advertising domain. You get to know a lot from the
candidate's profile itself.
iii. Create and promote your social brand: Focus and spend some time on social media to get
results. It works but it takes time.
iv. Adapt: What works today may not work after 6 months. Keep adjusting your tools and strategies.
. What are the advantages of hiring freelancers?
Answer:
There is a lot of difference when you are hiring a full time employee and a freelancer. Here are a few
things you need to consider.
i. Freelancers bring in expert and specialized talent. They do the task that the full-time employees
are not able to do. They are expert in their field. They are the right person for the job and they do
not affect the full time talent.
ii. Help to reduce the cost: Though freelancers charge a bit more, you do not have to provide them
with any other benefits. As most of freelancers work remotely you also cut down on other office
expenses and resources.
iii. Deadline oriented: The freelancers would like to move fast and take new projects. They are
disciplined and require minimal supervision and provide quality work.
iv. Less training: Freelancers usually are experts in their area. You need to provide specifications as
to how you would like the work to be done.
Answer:
Most of the candidates try to impress the recruiter by exaggerating about their skills and lie about
their professional life.
As a recruiter, you need to ask descriptive questions and thoroughly check their CV. A smart
recruiter needs to keep a check and examine a few common places where the candidates attempt to
disguise and give incorrect facts.
i. Experience and Skills: Ask detailed questions about their skills and projects. Go into the details of
the large figures and projects. A dishonest candidate will start calculating and fumbling.
ii. Employment details: Many candidates give inconsistent, or chose to avoid an explanation or give
different information from what is written in the resume to hide the gap in employment.
iii. Qualifications: This is another area where candidates lie. Asking for official certificates and letters
can help you.
iv. References: The candidates give names of colleagues and say that they were their former boss.
Ask for the official email address and fixed line phone number of the person they were reporting to.
Most of the times, a bit of digging will make the things clear.
Here are some important things to bear in mind while using LinkedIn for recruitment:
i. Maintain an up to date profile: The recruiters must make sure their profile is updated. Add some
videos to the profile. A person would watch a video rather than read long articles. Write interesting,
engaging and useful posts. And it may not be about recruitment always. This will help you to
establish your professional brand.
ii. Join relevant groups. Do proper Boolean searchers and view profiles.
iii. Make your status updates more engaging. Ask questions and opinion, use images. Post your
comments on others post and updates. Also, contribute to group discussions.
Answer:
Interviewing seems like an easy task but it is not that simple. You need some skills and preparation.
Here are a certain characteristics of a good interviewer:
i. Welcoming personality: You must make the candidate feel comfortable and if you are doing
telephonic interview put the candidates at ease.
ii. Good listener: Listen carefully and spot red flags. Spot areas where the candidate needs to
elaborate. You should even be able to listen unsaid.
iii. Organized: Keep notes so that you can send your reviews to the clients.
iv. Good judgement: You must be able to identify if the candidate is a good fit for the client.
v. Quick thinker: You must be able to quickly think of a follow up question to go deeper into the
interview.
12. What are the tips to make the most of the interview?
Answer:
Here are a few tips that can help you make the most of the interview:
i. Understand the job description properly so that you can accurately talk about the job role and its
requirement.
ii. Review: The resume, cover letter, and work samples if provided. This helps you to evaluate the
candidate more accurately.
iii. Have an interview structure. Plan your interview and you know what comes next.
iv. Be prepared with questions: Create a list of questions that you need to ask the candidate.
Include specific questions about the job, behavioral and generic questions.
v. Stay professional: While making the candidate comfortable do not have an unrelated
conversation.
vii. Record your thoughts: Do not just rush for any other work immediately after the interview. Give
yourself time to record your thoughts.
Answer:
While recruitment training gives you a base to start with, it also helps you perform better. It
develops in you a mindset to:
i. Identify new sourcing methods: Now recruiters are not just using the job portals for getting the
right candidate. Social media is has chipped in big time. Recruitment training helps you to find newer
ways to source the right candidate.
ii. Understand industry trends: Identifying industry trends helps you to understand which the top
industries for placement are.
iii. Use new technology: Training helps you to use new technology effectively. You have the
applicant tracking system which speeds up the recruitment process and also creates a good
candidate pool.
Answer:
With the advent of social media, Facebook has become an important platform for recruitment. As a
recruiter, you need to make effective use of this channel. Following are certain things to bear in
mind:
1. Create a community - You need to regularly maintain the page and keep it up to date. You can
post new job opportunities for the job seekers.
2. Keep a track - Of your post, topics and maintain constant messaging so that the audience is
engaged. Post useful video content to attract more users.
3. Stay organized - Use an editorial calendar so that you have planned content to post every day.
4. One of the most important contents on your page would be current open positions.
5. Make sure your job postings have a share button so that people can easily send opportunities to
their family and friends.
You need to have a good strategy; content and also you need to dedicate time to make use of
Facebook for recruitment.
Answer:
This is the first question that an interviewer may ask you. This question is a conversation starter.
This seems to be a simple question but make sure you do prepare for this question and answer it
effectively to make the best out of it.
For e.g., you can say something like, I possess 3 years of experience as a Recruiter in ABC
Consultancy. As a Recruiter, my main focus area was end-to-end recruitment for Advertising and
Media domain. Along with job portals, I have effectively used various social media platforms to get
excellent candidates for my clients. My other work areas include training of newcomers, maintaining
and updating the client details, getting new clients which help to get more business for our
company.
I make sure that I understand the job role well. I was able to close all the positions in the given
timeline.
I am detail oriented and focused. I meditate regularly and love to interact with people. I have taken
part in several competitions in my current organization.
As you are looking for a recruitment team leader, I believe I have the knowledge and the expertise to
work in my full capacity in this area.
Answer:
You can they go on to explain how you possess these skills and back you answer with examples from
the real life scenarios.
Answer:
This is a very common question. To identify the strength related to the role make a list of your
strength as well as the strength of an employee they are hiring for. Now compare both the list and
identify the common strengths. This common strength is your strength for this role.
To answer this question you can say something like this: I try not to miss my deadlines. I make sure
that, I understand the job requirement well and provide at least 5 good candidates for every new
position I am working on. I pay a lot of attention to the client's requirement and do not ignore even
the minute thing that the client particularly wants in the candidate.
Answer:
Everyone does have one small weakness. When you are telling your interviewer about your
weakness also tell him/her how you are improving yourself. This shows that you are self- aware of
your flaws and you are working on them.
To answer this you can say something like: I have a difficulty in remembering too many instructions
given at a time. To ensure that I don't miss out on any important instruction I make sure I note down
all of them in my notepad and do those tasks accordingly.
Although it is still a weakness but hasn't remained too big now and immediately made you look
solution driven.
Hr Generalist
Here are some general interview questions for an HR generalist role that employers may ask during
an interview:
10. What do you know about this company and why do you want to work here?
Learning more about a candidate's professional and academic background helps a hiring manager
decide whether they meet the qualifications for the role. Here are some questions a hiring manager
may ask related to your background and experience:
7. What HR applications and software have you used? Which ones do you prefer?
8. What five skills do you think are essential for becoming an HR generalist?
Interviewers may ask challenging and role-specific questions to determine your suitability for the
position. Here are some in-depth interview questions hiring managers might ask:
5. What are some ways in which you influenced a positive change in an organisation's culture?
7. How do you deal with employees who focus on unethical practices from management?
8. Give an example of a time when you hired an employee. Were you successful in managing
the hiring process?
9. Have you ever implemented a change to an HR policy? What motivated you to change the
policy?
Successful HR generalists work with others, resolve conflicts and initiate positive changes in the
workplace. Apart from technical questions, hiring managers may ask questions that test your
communication and interpersonal skills. Here are some HR generalist interview questions with
example answers to use as guidance and increase your chances of passing the interview:
One of the primary responsibilities of an HR generalist is finding suitable candidates for different
roles in the organisation. With this question, employers want to know how you evaluate candidates,
analyse their skills and choose the right person for the job. Use anecdotes about past successes to
show hiring managers what you can achieve.
Example: In my previous job, I hired more than 30 employees. I was actively involved in recruiting,
interviewing, onboarding and training those employees. I look for expertise, growth potential and
culture fit when hiring. After reading the candidate's cover letter and resume, I determine whether
their skills and experience match the job description. Next, I select candidates whose vision and long-
term goals align with the company's vision. Finally, I make candidate choices based on their
eagerness to advance professionally. Based on these three principles, I recruit the right candidates.
Hiring managers ask this question to learn more about your skills. When answering this question,
consider your skills and how to discuss them in greater detail. Some relevant skills include conflict
resolution, communication, time management, attentiveness and organisation.
Example: Since school, I have focused on easing tense situations among friends and family. I took up
the career of HR generalist because of my people skills. My ability to communicate with others helps
me connect with them, understand their perspectives and find a solution to potential issues. This skill
set makes me a qualified HR generalist. Also, my empathy skills help me manage employee concerns
such as salary-related complaints, excessive workload and conflicts between colleagues. These three
skills make me an ideal candidate for this job.
HR generalists oversee people with different personalities and challenging situations. With this
question, interviewers want to know how much expertise and experience you have handling such
scenarios. Convey the strategies you follow to arrive at an acceptable solution.
Example: In my previous role, two colleagues argued over their seat location. Their issue affected the
entire work environment and the overall performance of the team. I spoke with them individually
and explained the need for being respectful and maintaining a cordial relationship. I even discussed
the company's policy and the repercussions of not following it. The employees understood that the
consequences of their insignificant argument could affect their careers and growth potential. Two
weeks later, the tension between the employees diminished and they worked as a team.
4. How do you handle employees who consistently arrive late for work?
Hiring managers ask this question to assess your ability to handle challenging situations and make
decisions that benefit the company. Show how you would use your critical thinking skills to solve
workplace challenges. Give examples from previous jobs to demonstrate your skills.
Example: In my last role, two employees would constantly arrive late, disrupting their colleagues'
work environment. I first had a conversation with them and explained the consequences of being late
to the office. I even explained the expectations for punctuality going forward. Then, I documented
the conversation and ensured that the employees understood the disciplinary action they might face
upon repeated breaches of the company's policies. I monitored their arrival for over a month and
appreciated their effort to arrive on time.
Related: What Are Disciplinary Actions? (And Why They Are Necessary)
HR generalists focus on instituting initiatives and determining whether those strategies work well in
the organisation. Give examples from your previous role to show how you assess the success of your
HR projects. The company may have a formal process for doing this, and understanding the
procedure can be helpful.
HR generalists are the first point of contact for employees who have concerns about their workplace.
Hiring managers ask this question to ensure you can handle such situations fairly and effectively.
Show how to resolve these issues while maintaining employee privacy.
Example: When an employee comes to me with a grievance, I first try to understand their
perspective. Then, I investigate the situation by collecting information related to the issue. After
working with the employee, I create an action plan addressing the issue and providing a long-term
resolution. Before suggesting any solution, I ensure the resolution is fair for everyone. Resolving such
situations as quickly as possible while maintaining a positive work environment is important.
Through my initiatives, my goal is to create a workplace where employees feel comfortable sharing
their concerns.
Continue….
Once you move on to the actual interview after the introductory questions, the first thing a recruiter
will ask you is why you’re applying for the position. It’s important to give a clear and concise answer
to this question to establish a strong position.
You can use this question as an opportunity to explain why you believe this job is right for you. You
must convince so that the recruiter believes that you not only want the human resource generalist
position but also want the position in their company.
In any case, the ideal way to answer this question is by talking about your HR career and
background. Delve into why you chose HR as a career and why you decided to pursue it further. It’s
crucial to make it sound inspiring, so you can develop a strong base throughout the interview
process.
When you’re going into details of your HR career, talk about your first official HR role, any current
job, and your career goals, along with how they’ve evolved over time. Then mention that becoming a
human resource generalist is the next logical hierarchal step in your career path.
It will help if you build up your answers according to the company you’ve applied to. Moreover,
focus on explaining why the human resource generalist role in that company would provide better
opportunities.
Many hiring managers prefer knowing if you’ve applied to any other jobs, similar or not. This
question is asked to validate to answer to the question mentioned above. In any case, the question
aims to check two things based on your answer:
The level of dedication you have to build your HR career based on a specific career path
The level of dedication you have for building that career at the company you’ve applied to
For example, as a job seeker, if you’ve applied to a marketing or finance position, that is a red flag
for recruiters. The recruiter will understand that you are not 100% dedicated to becoming an HR
professional and that you’ve applied for the HR generalist position for the sake of getting a job.
On the other side, if you tell them that you’ve applied to other human resource generalist jobs (or
HR positions) in the same industry, that is a plus sign. That tells the recruiter how serious you are
about building an HR career, in the same industry. Furthermore, if you mention that you’ve applied
to non-competitor companies, that’s even better. That’s because it reinforces the idea that you want
to work at this particular company.
Below are mentioned a few questions that recruiters ask potential employees regarding the HR
generalist’s job responsibilities and requirements:
A lot of companies tend to have pretty generic job descriptions and requirements. More often than
not, the actual duties and responsibilities go way beyond whatever is mentioned in the job
description. Moreover, the JD may also have some redundant tasks that you may never have to do
like creating reports, accurate record-keeping, and collecting data as these all are the duties of other
HR employees.
In any case, it’s important to know and understand all the possible responsibilities that you might
have. Go over each of the primary responsibilities and explain how you will go about it.
Try to research the HR generalist role in other companies so you can prepare an answer.
Furthermore, make sure you check out companies within the same industry and category, if
possible. That will help you develop specific examples and answers for your job interview.
In any case, you have to show the recruiter that you have a good idea of what the job expects from
you.
4. Do You Believe You Have the Appropriate Skills to Become a Human Resources Generalist?
This is a critical question during the interview because, at this point, you have to start to sell
yourself. This is your opportunity to list down and talk about all your skills and knowledge.
You’ll find things like problem-solving, communication, and analytical skills in every job description.
However, it’s best to go one step ahead and talk about specific things, including the following:
Company culture
Specific knowledge like knowing about National Regulatory laws to create policies
Talking about such stuff provides a better outlook of you as a job candidate rather than just saying
that you have great communication skills. That’s because it’s hard to provide an accurate
representation of your skills.
In any case, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t mention the skills while providing your answer. If you
can, talk about communication, interpersonal, problem-solving, decision-making, research,
analytical, organizational, and HR team-building skills.
Here are some questions that job seekers have to answer to show their compatibility with the
human resource generalist’s role:
This is a tricky question and also the biggest challenge to put you off balance because the job boards
already know you’re qualified for the role; otherwise, they wouldn’t have scheduled an interview.
But still, you should have an answer ready for the question.
At this point, you should always start with a little intro to your education. Moreover, talk about all
your certifications and any courses you have completed. For example, if you have an SHRM
certification, this is the time to talk about it and how you managed it.
After that, start talking about your work experience and the work environment you’re used to. Also,
mention any unique company policies you’ve worked on within the HR department or if you have
experience in creating human resources policies.
Furthermore, you should talk about the tasks you’ve done at your previous position, such as assisting
in onboarding, doing exit interviews, resolving HR issues, staffing, managing interviewees, managing
retention, and more.
Last but not the least, you should talk about your career goals to create an idea that the human
resource generalist role is the next logical step in your HR career.
This question is often asked in every HR job interview, regardless of the position. It may seem similar
to previous questions, but it has a unique purpose. At this point, you don’t have to list down every
single HR task you’ve done. You have to list the tasks you’re most familiar with, are good at, and
excellent at.
For example, if you’re good with onboarding new employees, you must mention that, along with a
few examples to back you up.
HR managers tend to delegate various HR tasks among human resource generalists depending on
their abilities. That’s why it’s crucial to explain what HR tasks and duties you’re best with. That way,
when you get hired, your supervisor or manager will provide you with the tasks you are good at.
That makes it easier for both you and the company. Other than that, if the recruiter asks a follow-up
question to your answer, you have to make sure you go deep into explaining your point through
valid examples. Using past experience from your previous job is the ideal solution, but in the lack of
any, try to quote case studies to prove your point.
This question aims to check your administrative, computer, and online capabilities. For modern HR,
it is a mandatory requirement of having proficiency in various computer software, online HR sites,
and apps like Glassdoor.
For the most basic proficiencies, you should know how to operate phone calls, printers, scanners, fax
machines, and photocopiers. Furthermore, you should also have great typing skills, a document
handling system, and more.