WHO thinks up these HR interview questions???

[declansdad]

As I admitted, I screwed the pooch on the interview. No, I took the interview seriously but I am not "wired" to give the responses that an HR person would find "correct".

The "have you ever explained something" was one of the questions that I answered strongly. But as a hiring manager, if someone gave you a smooth, silver-tongued answer to that question how do you know that what they said was truthful? You have no frame of reference. That is why I find these questions to be b.s.

I've seen too many people hired because they gave polished answers to these types of question but when it came time for them to provide technical leadership or guidance they fell flat on their face.

That is why people should be trained in interviewing. That is one of the benefits of an HR department. They will typically be trained and are able to offer assistance to the line manager in making the actual hiring decision. After all, it is the line manager who should make the final decision.

 

[pioneer89]

Just out of curiosity, since I'm out of the HR field now...what would you consider to be good interview questions? I'm not being snarky, I just find it interesting to see what other people's perspectives are.

Anything that pertains to the job. Mix close-ended and open-ended questions. Tell them at the begining of the interview that real examples are what you are looking for.

For example, it's fine to ask about how people handle difficult co-workers or bosses (open ended), and then ask how they know when a process is in control (closed ended).

For most remotely technical fields, asking the "what flavor ice cream would you be ?" question will only tell you how well the interviewee deals with people who like to waste time.

I've interviewed hundreds, and hired dozens of electrical and mechanical technicians, and found out long ago that someone being quiet, or a bit gruff, or very nervous in an interview with a guy in a tie has close to zero to do with how well they deal with people on a factory floor. I've had people who HR adores, with perfect 'people skill' interviews who turned out to be bat-s*** insane once they are hired. I've also had people just barely squeek by HR turn out to be real leaders and go-getters, and they all will tell me how frustrated they were by the 'touchy-feely' HR interview.



Oh, btw, for all you Six-sigma haters out there, I'm a newly minted Black-belt, and I can now kung-foo grip you with piles of statistics and charts, so watch out!

 

[TriMom]

Oh, btw, for all you Six-sigma haters out there, I'm a newly minted Black-belt, and I can now kung-foo grip you with piles of statistics and charts, so watch out!

I just Six-Sigma-ed my kitchen.

 

[pioneer89]

I just did 5-S in my garage and workshop!

Seriously.

 

[dejr_8]

I've interviewed hundreds, and hired dozens of electrical and mechanical technicians, and found out long ago that someone being quiet, or a bit gruff, or very nervous in an interview with a guy in a tie has close to zero to do with how well they deal with people on a factory floor. I've had people who HR adores, with perfect 'people skill' interviews who turned out to be bat-s*** insane once they are hired. I've also had people just barely squeek by HR turn out to be real leaders and go-getters, and they all will tell me how frustrated they were by the 'touchy-feely' HR interview.

Same experience here!

 

[BlueIrish]

I wish interview questions would get to the heart of the job. Stop trying to play mind games. If companies want to do that, just give the 500 question psych exam before the interview.
Ask questions that deal with what the job will entail. Team work, and how you handle stress, how someone handles changing tasks on a moments notice, examples of these. Those are all great topics to ask. Stop asking totally off the wall things because you read it in a book somewhere.

I remember being so happy when I interviewed for law enforcement jobs because these questions asked officer related questions. I wasn't being asked if I was a flower what I would be

 

[Arielle22]

I wish interview questions would get to the heart of the job. Stop trying to play mind games. If companies want to do that, just give the 500 question psych exam before the interview.
Ask questions that deal with what the job will entail. Team work, and how you handle stress, how someone handles changing tasks on a moments notice, examples of these. Those are all great topics to ask. Stop asking totally off the wall things because you read it in a book somewhere.

I remember being so happy when I interviewed for law enforcement jobs because these questions asked officer related questions. I wasn't being asked if I was a flower what I would be

Another HR person here. My company does not ask the touchy feely questions. However ultimately every hire is at best, an educated guess. There is no definitive way to figure out who will make it and who won't. Sometimes life circumstances change and the best hire loses their way or a so-so hire turns their life around and is great.

HR and managers have to deal with explaining high turnover. High turnover can be seen as a failure on your part to manager your employees. So it is stressful on both sides of the interview.

My BIL is a police officer. His questions were not only officer related. My sister even had to be interviewed and asked things like "does your husband abuse you" or "do you think your husband could be violent". She even had to answer if she supported his work. To me, those are much worse than any HR questions listed here.

 

[BlueIrish]

Another HR person here. My company does not ask the touchy feely questions. However ultimately every hire is at best, an educated guess. There is no definitive way to figure out who will make it and who won't. Sometimes life circumstances change and the best hire loses their way or a so-so hire turns their life around and is great.

HR and managers have to deal with explaining high turnover. High turnover can be seen as a failure on your part to manager your employees. So it is stressful on both sides of the interview.

My BIL is a police officer. His questions were not only officer related. My sister even had to be interviewed and asked things like "does your husband abuse you" or "do you think your husband could be violent". She even had to answer if she supported his work. To me, those are much worse than any HR questions listed here.

I actually preferred when I was asked those questions since its the only job I ever wanted I had no issue talking about that. Though anything about abuse or mental was not asked until you had a interview with a Psych doctor. The normal oral interview was straight up questions.

I guess my point is I had nothing but a string of bad HR folks when I was unemployed, some really had a god complex. Yes there are plenty of good folks out there and do a good job. Many times interviews really aren't that bad and the person should always prepare and learn about the company.


But please ask questions that matter.

 

[dejr_8]

I wish interview questions would get to the heart of the job. Stop trying to play mind games. If companies want to do that, just give the 500 question psych exam before the interview.
Ask questions that deal with what the job will entail. Team work, and how you handle stress, how someone handles changing tasks on a moments notice, examples of these. Those are all great topics to ask. Stop asking totally off the wall things because you read it in a book somewhere.

I remember being so happy when I interviewed for law enforcement jobs because these questions asked officer related questions. I wasn't being asked if I was a flower what I would be

Yes while these are relevant questions there is no way to gauge the truthfulness of the answer. What you can get is a polished answers from someone who is a complete failure at teamwork, managing stress, shifting priorities - or a dismal answer from someone who is great at all three of those.

That is why I don't think these types of questions uncover anything. It is all just window dressing.

 

[Sorsha]

Yes while these are relevant questions there is no way to gauge the truthfulness of the answer. What you can get is a polished answers from someone who is a complete failure at teamwork, managing stress, shifting priorities - or a dismal answer from someone who is great at all three of those.

That is why I don't think these types of questions uncover anything. It is all just window dressing.

Yes, this reminds me of a questionaire I had to fill out when applying for a retail position. A series of 200-odd questions for which you chose "Strongly Disagree, Disagree, No Opinion, Agree, Strongly Agree". A majority of the questions were ridiculous things like "I feel that it is all right for an employee to steal from his employer if he takes less than $5.00", "Taking office supplies isn't really stealing", or "When I have a really bad day, everyone can tell by how I interact with others".

"I feel that it is all right for an employee to steal from his employer if he takes less than $5.00" - Strongly Agree... What, you were looking for something else... really??

Saddest of all was when the HR lady told me, later, that people really honestly do flunk that test!!

 

[DisMN]

I just did 5-S in my garage and workshop!

Seriously.

Little sectioned off compartments for each and every item? LOL LOL

I just Six-Sigma-ed my kitchen.

Lists on the outside of doors telling you what's inside so you don't open the wrong door, thereby wasting time and effort? LOL LOL




Yep. Sorry. Don't hate Six Sigma. Detest it.
Love YOU guys though.

 

[lillygator]

I had an interview today to be an Instructor at a local community college. It was a five-on-one interview and all the questions were HR type.

What are three strengths, weakness, etc.

Some were just b.s.

Tell us a time when you were overloaded with information and how did you handle the overload.

Tell about a time when things did not go as planned and how did that impact you.

Have you ever had to explain something to a group of people and did they understand you explanation.

I'm surprised you weren't prepared for those, those are the most basic and often used interview questions....

 

[dejr_8]

I'm surprised you weren't prepared for those, those are the most basic and often used interview questions....

I don't have prepared answer for any questions. I feel that I sound very disingenuous when I regurgitate a prepared answer.

And quite frankly, I don't want to work for a company that uses these canned questions for evaluating candidates.