Job Interview next week with the HR Director
Discussion
Hello all,
I am going for an interview next week for an engineering management position, the person interviewing me is the Director of HR. This will be my first interview being carried out by someone who works in HR.
what type of questions do HR types like to ask? Im assuming he will be asking me questions based around how I would deal with employee discipline procedures etc.?
anyone have some good web sites that I may find of use?
I am going for an interview next week for an engineering management position, the person interviewing me is the Director of HR. This will be my first interview being carried out by someone who works in HR.
what type of questions do HR types like to ask? Im assuming he will be asking me questions based around how I would deal with employee discipline procedures etc.?
anyone have some good web sites that I may find of use?
jdbecks said:
Hello all,
I am going for an interview next week for an engineering management position, the person interviewing me is the Director of HR. This will be my first interview being carried out by someone who works in HR.
what type of questions do HR types like to ask? Im assuming he will be asking me questions based around how I would deal with employee discipline procedures etc.?
anyone have some good web sites that I may find of use?
Oh you're in for a real treat.I am going for an interview next week for an engineering management position, the person interviewing me is the Director of HR. This will be my first interview being carried out by someone who works in HR.
what type of questions do HR types like to ask? Im assuming he will be asking me questions based around how I would deal with employee discipline procedures etc.?
anyone have some good web sites that I may find of use?
He'll be gay. And he will read from a list of questions, written in management speak.
Good luck.
Soovy said:
jdbecks said:
Hello all,
I am going for an interview next week for an engineering management position, the person interviewing me is the Director of HR. This will be my first interview being carried out by someone who works in HR.
what type of questions do HR types like to ask? Im assuming he will be asking me questions based around how I would deal with employee discipline procedures etc.?
anyone have some good web sites that I may find of use?
Oh you're in for a real treat.I am going for an interview next week for an engineering management position, the person interviewing me is the Director of HR. This will be my first interview being carried out by someone who works in HR.
what type of questions do HR types like to ask? Im assuming he will be asking me questions based around how I would deal with employee discipline procedures etc.?
anyone have some good web sites that I may find of use?
He'll be gay. And he will read from a list of questions, written in management speak.
Good luck.
I had an interview last week with our HR manager.
All my preparations were not needed as I'd (stupidly) prepared for questions that would relate to my aims and goals for my development of the department and how I would achieve them! Cue lots of questions that were not related to my ability to do the job and that were generic management b
ks.
All my preparations were not needed as I'd (stupidly) prepared for questions that would relate to my aims and goals for my development of the department and how I would achieve them! Cue lots of questions that were not related to my ability to do the job and that were generic management b
ks. Expect questions like, "Where do you see yourself in 5/10 years?", "What are your good/worse points?", "How would you handle a situation if ... happens?", "How would you discipline someone for a minor/major offence?", and questions that will test your understanding of what the company does.
I've just been through this myself
I've just been through this myself
HR bods love competancy based questions.
They will look through the job spec and pick five or six core competancies of the job, such as time management, delegation, man-management etc.
They will then ask you to describe when and how you demonstrated those skills.
(to be honest this is something you should be thinking about before the interview and have your answers ready. If they are crap interviewers and don't ask these questions, it's up to you to answer them anyway)
That's if they're any good. otherwise it will be
"what are your main weaknesses"
They will look through the job spec and pick five or six core competancies of the job, such as time management, delegation, man-management etc.
They will then ask you to describe when and how you demonstrated those skills.
(to be honest this is something you should be thinking about before the interview and have your answers ready. If they are crap interviewers and don't ask these questions, it's up to you to answer them anyway)
That's if they're any good. otherwise it will be
"what are your main weaknesses"
zippy3x said:
HR bods love competancy based questions.
They will look through the job spec and pick five or six core competancies of the job, such as time management, delegation, man-management etc.
They will then ask you to describe when and how you demonstrated those skills.
(to be honest this is something you should be thinking about before the interview and have your answers ready. If they are crap interviewers and don't ask these questions, it's up to you to answer them anyway)
That's if they're any good. otherwise it will be
"what are your main weaknesses"
To which the correct response is:They will look through the job spec and pick five or six core competancies of the job, such as time management, delegation, man-management etc.
They will then ask you to describe when and how you demonstrated those skills.
(to be honest this is something you should be thinking about before the interview and have your answers ready. If they are crap interviewers and don't ask these questions, it's up to you to answer them anyway)
That's if they're any good. otherwise it will be
"what are your main weaknesses"
"I can't tolerate people who ask stupid interview questions"
...then you beat them to a pulp with the temporary pass you were given at reception, which will take a gratifyingly long amount time.
typical interview panel here is 2 people who'll be your superiors in the department plus one hr manager. the hr bods ask the airy fairy questions as listed above that mean nothing.
i went to one where hr didn't show, to which the engineering director said 'oh good, now i don;t have to waste half an hour talking bks about your cv and can find out what you can really do for us'
i went to one where hr didn't show, to which the engineering director said 'oh good, now i don;t have to waste half an hour talking b
ks about your cv and can find out what you can really do for us' BMWBen said:
zippy3x said:
HR bods love competancy based questions.
They will look through the job spec and pick five or six core competancies of the job, such as time management, delegation, man-management etc.
They will then ask you to describe when and how you demonstrated those skills.
(to be honest this is something you should be thinking about before the interview and have your answers ready. If they are crap interviewers and don't ask these questions, it's up to you to answer them anyway)
That's if they're any good. otherwise it will be
"what are your main weaknesses"
To which the correct response is:They will look through the job spec and pick five or six core competancies of the job, such as time management, delegation, man-management etc.
They will then ask you to describe when and how you demonstrated those skills.
(to be honest this is something you should be thinking about before the interview and have your answers ready. If they are crap interviewers and don't ask these questions, it's up to you to answer them anyway)
That's if they're any good. otherwise it will be
"what are your main weaknesses"
"I can't tolerate people who ask stupid interview questions"
...then you beat them to a pulp with the temporary pass you were given at reception, which will take a gratifyingly long amount time.
HR Directors - like the rest of us - get up in the morning, get dressed, go to work and try to get through their day. They aren't related to the KGB, nor are they out to trip you up - they just want to be sure you're right for them. The most disarming thing you can do is tell them you're a bit nervous....
Jasper Gilder said:
HR Directors - like the rest of us - get up in the morning, get dressed, go to work and try to get through their day. They aren't related to the KGB, nor are they out to trip you up - they just want to be sure you're right for them. The most disarming thing you can do is tell them you're a bit nervous....
Can anyone smell lavender?
FFS what nonsense.
Dixie68 said:
Expect questions like, "Where do you see yourself in 5/10 years?", "What are your good/worse points?", "How would you handle a situation if ... happens?", "How would you discipline someone for a minor/major offence?", and questions that will test your understanding of what the company does.
I've just been through this myself
Exactly this - what they learn on their strange letters-after-names courses.I've just been through this myself
I had one with an HR director last December which resulted in me declining the job when offered a few weeks later, contract in hand. Something about her rang huge alarm bells - 2 months later the team I would have been joining was scrapped.
I was interviewed by the general manager and HR director (based at other offices) for the role as technical supervisor.
So far it's been the easiest interview i've had.
For political reasons, the GM wanted to be my imediate boss rather than the technical manager.
IMO, the HR director will ask you a lot of common sense questions, which should be easier to answer than technical questions designed to trip you up.
That said, someone in a technical position may have given the HRD a few questions to ask.
Good luck.
So far it's been the easiest interview i've had.
For political reasons, the GM wanted to be my imediate boss rather than the technical manager.
IMO, the HR director will ask you a lot of common sense questions, which should be easier to answer than technical questions designed to trip you up.
That said, someone in a technical position may have given the HRD a few questions to ask.
Good luck.
For OP it goes something like this.
The best predictor of future behaviours & competence etc is past behaviours & competence.
The best way to elicit this starts something like, as a for instance in a role where the achievement of deadlines is absolutely critical: "Tell me about a time where you were under extreme pressure to deliver against a deadline, and explain to me how you managed to deliver."
The competency for the role (which is pretty much a skill in a more fashionable term) might be written something like this (abbreviated example) on the interviewer's sheet:
Competency - drive to deliver
Role holder seeks solutions and overcomes obstacles by focussing the team and resources to ensure timely and effective delivery.
Not exactly scary stuff, and it gives a candidate every opportunity to discuss their approach, skills & previous achievements in their own words.
These questions are usually telegraphed in a number of ways in advance of an interview, often in the original advert, the job description etc., so it is possible to prepare for them.
Of course it may be that some candidates don't have a record of delivery in this circumstance, in which case they will find this a very difficult question, set by HR specifically to trip them up, or perhaps they haven't prepared as well as they should - both of these scanarios are quite common really
HTH
The best predictor of future behaviours & competence etc is past behaviours & competence.
The best way to elicit this starts something like, as a for instance in a role where the achievement of deadlines is absolutely critical: "Tell me about a time where you were under extreme pressure to deliver against a deadline, and explain to me how you managed to deliver."
The competency for the role (which is pretty much a skill in a more fashionable term) might be written something like this (abbreviated example) on the interviewer's sheet:
Competency - drive to deliver
Role holder seeks solutions and overcomes obstacles by focussing the team and resources to ensure timely and effective delivery.
Not exactly scary stuff, and it gives a candidate every opportunity to discuss their approach, skills & previous achievements in their own words.
These questions are usually telegraphed in a number of ways in advance of an interview, often in the original advert, the job description etc., so it is possible to prepare for them.
Of course it may be that some candidates don't have a record of delivery in this circumstance, in which case they will find this a very difficult question, set by HR specifically to trip them up, or perhaps they haven't prepared as well as they should - both of these scanarios are quite common really
HTH
Somewhatfoolish said:
Absolute bullst though because it implicitly assumes a specific indexing of memory not all of us share.
I'm interviewing people at the moment and I'm doing a much better job of it than any HR tt could ever do.
So cross you seem to have developed a stutter. Did an HR person once do something horrid to you?t though because it implicitly assumes a specific indexing of memory not all of us share. I'm interviewing people at the moment and I'm doing a much better job of it than any HR t
t could ever do.Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Thursday 20th August 06:55
I don't think it implicitly assumes that. Most people find it easier to talk about real situations, that's all. This gives them that opportunity.
Thanks for the well-reasoned riposte, BTW.
Bonefish Blues said:
..........the best predictor of future behaviours & competence etc is past behaviours & competence.......
the competency for the role.....
Competency - drive to deliver........
Role holder seeks solutions and overcomes obstacles by focussing the team and resources to ensure timely and effective delivery..........
....telegraphed........
..........record of delivery............
.......scanarios [spelling tut tut]
Did it hurt when you swallowed that american book about management you bought at the airport, you know the one with the bloke with the porcelain teeth and wig on the cover?the competency for the role.....
Competency - drive to deliver........
Role holder seeks solutions and overcomes obstacles by focussing the team and resources to ensure timely and effective delivery..........
....telegraphed........
..........record of delivery............
.......scanarios [spelling tut tut]
"HR" - what a crock, with their "ticklists" and "corporate entertainment audits" and "top grading".
I've never worked anywhere where the VAST HR teams added any value to the business at all, other than eye candy in the form of girls in high heels and Thomas Pink shirts two sizes too small who couldn't get a job on the trading floor. The best thing we ever did was outsourcing our HR function to an industrial estate in Slough.
/Seconds out...../
Edited by Soovy on Thursday 20th August 10:08
Soovy said:
Bonefish Blues said:
For OP it goes something like this.
The best predictor of future behaviours & competence etc is past behaviours & competence.
The best way to elicit this starts something like, as a for instance in a role where the achievement of deadlines is absolutely critical: "Tell me about a time where you were under extreme pressure to deliver against a deadline, and explain to me how you managed to deliver."
The competency for the role (which is pretty much a skill in a more fashionable term) might be written something like this (abbreviated example) on the interviewer's sheet:
Competency - drive to deliver
Role holder seeks solutions and overcomes obstacles by focussing the team and resources to ensure timely and effective delivery.
Not exactly scary stuff, and it gives a candidate every opportunity to discuss their approach, skills & previous achievements in their own words.
These questions are usually telegraphed in a number of ways in advance of an interview, often in the original advert, the job description etc., so it is possible to prepare for them.
Of course it may be that some candidates don't have a record of delivery in this circumstance, in which case they will find this a very difficult question, set by HR specifically to trip them up, or perhaps they haven't prepared as well as they should - both of these scanarios are quite common really
HTH
Did it hurt when you swallowed that book about management you bought in the airport?The best predictor of future behaviours & competence etc is past behaviours & competence.
The best way to elicit this starts something like, as a for instance in a role where the achievement of deadlines is absolutely critical: "Tell me about a time where you were under extreme pressure to deliver against a deadline, and explain to me how you managed to deliver."
The competency for the role (which is pretty much a skill in a more fashionable term) might be written something like this (abbreviated example) on the interviewer's sheet:
Competency - drive to deliver
Role holder seeks solutions and overcomes obstacles by focussing the team and resources to ensure timely and effective delivery.
Not exactly scary stuff, and it gives a candidate every opportunity to discuss their approach, skills & previous achievements in their own words.
These questions are usually telegraphed in a number of ways in advance of an interview, often in the original advert, the job description etc., so it is possible to prepare for them.
Of course it may be that some candidates don't have a record of delivery in this circumstance, in which case they will find this a very difficult question, set by HR specifically to trip them up, or perhaps they haven't prepared as well as they should - both of these scanarios are quite common really
HTH
"HR" - what a crock.
Edited by Soovy on Thursday 20th August 09:56
I'm always mindful that when I used to do operational roles before moving into HR that I had met two types of HR people. I try very hard to be the type who helps managers to be more successful, rather than putting barriers in their way.
In this case the OP was looking for help and guidance, which I was seeking to give. Others may care to air personal prejudices, but that's not terribly helful to the OP who is having an interview shortly.
ATB
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