Interview Questions for HR Specialists

Human resources specialists are experts in at least one of the HR disciplines: recruitment and selection, workplace safety and risk management, training and development, employee relations or compensation and benefits. An HR specialist has a specific expertise, while an HR generalist generally can work in all areas of the department. Interview questions for an HR specialist include behavioral and situational interview questions regarding the candidate’s level of expertise, professionalism and career goals.

Work History

Figure 1

Questions that HR specialist job seekers anticipate usually have to do with experience. Asking questions such as “Tell me about your work history” probably won’t elicit the same kind of information as pointed questions about each previous job. For example, ask “What experience do you have with recruiting for technical positions?” and “What sourcing methods do you find most successful for computer programming applicants?” to get information about specific work history. The time to ask general, nonspecific interview questions about experience is during the preliminary telephone interview.

Job Competency

Figure 2

Situational interview questions are perfect for determining an HR specialist’s level of job competency. A specialist’s proficiency in her field of expertise is the reason she’s being interviewed for an HR specialist role instead of a generalist role. Standard questions that measure job competency include: “Explain the steps you would use to investigate an employee’s complaint about workplace harassment,” “Describe what position Texas takes on the employment at-will doctrine and the exceptions concerning an implied contract of employment” and “What types of information should Texas employers maintain in their workplace safety logs?”

Career Development

Figure 3

Although HR specialists tend to focus on one human resource discipline, some practitioners branch out into other HR areas. Interviewers can explore the possibility of expanding the expertise of their human resources departments through asking questions about career development. Questions like “What employee development do you think would be most beneficial to you in your career?” and “Have you ever considered cross-training in another HR area, and if so, what area complements your current field of expertise?” lend themselves to information about potential training to prepare the HR specialist to work in other areas of the HR department. An HR specialist’s answers to these types of questions also gives the hiring manager an opportunity to look at future roles for the HR specialist, as well as the level of training and development required to transition into another HR discipline. (Kumar, 2007)

Professional Characteristics

Figure 4 

Given the nature of their responsibilities, HR practitioners are held to high standards concerning professionalism, confidentiality and their willingness to serve employee needs. Therefore, questions about professional characteristics are as important as those about job competency. Typical questions include: “What do you feel are the three essential professional characteristics you demonstrate in your role as an HR specialist?” and “How would you reconcile a potential conflict of interest if you discovered that an employee with whom you have a collegial friendship may have filed a fraudulent workers’ compensation claim against the company?” The best type of questions to determine the candidate’s fit related to professionalism and work ethics are behavioral interview questions because they shed light on the candidate’s use of independent judgment, decision-making and communication skills. (Valerie Anderson, 2015)

References

Kumar, S., 2007. Human Potential Management. Time to move beyond the concept of human resource management?, 13(1), pp.413-18.

Valerie Anderson, D., 2015. doi. [Online] (1.3) Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0974173920150224 [Accessed 04 May 2022].





Comments

  1. Niluke Sirimanna5 May 2022 at 02:08

    If an interviewer asks common interview questions, he will not be able to get a whole picture of the candidate because the candidate will be prepared. Instead of using standard interview questions, interviewers should ask questions that reveal an applicant's genuine capabilities. good article

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wasantha Channa Jayasekara (22014837)5 May 2022 at 18:57

    HR interviews are conducted to assess a candidate's personality, as well as their strengths and flaws, in order to determine whether or not they are qualified for the position. Interviews are sometimes undertaken to determine how well a candidate will fit into the company's work culture. Interview questions, the patterns are need be adapted to based on the candidates. Nice topic to be discussed during this era.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chamila Thilakaratne (LMU, ESOFT MBA Batch #24)6 May 2022 at 07:24

    Your article is very interesting to freshers.compiled a list of commonly asked HR round interview questions and answers that an interviewer might ask you during any job is helpful. Well written.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dharshana MBA247 May 2022 at 04:23

    Interview questions for a HR specialist include behavioral and the situational interview questions regarding the candidate’s level of expertise, professionalism and career goals.

    ReplyDelete

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