Personalized Replies to the Questions that can be asked in HR Rounds

Hello everyone!! Welcome back to the TAX DESTINATION blog. Thanks for your response to our Series - 1 on Handling Interview & Interview Questions. If you haven’t read that yet, you can read it here.

Since many of our users approached us saying they are facing problems in handling interviews, we have started this series to help you In Handling interviews.

This blog is a continuation of the previous blog where we shared with you the various questions that could possibly be asked during the HR round. 

In this blog, we will try to shed light on the probable answers for these questions and give some tips on how to handle difficult questions and grab the attention of the interviewer with your answers.

We would suggest every student & Job seeker who is facing rejections in interviews back to back to go through this blog. We are very much sure that this will help everyone to crack your interviews.

Happy Reading!!

 

Introduction

Good academic records and sound technical knowledge alone are not sufficient to guarantee you a job. An HR round is conducted by a company to judge a person’s strengths, weaknesses, capability to handle the role, to check their background and to understand if you’re the right fit for the job. It is generally the last round of the recruitment process of any company.

Before getting into answering the probable questions, below are some tips that you should keep in mind if you are preparing for an HR interview -:

·        Understand the job position you are applying for and gather every possible detail about it like the skill set required, educational qualifications, etc.

·        Match the requirement of the company to your resume and profile as much as possible. This will increase your chances of getting hired if you can justify your knowledge of the skills you mentioned.

·        Go through your resume multiple times and be ready to answer any questions based on your resume.

·        Research about the company you’re applying to.

·        Give yourself ample preparation by asking yourself these questions or attending mock interviews.

 

Now let us move on to the questions and how best to answer them.

01. Questions to evaluate your Communication skills & Confidence levels.

1.     Walk me through your resume.

• This is one of the most common questions. The interviewer would have already gone through your resume but the reason to ask this question is to evaluate the way of your explanation about yourself. It doesn’t seem hard, but you should fight the instinct to explain your whole resume point by point. Try to keep it short and crisp and give a brief but interesting summary of your resume. Trim your answer to cover the essentials like your qualifications, accomplishments, strengths and career goals. Try to explain to him more than what is there in the resume.

 

2.   Tell me a little about yourself.

• This question is for breaking the ice and allows the candidate time for a brief introduction. It also tests your ability to answer open-ended questions and checks if you can cover important points without rambling. Start with a more condensed response to “Walk me through your resume”, then discuss your current status – it may be professional or educational or any volunteer work. Try to tie in your personal interests with the job you’re applying for. Briefly touch on your broader career goals to showcase your ambitiousness.

 

3   Why do you want to work for our company?

• This may sound repetitive, but you are a product and you are selling yourself to the Company. The ultimate goal here is to show how you can add value to the company and how your relevant skills and experiences will fill the need of the company. This is where your research on the company will help you more. Show how you are passionate about the role and your future in the company.

 

4.   Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?

• This is also an oft-asked question. Many people are of the wrong impression that “I would like to have your designation” is the right answer, however in current times it is offensive. Having clarity in your goals will showcase the strength of your character and drive to the interviewer. Share goals that are both personal and professional in nature. Do not focus on designations and salary.

 

5   Tell me about the gap in your resume and what you did during that break.

• This question is asked to test the emotional quotient of the candidate. Do not panic when asked this question. Be honest about your situation and try to explain your decisions without going into too many details. Highlight any activities that you have engaged in that will show you in a positive light and will also complement your job, any volunteer work or any courses taken by you to upskill, for example.

 

6.   Tell me about a time when you had to rate yourself between 1 to 10.

• This is asked to check your self-awareness and confidence. Be modest, but at the same time don’t sell yourself short. Just a number isn’t enough, try to back your figure with an example. It is not about “what” you say, but “how” you say it, with confidence and conviction. Make sure you don’t doubt yourself or give a weak answer to this as it can make or break your interview.

 

7.      Why should we hire you?

• This is one of the most challenging interview questions. You are essentially going to compare yourself to other candidates and try to set yourself apart from the rest without sounding boastful. Don’t give a generic answer, be unique and try to stand out. Brag about your skills and experiences, which you feel are relevant to the profile you are applying for, humbly. Have an answer to this prepared in advance, but deliver it in such a manner that it doesn’t sound rehearsed.

 

 02. Questions to evaluate your Leadership skills & Team management

8.      Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills.

• There is a common misconception that if you’re not a manager, you’re not a leader. Therefore, people often do not provide a satisfactory answer to this question. So, give this question some thought and come up with an answer. There is no wrong answer to this question, just be honest. Start off by defining what leadership means to you, then share your story in a structured way.

 

9.   Give me an example of a time when you were working in a team and a team member was not meeting their responsibilities, and how you handled it.

• In the case of this question, it is better to answer this question only if you have experienced the same. If you haven’t, be straightforward and tell the interviewer. If you have, be respectful towards your co-worker and focus more on how you solved the problem using your skills. Keep your answer brief and ensure that it is relevant.

 

1  Tell me about a time when you disagreed with someone in your group.

• This question is asked to determine whether you are a team player, your flexibility and your ability to handle conflict at the workplace. Pretty much everyone has disagreed with a co-worker at one time or another. Craft your response in a balanced manner – don’t state that you avoid conflicts at all costs, but at the same time don’t take an overly aggressive stance, these will portray you in the wrong light. Highlight your leadership skills by letting the interviewer know how you can influence others around you positively and how to remain calm and collected and came to a mutual understanding. Also, try to convey what you learned from the disagreement.

 

11 How well do you work in a team setting?

• Try not to give generic answers to this question and back your answers with examples. Each person plays a different role in a team, therefore enumerate the role you played in the teams that you were part of, and how it eventually helped the team achieve its goals.

 

12  Tell me about a time when you had to overcome an obstacle to getting something done.

• Describe the challenge and what was at stake, then briefly explain the steps you took to overcome the obstacle. Talk about your thought process and the approach you adopted for solving the problem. Then conclude by detailing the positive outcome.

 

      Tell me about a goal you had and how you achieved it.

• Briefly answer about the goal you had and why you chose it. This goal can be personal or professional. Elucidate about how you planned to achieve it and how you followed the necessary steps to reach it.

 

1   Tell me about a time when someone asked you to do something unethical & how you dealt with it.

• This is a very delicate question and seeks to test your ethical standards. Don’t make anything up. If you have been fortunate enough to not have an ethical situation, state how lucky you are and be appreciative of your previous workplace. However, if you have faced such a situation, think about whether sharing it will cause any issues concerning confidentiality, and answer in such a way that highlights your own ability to deal with ethical dilemmas rather than trying to criticize your manager or seniors.

03. Questions to evaluate your Problem-solving approach & Handling pressure during your work

      Tell me about a time when you had to work under pressure with strict deadlines.

• All of us would’ve experienced at least one situation where we had to work towards a deadline. Prepare yourself in advance for this question, by thinking of a situation that would highlight a lot of your strengths. Be brief, mention the goal, its deadline and its importance, and also how you planned to meet the deadline. This answer will show the interviewer your ability to prioritize and work under pressure, so make sure you give a good reply.

 

 Tell me about a time when you failed or made a mistake and how you handled it.

• This is a question that is often asked by the interviewer to check if you’re accountable and upfront and can demonstrate that you learn from your mistakes and use the experience to get better. Give a concise reply, detailing the events in chronological order. Show how you took responsibility for the mistake, instead of blaming others, and also share how you made sure to not repeat the same mistake again. Sound humble while answering.

 

     Tell me about a time when you improved a process or came up with a creative solution.

• This question tests your creativity and initiative. Describe the benefit your actions gave to the organization. Be statistical and provide numerical evidence, if possible, otherwise stick to general information about how the improvement suggested by you made the process more effective.

 

18 Tell me about a time when you had to handle an angry or difficult client/customer.

• This is a behavioural question and tests you on your ability to handle difficult situations. Briefly describe a situation where you had to deal with an angry client, and highlight your ability to remain calm and collected under pressure, problem-solving skills and quick decision-making strategies. You have to give a well-crafted and thoughtful response that will showcase you as a person having strong interpersonal skills.

 

19 What is the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make in school or at work? How did you arrive at your decision?

• This is a situation that we must’ve all faced at least once in our life. Describe the decision, and what made it difficult for you. Then enumerate how you managed to overcome those difficulties and what you learned from that decision. Your takeaway from the decision could be both positive and negative, so be honest with the interviewer and answer in a way that will make them empathize with you.   

04. Questions to know more about your personal attributes

What is your biggest strength/weakness?

• This is a very common interview question, so be prepared in advance. Prepare a SWOT analysis of yourself beforehand and choose a few strengths that you think would be relevant to the job profile to share in case this question is asked. However, be very cautious about how you answer about your weaknesses. You don’t want to sound condescending by projecting your perfectionism as a weakness, but also at the same time you don’t want the interviewer to know you’re bad at something. Be honest while answering this, without being too personal or candid at the same time. This tests your self-awareness. Choose a weakness that won’t affect the duties of your job, and also highlight the steps you are taking to overcome your weakness.

 

     What do you like to do for fun?

• The interviewers are looking for well-rounded people with diverse personalities, so answer this question honestly. Your reply will tell a lot about your character and level of ambition, so don’t settle for answers like “watching movies” which will show that you’re not motivated or innovative. Keep your answer crisp and try to sound passionate about what you do, this will capture the interest of the interviewer.

 

    What is your greatest achievement or What are you most proud of?

• Try to pick something recent and relevant to your job or career, however, if there is something else that you’ve done and are especially proud of, there’s no harm in sharing that with the interviewer. But make sure that the achievement could be seen as transferrable to the work environment. Be proud and passionate with your answer. Balance it out by being humble, but at the same time, don’t be too modest and undersell your achievements.

 

      Are you interviewing with other firms? 

• This is a question that will always make you feel conflicted. The interviewer wants to scope out the competition and see how sincere you are about the job and the industry. Without being too specific say you have a few interviews lined up with other companies in the same industry and that you are exploring options, but that you are most excited about this position. But at the same time, if you’re not interviewing anywhere else, do not say that outright to the interviewer, mention that you’ve just started your job search and have applied for other opportunities.

 

       Tell me about a time you had to prioritize your responsibilities.

• This question is both about how you handle your priorities and your ability to work under pressure and time management. It is also about how you ask for help from others when you need it. Try to explain with an example and detail why you prioritized a responsibility for another and how you communicated the same with the rest of your team and superiors.

     If your friends could pick 3 words to describe you, what would they be?

• Even though they may be our friends, it is impossible to say how someone would describe us, the interviewer is only testing to see what you think of yourself and how you perceive yourself as a human being and a friend. An ideal answer would combine both praise and criticism – mix 2 positive attributes and a negative one, but make sure the negative one is not something that will highlight you in a bad light to the interviewer.

 

     How would you manage your personal life while working with us? How would you balance 12-15 hours of work?

• This question is to be answered delicately. Start off by defining what work-life balance means to you. Highlight your willingness to work long hours and prioritize work during deadlines, but also how you would like to spend your free time later. Find a balance – do not come off as a person who finds work exhausting or also as a workaholic.

 

So Friends, With this,the probable questions for the HR round end, but I would like to give more tips for the interview day.

·        Do not try to fake yourself. Be honest and truthful.

·        Try to avoid giving irrelevant answers. Be concise and respect the other person’s time.

·        Try to be interactive. Do not sound dull and unenthusiastic.

·        Always be present well ahead of time for the interview.

·        Dress in an appropriate manner, irrespective of whether the interview is face-to-face or virtual.

·        Speak in a respective manner.

Thanks for reading. Hope this will help you in your upcoming interviews!!!

 

 Blog  Written by

Sridhoola Skandraaj

Team TAX DESTINATION