Human Resource Interview Techniques


The largest investment that a company makes is in its employees. Human resource teams comprise of professionals who are skilled at managing the work force for a company. The HR team basically shoulders the grand responsibility of recruiting, managing and retaining the employees in the organization as a long run advantage. A human resource professional must know how to maximize the employees' contribution to the company through continuous support that ensures their smooth functioning.

To recruit such skillful and efficient professionals, it requires abundant planning and structural implementation. The techniques that have been mentioned here follow a methodical process for conducting an HR interview.

Screening Techniques :

There are two basic screening interview techniques - Phone Interviews and Online Tests

Phone interviews simplify a lot of things for either party. Employers should grab this opportunity to know if candidates fit into the major aspects of the job. Phone interviewing is a primary yet formidable manner to eliminate unfit candidates.

Some organizations conduct online tests for the first hand screening. These tests are basically multiple choice tests that generally test the candidates' general awareness and knowledge in the human resource field.

Interview Techniques :

Nowadays, interviews are not just restricted to a single one-on-one session. Companies design multiple interview rounds that critically examine candidates from every angle. Candidates are no longer expected to be experts in their area. Currently, knowing about related fields has gained equal importance and hence, candidates are scrutinized on that basis too. To pinpoint on that all-round performer, companies design a comprehensive interview schedule.

The actual interviews are constructed in such a way that they grill the candidates, unless he/ she is well qualified to walk around the grueling process. A lot of questions can be introduced that explore the candidates' talents and ability to perform at the current position. Questions that are based on HR policies and principles, their training structure, theoretical awareness, practical implications etc. should be widely discussed.

Situational Interviews :

A large section of the interview should be allocated to situational interviewing. Situational interviews will provide you with an insight to the candidates' performance in the future. Allow the applicants to speak at length about their personal experiences. Ask them to elaborate certain situations that will accentuate their behavioral patterns. However, make sure you ask them to talk about only relevant experiences.

Situational interviews underscore candidates' personal characteristics, management style and the manner in which they handle people. Closely examine candidates during the interview. You must be able to ascertain whether they are polite, possess the ability to direct and manage a large set of employees, incorporate and implement policy changes etc.

An HR executive is the backbone of every organization. Thus, it becomes necessary to sieve the right candidate for the job.


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