Eight in-depth questions for an HR director job interview (With Sample Answers)
In an HR director interview, people need to show that they know how to lead an organization’s hiring and training strategy. The best candidate will have a good understanding of business ethics, be able to think strategically, and have great people skills. It’s an important job that affects the culture of the company and how happy employees are in general. Recruiters will want you to sound sure of yourself when they ask you about your skills and experience. They will want to see how well you understand the situation and how you will empower people and help them grow.
In this article, we talk about four common questions asked of HR directors and four questions about how HR directors act, with examples for each.
Four common interview questions for HR directors and examples of how to answer them
During an interview for the job of HR director, the recruiter will want to know about how you lead. As you move up the corporate ladder, your duties become more about how you work with people and less about how good you are at your job. At this point, recruiters will expect you to be good at what you know and what you can do. So, they will ask you specific questions about your leadership style to see if you share the same values and goals as their company.
Here are four common questions asked of HR directors and some sample answers:
What do you look for in a candidate when you want to hire them?
One of the most important things an HR person does is hire the right people for the job. As the HR director, you won’t spend much time interviewing candidates directly, unless they’re applying for a leadership position. Instead, you’ll be in charge of making rules that affect how people are hired. This question is meant to find out how you will directly change the way a company hires people.
“When I hire someone for a job, I look for their skills, how well they fit with the culture, and how much they can grow. First, I look at a candidate’s skills and experience to see if they match what is needed for the job. Next, I choose the candidates whose research and enthusiasm stand out. Most of the time, these are people who know what the company wants to do and where it wants to go. Last, I look for people who can be changed. These are candidates who are willing to learn and also work to improve themselves. As the head of HR, these three ideas will guide how I hire people.”
What KPIs do you use to figure out how well your team is doing?
If you want to be a leader, your interviewers will want to see that you can set clear goals for your team. How you answer this question shows how responsible and accountable you are. In your answer, you need to show that you are a reliable leader who can run a team on their own.
Example: “I think KPIs are a great way to connect individual goals with the mission of the organisation. I think it’s important to have one-on-one meetings with each member of my team to talk about their career goals and aspirations. This helps me get my team off the ground. Next, I talk to the people who make the most important decisions to learn about their hiring and training needs. I try as hard as I can to put a number on these measures so I can regularly evaluate individual KPIs and KPIs for projects.
What do you think a company’s culture means? How can HR make a difference?
As the HR director, it’s your job to keep the company culture in check. This includes things like business ethics, management style, and relationships at work. You need to not only show your coworkers how to live by these values, but also use policies to change the way people act at work. When you answer this question, talk about what you like about the company’s culture and what you want to change about it.
“In my experience, the way people feel and think about a company is shaped by its culture. From what I’ve learned, your company has a very active culture that encourages teamwork and ideas that are outside the box. As the HR director, I think it’s my job to promote these values and protect coworkers who feel like they aren’t being heard or who say something they don’t agree with. I think HR can protect the interests of employees and the business with policies that support respect, integrity, and diversity.”
What steps would you take to make sure a group is diverse?
Today, it’s important for businesses to have a global mindset. So, as an HR director, you need to make clear rules that encourage diversity and protect minorities at work. Doing some research on the company before your interview will help you come up with examples that are relevant to this question.
“I think that having people from different cultures at work makes things more interesting and makes us a stronger group. What gets me most excited about this job is that your company wants to grow into Asia. To make the change go smoothly, I would work with my coworkers to train them to be sensitive to issues of culture, religion, and race. My first job would be to make sure that everyone knows that we are an equal-opportunity employer.
Four behavioural questions for the HR director and some sample answers
During an interview for the job of HR director, recruiters will ask you behavioural questions to see how you handle difficult situations. To show them that you are a good leader, you need to show that you can control your emotions and make good decisions. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) to make your answers easy to understand.
Here are some answers to four questions about behaviour:
Tell me about a time when you made a new rule. What did you do to get it to work out?
This question is trying to figure out how you did as a leader. In your answer, you are asked to give an example of a project you managed in the past that is relevant. Employers will expect you to make policy as an HR director, so be confident in your ability to plan strategically.
Example: “I always tell my coworkers to tell me what they think and how they feel. This information is very important to me because it helps me change and make company policy. For example, a receptionist at the company I used to work for told me that she didn’t feel appreciated in her job. I learned that our customers aren’t always nice on the phone. So, I helped the customer service team come up with a new plan for how to answer the phone. We started every phone call with “Hope you’re having a great day!” and both employee morale and customer satisfaction went up.
Tell me about a time you had to deal with someone who was hard to get along with. How did you deal with the problem?
As a team leader, it’s also your job to help solve problems when they come up. As the HR director, this is your responsibility for everyone in the organisation. When a situation gets out of hand, people will look to you to make a decision and act in a fair way. In your answer, you should say nice things about your former coworkers and see problems as chances to learn.
“I used to work with someone who missed deadlines and meetings all the time. I didn’t want to let my anger build up, so I decided to talk to my coworker about what was going on. During our talk, I found out that my coworker was having trouble keeping up with their work because their boss wasn’t giving them clear instructions. After we talked, I decided to do a better job of giving work to other people. Communication, kindness, and a willingness to give in were the keys to my success in solving the problem.”
Share a time when your ability to think about the costs and benefits of a possible action helped you decide which action was best.
As the HR director, the decisions you make affect everyone in the company. Recruiters want to see how you make decisions and how well you can choose between different options. When you answer this question, you should show how well you can think and talk.
Example: “I don’t think there’s one person who would be perfect for a role. Every person has strengths and weaknesses that are unique to them. So, it’s important for me to think about the costs and benefits of each candidate when I’m hiring. I’m not afraid to talk to people who aren’t quite right for a job. If a candidate has potential and is willing to learn, I am happy to give them time to get used to the job.
What do you think is the best way to make sure your company follows all laws and rules?
HR workers need to be proactive about staying up to date on the labour laws in their state. This is important because any wrongdoing or breaking of these laws can do a lot of damage to an organization’s reputation. So, your answer should show that you respect those in charge. You can also look up the labour laws in the area where your recruiter is from to prepare an answer that shows how much you want the job.
“As someone who works in human resources, it’s my job to know what the laws are about work. I’ve heard that California’s work laws are even stricter than those in other states. So, I get an online HR magazine and go to conferences once a year to keep my knowledge up-to-date. I try to get my team to do the same thing so that our HR department can check that the company is following these rules.
