Commonly asked HR

Questions
 Tell me about your self ?
• What you should not tell …
– Family background
– Your weakness
– Unrealistic goals and objectives not
relevant to the company
– Don’t bring up something new on which
you cannot answer many questions
 Tell me about your self ?
• What you can tell …
– Your values towards time, money, career,
ethics etc.
– Your strengths
– Your team player abilities
– Your goals and objectives that suit the
company
– Something special about you that the
interviewer should know
 Why should I hire you ?
• You can tell them about why you think your
skills and personality suit the company
• You can talk about your exposure to the
industry, achievements (projects, workshops,
papers)
• Your capabilities in this field
• How your career growth plan is useful to the
company’s growth
What do you know about our company ?
• Never go to an interview without knowing what the
company is doing …
• Before you go to the interview you should find out
– What type of company is it ?
– Who is the CEO and other major players
– What is the company’s mission statement
– Who are its clients
– What is the annual turnover and profits in last quarter.
– Welfare schemes of the company for the employees and for
the society
– Their offices, existing as well as proposed
– Their growth plan
– Who are their competitors
 Tell me about your short term goals:

• Tell them about where you see yourself 5 years from

now.
• Show them that you have respect for time, money,
values and also some concrete plans for your future
• Long term plans imply where you see yourself 20-30
years from now
• Have realistic goals or else be prepared to be grilled
• Until now, you have been a dependent on parents,
now that you will be free, what do you plan to do with
your time and money ?
 How would you rate yourself ?
• Always do your ground work before going for
an interview
– Know what the company is looking for
– What is the job you will be doing
– What is expected from you
– Can you deliver what is expected out of you
– What preparation have you done to qualify in the
company’s selection process
– How you are a better candidate than others
– What extra’ can you bring into the company
Why do you want to work for us ?
• Don’t go for an interview without preparation
• You can talk about
– Referred by friends & seniors working for the company
– Growth plans of the company
– Size of the company
– Achievements of the company
– Market share of the company
– Welfare plans of the company
– Different verticals in the company
– Policies of the company
– Scope for professional and individual growth in the company
– How it meets your short and long term career growth
 Do you know anyone who works for us ?

• Know the policy of the company when it comes to

recruiting relatives.
• Some companies do not hire people if they are
related to one or more of the Directors
• Other companies need this information to get a
reference
• You do not lose any thing by saying no
• You can mention about friends/seniors in the
company instead of relatives
 Are you a team player ?
• Give examples
• Talk about participation in team activities
• Talk about your experience in organizing
extra-curricular activities
• Talk about your team project work and your
contribution to the project
What will you do if you do not like a co-worker ?
• This is a trap… be careful.
• What you can say …
– Tell them how you handled people whom you did not
like in your class, college, school, neighborhood…
– Try to dodge the question if you can
– Don’t be very specific
– Don’t show them that you are living in a nutshell
– Don’t show them that you are very narrow minded
– Don’t tell them that you never came across colleagues
whom you did not like
– If they insist, succumb but don’t say anything rubbish
Remember there are always people whom you don’t like
and there are people who don’t like you.
 What will you do if you do not like your
Manager ?
• No matter how professionally a company is
run, Manager Subordinate problems and
inter-department problems are common at
work place
• Do not be stubborn in not answering this
question
• Consider a hypothetical situation and come
up with some answers (be creative)
 Tell me about a teacher that you did not like :

• Be careful
• Today : Teacher – Tomorrow : Boss
• Don’t tell tem you did not like a teacher
• If you do, they will grill you more on why you did not
like the teacher
• It is very easy for the panel to prove that you were
wrong about not liking a teacher
• If you can talk nastily about a teacher today,
tomorrow you will talk more nastily about a boss.
 Tell me about a classmate that
you do not like :
• Think for a moment…Why will a HR Manager be
interested in your problems with a classmate?
• Your answer will give them clues about your
personality
• So be careful in your wording
• Don’t be adamant and deny having any problems with
your classmates
• Give them an answer and give them a good answer
• Show them how you react to problem situations
• Show them that you’re a problem solver not a problem
maker
 If I hire you, how long do you think you
will work for us ?
• ‘Till death do us part’
remember you are not entering into a marriage
• Give a realistic picture
• You may leave the company if you are not satisfied
with the job
• You may be asked to leave if they are not satisfied
with your work
• You may leave the company if the company is no
longer competent in the industry
 What are your long term goals ?

• Where do you see yourself 20-30 years from

now
• It is not about doing something for yourself
• It is about doing something for your parents,
spouse, children and society at large
• Think about it carefully and show some
creativity
 Tell me about your strengths:

• Don’t give text book answers

• Don’t sound like you have practiced the answer
• Come with some creative answers
• Be prepared to be grilled
• Know that there is no correct answer and no wrong
answer, it is the explanation that you give that
matters.
• Give examples
• Leave scope for sense of humor
• Have room for criticism
 Tell me about your weakness :

• DON’T. Don’t make their job easy. If you do not have

a good answer in mind, just shut up.
• My cooking needs a lot of improvement
• My sense of humor needs a good exercise
• I could use a few lessons in dancing
• I should be able to read faster
• Watching ‘Tom and Jerry’
• Reading Archie's
• My music sense is not in sync
Try to divert their attention
 Tell me something about yourself that is
not there in the resume :
• If there is not much to ask you from your resume,
they will ask you to tell them more
• Stick to extracurricular activities / strengths
• Dress designing, interior-decoration, painting, books,
road trips, food, cooking, visiting places, music,
dance, movies, favorite novel-movie-star, role
model… whatever you feel like, just keep the
interview going until they find something worth asking
• Don’t talk about subject…remember this is a HR
interview
 Tell me about your dream job :
• Tell them clearly what you expect out of your
job
• Visualize your self ten years from now:
– Where you will be working
– What you will be working
– Who you will be working with
• Remember what you plan to give is more
important than what you expect a company to
give you, at least for the sake of the interview
 How can you prove to me that you
are better than the others ?
• This is the same question ‘why should I hire you’ just
put differently
• Show them that you understand what is expected out
of you on the job
• On a 0 to 10 scale, how do you rate your
programming skills
• Tell them about your preparation, suitability of your
attitude, your IQ, your analytical ability, your
understanding of the software development life cycle
• Don’t literally compare your self with your classmates
• That is not what they are expecting out of you
What are your expectations from the
company ?
• Do not get personal here
• Tell them you expect the company to
continue to be number one in the market
• Take care of welfare of the employees
• Tell them you expect the company to spend a
small portion of its profits for the welfare of
the country and the society
 Can you work under pressure ?
• Yes
• Give examples of short deadlines
• Give examples of you working in teams to complete the
tasks under tight deadlines
• Give practical examples
• You can give examples of personal/ or professional
problems that you solved under high pressure
• Pressure can be mental, financial, physical
• Show them you do not collapse under pressure
DEVADAS is a classic example of collapse in a pressure
situation
 Would you consider yourself to be a
workaholic ?
• You do not get any extra leverage for being
workaholic unless you give a very good
example
• I would rather go for somebody who has a
balance between work, family and friends
• Workaholics have a short life compared to a
more harmonious person
• Play your cards safe
What motivates you to perform your best
on the job ?

• “Two good looking secretaries”

• Don’t talk about money being a
motivator
• If you can deliver something better than
what is expected out of you on the job,
that itself is a big motivation
 Will you be able work in shifts ?

• Although this is purely personal, my advise :

• Yes I can work in shifts
• Yes I am willing to travel abroad
• Yes I am willing to relocate
 What have you done in the last year
to prepare for this job ?
• Talk about training by Career Launcher
• Talk about Campus Connect by Infosys
• Talk about software you have learnt
• Talk about research you have done
• Talk about consulting your seniors and
friends
• Talk about net surfing
Is there something you did not like in
the selection process ?
• Answers to this question are taken very seriously by
the Panel
• You may talk about the selection process being very
good instead of being bad
• Generally all big companies hire consultants to
decide the pattern of the exam and the question
papers
• If you have an answer for this question, discuss it
with your TPO
 How do you cope with
disappointments in life ?
• Disappointments are part of life
• It is how you deal them it that makes you
stronger
• Give examples
• Show them how you gathered courage and
strength after facing a disappointment
• If you have a good example, discuss it with
your TPO
 What do you do to motivate yourself ?
• Boredom at workplace and in personal life is very
common
• You should not let boredom overtake you and ruin
your life
• You can talk about:
– Taking a vacation and visiting new places
– Reading a book
– Listening to some good music
– Watching some movies
– Spending time with your family
– Go on a blind date
– Spending a day out with friends
– Take a walk on the beach
– Read Bhagvadh Gita or religious scriptures
If you get a better company, will you leave
us ?
• This is a trap… be careful. They are checking your
presence of mind…
• Prepare well for this question…
• Don’t give an adamant ‘No I will never leave your
company’ answer
• Use your word power
• A little sense of humor will help
• The panel can always fall prey for a little flattery
 Are you willing to sign a bond for 2-3
years with us ?
• Do not be alarmed when the company asks you to
sign a bond for 2 or 3 years.
• While preparing for the interview you should have
known the policy of the company
• It is quite natural for a company investing money on
your training and placement to expect you to stick
with them for at least 2 or 3 years
• So, hidden or open, all companies require you
(fresher) to sign a bond or handover your
certificates/passport
What about our company would force you
to leave us ?
• This question is like an ‘exit interview’ even before
you get the job
• Even though they are asking you about why you
would leave the company, stick to why would like to
continue in the company
• Prepare well, be realistic,mk when answering
• Tell them you researched a lot to know about the
company and worked very hard to get into the
company
• Act like leaving a company as a last option
 Tell me about your role in the project :
• Notice : This is slightly different from ‘tell me about
your project’
• Tell them about the team size and briefly about other
team members, who is good at what
• Tell them about the work assigned to each team
member
• Tell them about your role and how you achieved it
• Tell them about how you helped the other team
members in achieving their tasks
• Always keep team spirit in mind
• Always give importance to the whole team not self
• If possible, tell them how you led the whole team
 Why IT and why not Core ?

• Invention of wheel
• Invention of paper
• Invention of radio
• Invention of telephone
• Invention of television
• Invention of computer
• Invention of WWW
They have all improved core engineering skills,
they did not defeat them
 Are you planning to take GRE,
why ? why not ?
• This is a trap…
When a HR manager is recruiting people, he
would like to be confident all those recruited
will join the company. Any ambiguity in the
candidates behavior will cost him numbers
• If you talk about taking GRE he/she will lose
confidence in you and may reject you
• At least during the interview be careful not to
be affirmative about taking GRE/TOEFL
 Do you consider joining MBA ?

• This is not a trap… just a tricky question…

• Your answer to this question gives them clues
on weather you have career growth plan in
mind or if you are ‘gone with the wind type’
• Consider your short term goals, long term
goals and see where does an MBA Degree fit
in.
• Weigh your options carefully, make a
connection, and give an appropriate answer.
 Tell me about your hobbies :

• Know the difference between a hobby and a pastime

• Hobbies call for a lot of sacrifices (in terms of time,
money and relationships)
• Pastime is something you do when you are not busy
and you have free time
• If you do mention Hobbies, be prepared to be grilled
 What if you do not get selected here ?
• Don’t be overconfident or boisterous, otherwise this
question is inevitable.
• If you do not give a good answer, the result will be
equally inevitable
• In the first five minutes, you will be able to gauge
which direction your interview is going
• Tell them how much you have prepared for this
interview
• Tell them how much you have waited for this
opportunity
• Tell them how much you will be disappointed if you
did not get this job
• Don’t tell them “may be a better job is waiting for me’
• Show some commitment, character and respect
 Do you have any questions for me ?

• Is this the end of the interview ?