Human Resources Manager Interview Questions - Zippia

Human Resources Manager Interview Questions (With Example Answers)

Human resources or HR is an amazing career path for many individuals in the workforce. Human resources is the term to describe a department of individuals who work for a company or organization that manages all matters related to their employees.

They collectively represent the department responsible for employees’ overall wellbeing and development inside an organization. They may also be referred to as talent acquisition or personnel management, among other names.

If you find yourself down this career path, you may spend a few years in an entry-level role. But when the time comes to obtain a management position in HR, there are a few things you should consider to ensure you’re prepared before applying and interviewing for this next level position.

The first is a good understanding of the questions your potential employer might ask and how to best answer them.

You might also be sitting on the other side and looking to extend your human resources team or promote a team member who is ready for the next stage in their career. Similarly, you’ll want to be sure you ask the appropriate questions to the individual you’re looking to hire or promote to make sure they’re right for the job.

Below we discuss some of the most common questions for human resource department applicants as well as some tips on how best to answer them, or things to look for if you are doing the interviewing.

1. Looking for a job? These position are hiring now near you:

   1. Human Resources Manager
   2. Human Resources Generalist/Manager
   3. Human Resources Administration Manager
   4. Regional Human Resources Manager
   5. Senior Human Resources Manager
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   Questions to Determine the Most Qualified HR Job Applicant

   Finding an adequately qualified HR candidate might feel basic on the surface, but there are more important qualifications for these types of positions than what might be listed on a resume. You’ll be able to tell a lot by how these questions are answered.

2. What is your management style? This question feels very broad, but it’s an important one to ask and respond to appropriately. Depending on where your new position resides, you’ll want to ensure you either understand or do extensive research on the company’s culture and how other managers have succeeded.

   What you may have seen in the past might not be the most appropriate management style for the company you’re applying for. Remember to speak in specifics and ensure you indicate your flexibility.

3. What is the most effective way to drive results? This question is a little complicated as it sneakily asks two questions to the interviewee. First, the hiring manager is likely looking for how you view driving business results as well as how effective you’ll be at managing them.

   You may be asked more specifically how you’ll convince leadership of certain decisions and what results you believe would be most significant to them. For this question, it’s a good idea to understand what the company is trying to achieve in the next few years, be it additional headcounts or more business. Regardless, HR will always have a direct impact on bottom-line initiatives.

4. What made you consider HR as a profession? This is another question that probes at the candidate’s true intentions behind applying for a human resources job. If the answer is something along the lines of changing company initiatives to benefit them as an individual, then they may not be a great fit.

   However, if the answer to this question shows a clear passion for helping others and being a dedicated member of the team, you may have a qualified candidate who is eager to change the department for the better.

5. How much experience do you have in HR? It’s not always necessary, depending on the resume you have from any one candidate, but asking about how much experience can open up a few different opportunities for the candidate.

   They may choose to discuss what they view their best qualifications to be as well as moments that might stand-out in their minds that have impacted them as an HR professional.

6. Tell me about a time you successfully handled conflict within an organization. This may be one of the most important questions to ask the applicant. Understanding how they handle conflict resolution will tell the hiring manager if the individual is a good fit on the team.

   Conflict management styles vary widely, so you’ll want to make sure as either the hiring manager or applicant, that the specific style is a fit.

7. General Human Resources Interview Questions

   There are general human resources interview questions you may be asked as an applicant for a human resources manager job. They could include any of the following:

8. What is your least favorite part of working in human resources? This is an important question to ask and respond to appropriately because it shows where you might need growth help as a manager.

   It’s important to answer this question honestly, within reason. You’ll want to convince the interviewer that you are passionate about human resources, but there may be certain tasks or situations that are uncomfortable or you believe you need help with.

9. Describe your ideal company culture. This is an important one to determine fit within a specific company. Company culture is a coveted feeling that employees cultivate when working within an organization and HR has one of the biggest, if not the biggest direct impact on this.

   Answering this question with specifics will show the interviewer what you believe is important in company culture and what is personally important for you to succeed as a human resources manager.

10. What is the most effective way to resolve employee and upper-level management conflicts? This is another important one for human resources managers, especially because this is something you will deal with on a regular basis. Disputes between employees and upper-level management can be difficult to navigate.

    Answering this question confidently will show the interviewer that you have no issues mediating major issues between leadership teams and employees. Depending on how you answer this question, you could showcase your conflict resolution skills or your own leadership skills as well.

11. Tell me why you think you’re the best fit for the HR role at our company. This is a great question to ask and be asked, as it allows for the candidate to speak briefly on their knowledge of the industry and company while showcasing their skills as an HR professional.

    Choose skills you know embody the culture of the company and showcase how you’d plan on using them to the best of your ability to ensure the success of your team and the company.

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More Specific HR Interview Questions to Assess Competency In New Roles

Depending on the level the interviewee will be operating at, the hiring manager might want to dig a little deeper into specific questions and answers to ensure competency for the role at hand.

Strategic Partner

A strategic HR partner is someone who has experience in human resources and won’t be afraid to take initiatives and run with them. Some questions to ask them might be:

• Planning. How did HR Impact strategic planning at your last company? What is your method for developing an achievable HR plan for your team this year? How do you ensure you set achievable goals? How far out in advance do you plan for major projects?

• Success. How have you measured the success of your HR team in the past? How do you assess employee satisfaction across the company? What specific things do you measure in these instances?

• Role-based. Do you view HR as a key player in a company’s strategic vision? How about on the senior management team? How do you view HR in a company - as a key player, or something else? What are some of the first changes you’ll plan to make as an HR manager?

Employee Advocate

• Complaints. How do you handle employee complaints about their manager? How about complaints about senior leadership? How do you investigate the truth and find a resolution?

• Culture and environment. Tell me what culture means to you. How can you preserve a company culture? How do you think the company can scale while maintaining a positive company culture? What methods have you used in the past to ensure you are planning, creating, maintaining, and evolving company cultures?

• Specifics. What specific processes have you used in the past that would lend themselves well to cultivating a positive experience for employees? Do you plan on duplicating any of these processes if you were to get the job?

Change Champion

• Projects. Tell me about a specific period of time or project where you led an important initiative within the company that impacted the organization positively? Why did you implement the program? Walk me through the process from beginning to end.

• Failures. Tell me about a time you attempted to change something within an organization but were met with roadblocks or ultimately were forced to leave the project behind. What happened? What would you have changed to make it successful?

• Organization. With so many initiatives going on, how will you ensure you are on top of them all? How do you stay organized? How will you keep your team organized and accountable?

In-Depth HR Manager Interview Questions

You may be required to go even more in-depth, depending on the specific role, hiring manager, and organization.

For example, smaller companies such as start-ups or mom-and-pop shops may not need as much information as a major corporation that’s building a new HR team. It all depends on the job and the people.

Some additional in-depth manager interview questions might look like this:

• How have you handled job elimination in the past? If you haven’t, then tell us what your approach would be.

• Have you ever questioned a company policy when working in human resources? If so, what was it, and why did you question it?

• What is your process for dealing with unethical behavior in the workplace?

• What do you believe are the most important considerations to make when managing a human resources team?

• How do you manage a team conflict when it arises?

• What is your strategy for attracting new talent to the company?

Of course, these can be altered or left out of the interview completely. It will all depend on the interviewer and how well they know the candidate.

Looking for a job? These position are hiring now near you:

1. Human Resources Manager
2. Human Resources Generalist/Manager
3. Human Resources Administration Manager
4. Regional Human Resources Manager
5. Senior Human Resources Manager

Search For Human Resources Manager Jobs

HR Manager Interview Questions with Sample Answers

If you’re still uncertain about how to answer these questions with specifics, here are a few examples of questions and answers to HR manager interview questions.

We hope that they can help give you a better understanding of how to appropriately respond to interview questions as an HR manager.

1. What are your favorite components of human resources? What do you enjoy the most? What do you dislike?

   Example Answer:

   “I enjoy helping colleagues, especially those who may have an issue or frustration they need help working through. I love being able to provide employees with great perks or strategies to help them perform better. Seeing people succeed is my favorite part of the job. The part I dislike most is employee terminations or when employees move on to find a new job.”

2. What is your recruiting approach? How do you attract new talent to a company?

   Example Answer:

   “My favorite way to hire individuals is through word-of-mouth recommendations, as they are consistently valuable individuals to bring into an organization if you trust that employee’s judgment. However, this is not always realistic, so I ensure I ask all of the right questions and get the right individuals to also perform interviews.”

   “At my current company, we use Greenhouse to record interview notes and remind interviewees what their goal of the interview is. I also take into consideration what draws we need to have in place as a company to attract new talent.”

3. Talk to me about how you have handled HR conflicts in the past.

   Example Answer:

   “The first step in any conflict is to identify the real problem. Oftentimes, the initial issue is a very obscure problem that we can’t directly fix, so getting to the root of the problem is very valuable. Then, I attempt to find a resolution by talking with each individual and, with their permission, get them in the same room to have a conversation. Mediation is important for a solution that helps both parties and is achievable in a peaceful environment.”