Best interview questions for a Human Resources Manager

Human Resources Manager Interview Questions

Human Resources Managers are responsible for the interviews, hiring, onboarding and continuous wellbeing of the team. Depending on their seniority they will be involved in team events, training and mentor programs and keeping track of employee data.

Some important points to look out for during the interview process are:

Human Resources Managers should have outstanding communication skills and be able to converse effectively with many different people and departments.
They should have a warm personality and be energised by welcoming new people into the teams.
An awareness of working with sensitive information would be a great benefit as they’ll be in control of a lot of confidential data.

Interviewing a Human Resources Manager

Are you searching for an excellent HR Manager? It will soon be time to get to know the candidates a little better in an interview. With our Human Resources interview questions, your interview is prepared quickly and easily.

Please note: Our interview questions are suggestions for the earlier stages of the application process and for candidates with average work experience. They are therefore a little more general.

How to open the job interview

Interviews naturally breed nerves, so the first part of your interview should aim to make the candidate feel comfortable speaking with you, you’ll get much more information out of them and a better sense of the person they are if they feel like they can trust the environment they are in.

To do this you can ask some fun and interesting questions linked to the role, they should be open-ended and encourage conversation.

Job Description available

See our HR Manager Job Description here

For the interview

A positive opener to start

What do you enjoy most about your job?

What has been your journey so far?

Behavioral Questions

Why did you choose to become an HR Manager?
Gives you a good idea of their personality and process through their career.
How do you keep up to date with new employment laws and regulations?
An important question for any interview is how a candidate keeps up to date with new information. This will let you know how passionate and dedicated they are to their role.
How do you keep different teams motivated?
Sometimes an HR manager will have to identify when a team is not working efficiently. They should have an action plan for these situations and know when to set up training or mentorships.
What would you say has been the most challenging part of being an HR manager for you? How did you overcome this?
Shows a willingness to learn and adapt as well as responsiveness and the importance of their role.
What management style do you get on with the most?
It’s important that your new team members will get on with the team you’ve already created, and flourish under their manager with the right working style.
Is there anything you’d already like to change within the company if you joined with us?
Gives you an idea of how much research they’ve done about the company itself, it’s not essential for the candidate to do a lot of research and plan changes they would make, but it will make them stand out against the rest of the candidates.

Soft Skills

How many employees did you support in your previous role?
Lets you know their seniority level and how comfortable they are with responsibility.
Could you walk me through the day-to-day responsibilities you held in your last position?
You should get a good idea of their seniority level from this question and how experienced they are in different areas, as well as what they would like to improve or learn in the future.
In your opinion, what has been your greatest achievement at work?
This is an opportunity for the candidate to talk about their previous experience, and give you a broad overview of their background. They should be able to define why they consider the project a success.
Could you tell me about a time that you made a mistake at work? How did you handle that?
This should highlight their level of critical thinking and problem solving skills, they should be able to own their mistakes and understand the importance of reacting fast to solve them.

Hard Skills

What software systems have you used in your previous positions?
It’s not essential that the candidate should know the same systems that you’re already using, but the question should tell you how familiar they are with the most popular systems and how willing they are to learn new ones.
How do you ensure that you’re hiring and retaining the top candidates?
An essential part of any HR managers role is to ensure the best talents are coming through the office doors, a great candidate will understand that hiring is only the first step in the onboarding process and should therefore have an action plan on how to keep them.
How do you define company culture and how do you ensure that it is understood company wide?
Especially for growing companies, a great culture is essential to the wellbeing of the team as it can improve productivity, teamwork and performance. A great HR manager will be passionate about their company culture policies.

Operational / Situational Questions

Could you tell me about a time that you’ve been involved in employee conflicts? How did you approach this and how was it resolved?
This is something an HR manager will deal with on a regular basis. They should understand that even though each conflict should be dealt with on an individual basis, it’s still important to have a general action plan. Good communication skills should be displayed here.
Have you had to deal with employment elimination in the past? If so, how do you usually approach this?
Another essential role of the HR manager is to deal with any consistencies in lack of performance. They should have a performance review process, be understanding and compassionate but also straightforward.
What measures do you usually put in place to ensure there’s a consistent feedback loop between managers and new starters?
Good HR Managers will understand that feedback is an important part of any onboarding process. Not only in the first few weeks, but months down the line. They should talk about feedback meetings and one-on-one meetings with team members and their line managers.
Have you implemented any employee benefits to directly impact better retention? If so, how did you approach this?
Employee retention is, of course, important in any company. A great candidate will have ideas about how to improve this and what’s worked in their previous roles.