Gearing up for a job interview and stressing about the questions? Wish you could peek into the future? We can't exactly predict the future, but between the recruiters we meet and our own experience at makesense, we can give you a heads-up on what to expect. Here are 30 common recruitment interview questions to help you prepare and shine on interview day!
HR interview questions
The HR interview kicks off the recruitment process for most companies. In smaller teams, you might even land the job straight from this chat with the manager. Here's what the interviewer (HR or manager) will be generally looking for:
- A Match on Paper and in Person: Do the details on your resume and cover letter align with what you talk about during the interview?
- Skills to Pay the Bills: Do you have the strengths and abilities to excel in this specific role?
- Motivation Matters: Why this position? What drives you to apply?
- Understanding the Role: Do you grasp the key aspects of the job you're interviewing for?
In concrete terms, what does this mean in terms of questions?
Questions during the interview
#1 How did you find us?
#2 What made you want to apply to us?
#3 How does your profile match the criteria for this position?
#4 Why you rather than someone else?
#5 What did you understand about the job?
#6 I see that you have such and such work experience. Can you tell me about it? What was it like? What did you get out of it?
⚠️ You can also have requests, like :
#7 Tell me about yourself;
#8 Describe your personality.
Practical questions at the end of the interview
#9 Where are you in your job search? Do you have any other processes going on? Deadlines to meet?
#10 What are your salary expectations?
#11 Are you mobile?
#12 When are you available? X months notice?
⚠️ Notes after a job interview can help you for the next steps in the process or for future job interviews!
Questions asked in a business interview
Here's what your future boss (manager or internship supervisor) will likely be looking to assess:
- Digging Deeper: They'll want to delve beyond your resume to get a more complete picture of your professional background.
- Company Savvy: They'll gauge your understanding of the organization, its mission, and its values.
- Skill Set and Drive: They'll want to see if your skills and career aspirations are a good fit for the position.
- Team Player or Lone Wolf?: They'll be evaluating how well you might fit into the company culture and work style.
- Keeping it Real: They'll want to understand your expectations for the role to ensure a good match.
In the context of a job interview, here are the types of questions asked:
#13 What did you understand about our business?
#14 Can you name our X missions?
#15 You say you are empathetic on your resume. Empathy is very important in our business. How do you show empathy? Do you have any examples to give me?
#16 We are very results-oriented. Can you tell me about your previous experience as a salesperson? What were your numbers?
#17 What are your faults (or weaknesses) and qualities for the position?
#18 With which people do you find it more difficult to work?
#19 What is the work environment in which you feel comfortable?
#20 What is your professional project? How does this job fit in with your career plans?
⚠️From one interview to the next, you may get repeated questions! This is normal. And it also tests your consistency. Often, recruiters have a scorecard, an evaluation grid of the candidate that allows them to take notes at each stage of the recruitment. If certain answers given during a previous interview contradict answers given afterwards, the recruiters could look into this point with you at the end of the process, for example!
If a case study has been done
You may be asked to complete a case study for a first or second interview. Here are the questions that could come out of this exercise:
#21 What did you think of the case study? What were your difficulties? What did you like to do?
#22 How did you go about answering?
#23 How could you improve if you had to do it again?
Maintenance issues in culture fit
During a culture fit interview, you meet a part of the team or the whole team (depending on the size of the company). You have passed the hardest part, but this is not the time to relax, because this step is also a test phase! The team is going to judge your liking for their way of working and your natural fit with it. Here are the questions that could be asked during this meeting:
#24 What do you understand about our organization's model?
#25 What are our values? Do you recognize yourself in these values ?
#26 How do you see yourself in the company?
The trick questions
Finally, especially during the first HR and job interviews, some questions can be trick questions to test you! It's up to you to build an argument, not to justify yourself, but to explain to the recruiter the answer to their "why?" Often, these trick questions are based on doubts or fears about your profile. A bad recruitment is costly for the company, so they will test you to make sure you are the right person! It is up to you to reassure the recruiters that you are the right person for the job. To give you an idea of what they can be, here are some of them:
#27 Why weren't you hired by your previous employer at the end of your internship?
#28 If at the end of the process you have the choice between our organization and organization X, which one will you choose? Why?
#29 What difficulties do you find difficult to manage?
#30 Aren't you too young for this job?
Beyond the maintenance issues
To stand out from the crowd and succeed in a job interview, you should not only rely on the answers to the questions, other parameters will also be taken into account.
Your body language
Beyond the questions, the people you will meet face to face will also observe your attitudes and your non-verbal communication. Don't stress, all recruiters do it, it's part of the game! To prepare yourself for the interview, you can ask people close to you to give you feedback on your body language. Do you touch your hair while talking? Do you nervously touch your bracelet between sentences? Everyone has such tics and being aware of them will help you work on limiting this reflex.
Your dress code
"The clothes make the man! That's what recruiters will have in mind. To make a good impression, depending on the job and the sector of activity, you don't need to wear a three-piece suit, but make sure your clothes and shoes are clean, not wrinkled, not torn. Be sure to get the right information, because in some companies, there may be a dress code!
Your self-confidence
The recruiter can tell whether or not you are confident during the interview by your answers to the questions. If we were to give you some advice, it would be to work on your body language as said above, and to explain without justifying yourself.