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HR Interview Questions

Old 3rd Aug 2008, 18:13
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HR Interview Questions

Hi Mods,
I know you will move this to an appropriate forum but I wanted to get it rolling.
I'm hoping for an interview for training and am trying to find something about non-tech questions, the sort of thing asked by HR (bless them )
You know the sort of thing, along the lines of:

'Tell us about the time you...........
How would you deal with........... etc

It doesn't have to be all for training interviews, a broad spectrum of airline appropriate info' would be good.

If there are some good answers, and we don't end up in JetBlast, maybe it could be a sticky

regards,
H-D
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Old 3rd Aug 2008, 18:53
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Well following the rules and guidelines of the organisation you are trying to be involved with would be a good way to start! Do you think you will get where you want to go by riding roughshod over them?
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Old 3rd Aug 2008, 19:22
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Old 3rd Aug 2008, 19:46
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Wel try and work it out! This is your chance to think for yourself how to conduct yourself in relation to the world around you and how it runs, and what rules it sets and whether you intend to even try and abide by them!
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Old 3rd Aug 2008, 20:27
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What is wrong with not knowing the questions and just answering them honestly and not rehearsing them. The problem with the aviation industry and the selection of managers we have now is because they have been coached with their answers and then when confronted with the problems of the real world make the wrong decisions.

If you cheat the system then expect some one to cheat you one day.
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Old 4th Aug 2008, 09:48
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What is wrong with not knowing the questions and just answering them honestly and not rehearsing them. The problem with the aviation industry and the selection of managers we have now is because they have been coached with their answers and then when confronted with the problems of the real world make the wrong decisions.
Well said!
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Old 4th Aug 2008, 10:02
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Something of a response.....

I don't know how many of our readers have had proper Interview training. Apols if you know it all. I'll have to be a little careful with this, as I've possibly interviewed a number of the readers....
Rule 1. Hypothetical questions in an interview are fairly useless as an interviewing technique. However, untrained (and lazy) interviewers like them, so you might well get a few. There is no real way of preparing for them - just think up a few for yourself, and have confident replies ready.
Rule 2. Your past behaviour is the best guide to your future behaviour. Thus, "Tell us about a situation when" is the sort of question that a good interviewer will ask you. S/he is trying to find out what you actually did in a variety of situations. "Tell us about a situation when you had to.... (act quickly/think fast/disagree with a boss/do something you did not want to do) are all possibles. There are many ways of constructing these questions. By and large they are looking for a story, and your part in that story - what you did, in some detail. The way to get thru them is to be honest, succinct, open and no b.s.........Prep. involves thinking about the things they will be interested in, and thinking of relevant times in your life when you've exhibited the behaviours that you think they will want/expect.
It's called Behavioural Event Interviewing, (BEI) and Google can help you.
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Old 5th Aug 2008, 14:48
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Thanks AO,
Just the sort of thing I was after.
Interesting response from the others
You can ask for, and get, huge ammounts of info on how to do the interview and sim to get into a company, but some seem to get very twitched about improving yourself once you are in.
Any more info much appreciated.
HD
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Old 25th Aug 2010, 02:33
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Hi,

Thanks very much for this comment. I was actually hired from another interview I had. I'm sure this thread will be useful for others though.
Apart from that, this link below may be useful: HR interview questions
Tks again and pls keep posting.
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Old 25th Aug 2010, 10:16
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Pop into somewhere like WH Smith and grab a book. There are loads of em out there. The better ones have examples of the questions and follow up with and explanation of why the interviewer is asking the question along with a suggested framework to answer the said question.

Expect the usual strengths, weaknesses, tell us about a time of conflict and how you resolved this etc etc.
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Old 25th Aug 2010, 18:29
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I advise anyone preparing for an HR interview to not follow the advice given by those saying you should not prepare for hypothetical questions. In fact, you have to prepare for every possible questions because the goal is to score points with the interviewer. You have to come up with great answers, not good answers, and score more points than other applicants.

If you don't prepare, you might come up with 2 or 3 good points in your answer; on the other hand, if you prepare well you will come up with 5 or 6 good points, and the interviewer(s) will be more impressed by you than by others who just gave "good" answers.

It takes time to prepare for an HR interview, and I strongly advise you pick up a book about pilot interviews for that matter. When reading interview gouges, take not of the questions and discard the answers given by other applicants. They might not apply to you: someone with a lot of experience is expected to come up with a better, more thorough answer than someone with little experience, etc. Prepare your answers well in advance, practice a few mock interviews with someone, go back over your answers and improve them.

There's a lot more to say but all can be found in pilot interview prep books.
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Old 27th Aug 2010, 21:55
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Hi Helen,

I too was confused by some of the other posters who seem to think that preparing for an interview is in some way cheating?!?

Anyway, my view is that it's best to think of about 5 or 6 little stories from your past of situations / decisions you've been in. Each situation should be an example of various things. For example, one of your stories might cover when you "influenced others", and "leadership" and another story might cover "when you worked effectively as part of a team" and "had to come up with an original solution to a problem".

Obviously, there would be some overlap as some stories would cover some of the same things, but that's good because you may use one of the stories to illustrate one strength and then you won't be able to use that same story again in the interview.

Try to describe succintly: what the situation was, what you did, what the outcome was / relate it to what they are asking about.

Just to get you started here are a few possible questions:

Tell us of a time when:

You have dealt with confrontation
You have worked as part of a team
You have thought "outside the box"
You could have done something better
You made a mistake
You have communicated effectively
You have worked hard to achieve something
You have led a team
You have motivated others
You have thought on your feet
You have worked to a deadline
You have shown empathy for others

Some others:

What are your strengths and weaknesses?
How would your friends describe you?
How to you cope under pressure?
How do you influence others?

Any questions of a negative slant, ie "tell us about when you made a mistake" should be framed in a positive light: ie "so I learnt from that to do things a different way and now I am better for it" sort of thing. It is also probably best if these are not aviation related!

I hope this has been of some help, good luck!
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Old 30th Aug 2010, 07:08
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HR Interview


Great Gen! Keep it coming. Can anyone elaborate on interview books? There are literally hundreds of them!
Thanks Zeflo
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Old 31st Aug 2010, 21:02
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Stick 'Competency Based Questions' into Google and you'll get a complete run down of exactly what they are and why they are asked along with a whole host of example questions.
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Old 1st Sep 2010, 08:43
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It is also probably best if these are not aviation related!
Might I suggest, if you are applying for a position at the very start of your aviation career, that your experiences, no matter how fantastic and exciting to you, are not of the required depth to answer most of the tricky HR questions.

These questions are designed to assess lateral thinking and application of associated events to the framework required by the question. As such simple, real life events can be adequately moulded into aceeptable replies by using your noggin. That is what the interviewer wants to see. Be warned though, many interviewers will put you under time pressure to reply.

Not meaning to be degrading but, to be perfectly honest, the interviewer doesn't care a jot about your actual experience, they just want to see you apply a mental model off the cuff.

Good luck.

Edit:

Just re-read the initial question and I assume you are looking for a job as a trainer? In which case be prepared for anything that fits the framework above. With the relevant experience you should (and I, as the interviewer would expect) that you can apply relevant, appropriate situations to each 'give an example of' questions both quickly and concisely.
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Old 29th Sep 2010, 20:07
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Thumbs up

Hey Tiger Moth,
great q's thanks will work out a few answers from all the memories! and hopefully they'll help in the future
cheers
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