Seeking Advice: What to Expect in an HR Interview with My Background?

Hi everyone on the site. I am a new member of the community and appreciate the dialogue process and involvement of senior members. I am a defense personnel with twenty years of experience in Airport Airside Operations Management with academic qualifications profile as:

- MBA in HR from IGNOU
- LLB from Kanpur University
- M.Com and MA Eco from Kanpur University

I request some guidance on what is expected of me in an interview for an HR position and also some specific sample questions. Additionally, I would appreciate comments on my MBA standing, as it is from a correspondence program offered by IGNOU.

My email address is 1satishtripathi@in.com

Sir,

I would like to answer the last part of your question first. As a normal trend, a full-time regular degree/diploma in HR is most sought after by many companies for an HR position. On the same note, there are also enough companies that have a strong preference for individuals with good exposure to HR/IR/Ops activities, regardless of their educational qualifications, whether it be a regular MBA or through correspondence.

I used to know quite a few companies that preferred to hire Army professionals in their HR/Admin department, whether they had an MBA or not. This preference stems from the belief that Army personnel are highly process-oriented, disciplined, and capable of handling people and tough situations in a more effective manner.

In my experience, I have observed that Army professionals and individuals with backgrounds similar to yours fit well in HR departments of industries such as Real Estate, Manufacturing Concerns, Infrastructure Companies, Aviation, or Heavy Machinery Companies. However, the specific requirements for HR professionals vary from one company to another based on their individual needs.

In your case, although you have completed an MBA through correspondence, the value addition I see is that in addition to your HR education, you also have an LLB and substantial Ops experience. This combination of qualifications is well-suited for a HR role. However, given the current market conditions, I am somewhat skeptical about the availability of HR jobs and the required skill sets.

Regarding HR interview questions, I may not be entirely accurate, but some spontaneous questions that may be asked during the interview include inquiries about your background, work experience, and situational scenarios where you would need to explain how you would act or react.

While specific situational questions are challenging to list here, some potential questions that you may find useful include:

a) Why did you choose to transition to HR or seek a HR job after spending 20 years in Ops instead of continuing in Ops?
b) Why do you believe we should hire you? (A common favorite question among interviewers!)
c) Why did you not enroll in a regular HR course? What value do you think you gained from studying HR at IGNOU?
d) What qualities do you believe are essential for a good HR professional?
e) How do you plan to maintain a balance between employees and management without upsetting either party, and do you think it's possible to keep everyone satisfied?
f) What do you know about our Company? (It's advisable to research the company before an interview using various sources.)
g) What are your strengths, weaknesses, or areas for improvement?
h) Can you share a challenging situation from your work life and describe how you handled it?
i) How do you intend to persuade people to embrace your company's management thoughts or ideas?
j) What is your opinion on basic leadership styles, and can you provide examples of how you have implemented them, especially if you have managed a team in your previous employment?

I hope this information is helpful.

Sir,

I would like to answer the last part of your question first. As a normal trend, a full-time regular degree/diploma in HR is most sought after by a lot of companies for an HR position. On the same note, there are also enough companies that have a strong preference to look for a person who should have good exposure in HR/IR/Ops activities irrespective of their educational qualification, be it a regular MBA or through correspondence.

I used to know quite a few companies who had a preference to hire Army professionals in their HR/Admin dept. Whether they are MBA or not because of the fact that there's a thought process that Army people are highly process and discipline-driven and can handle people and tough situations in a far better way.

As per my insight, I see and have seen Army professionals and people with a background like you fitting well enough in the HR Dept. of industries like Real Estate, Manufacturing Concerns, Infrastructure Companies, Aviation, or Heavy Machinery Companies, etc.

But again, it depends on Company to Company and their need in terms of what kind of HR professional they require.

Coming to your case, although you have done an MBA through correspondence, at the same time, where I see the value addition is that apart from HR education, you also have an LLB, and you have substantial Ops experience. A combination of the above three aspects is a decent combination for an HR job. But in the current market conditions, I am a little cynical about the availability of HR jobs and the skill set required.

Regarding HR questions, I might not be too accurate, but some very spontaneous questions can be asked from you during the interview once you start explaining your background or your work experience. At the same time, you can also be asked some situational questions where you will be given a scenario and will be asked what you would do in that situation or how you would act/react in that situation.

Now, these types of questions will be difficult to pen down here. Still, the questions given below you might find fruitful:

a) Why did you choose to go for HR or look for an HR job after spending 20 years in Ops? Why not Ops?

b) Why do you think we should hire you? (All-time favorite question of a lot of interviewers.)

c) Why haven't you enrolled in a regular course in HR? What value addition do you think you have gained by doing HR from IGNOU?

d) What qualities do you think one should have to be a good HR professional?

e) How do you think you will be able to maintain a balance between employees and management without upsetting either of them? Do you think it is possible to keep everyone happy?

f) What do you know about our Company? (It is always suggested that before going for an interview with a company, always do some research on that company through different sources.)

g) What are your strengths and weaknesses or areas of improvement?

h) Share with us one very tough situation in your work life and how you dealt with it.

i) How do you think you can convince people to accept your company's management thoughts or ideas?

j) What is your idea about basic leadership style? Give a few examples of how you have practiced this. (In case if you managed a team in your last employment.)

Hope all this will help.