Hi, Sana here. Please help me, guys. What should be the exact answers to the following questions if asked during an interview:
What were the driving factors that led you to a career in HR?
What skills do you think are needed to add value to an organization?
From Pakistan, Karachi
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9What were the driving factors that led you to a career in HR?
What skills do you think are needed to add value to an organization?
From Pakistan, Karachi
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No one can give you an exact answer as these are questions to judge you as an individual. You need to do some soul-searching as to why you wanted to pursue a career in HR and what unique qualities you feel you have as a professional that will benefit the organization. No company will give you a great career without expecting a great outcome from you as an HR professional. Think along those lines, and you should be able to answer your queries.
Also, I assume you are a fresher. Please prepare a list of anticipated questions for the interview and formulate your own answers. Document them for your future reference; it helps. The interviewer is not only listening but also studying you. They will know if the replies are copied and pasted. Remember, "DO NOT COPY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PASTE."
All the best.
From India, Mumbai
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Also, I assume you are a fresher. Please prepare a list of anticipated questions for the interview and formulate your own answers. Document them for your future reference; it helps. The interviewer is not only listening but also studying you. They will know if the replies are copied and pasted. Remember, "DO NOT COPY IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PASTE."
All the best.
From India, Mumbai
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The questions that you have put, as rightly pointed out by Jhuma, judge an individual. Moreover, for such questions, there are no right or wrong answers. It all depends on the individual who answers the question and the confidence they express. Confidence plus an impressive answer for the interviewer will get you through.
Hence, please don't look for an EXACT answer, which by no means is correct. Innovate, try, and let people know they can definitely help you improve and suggest ways to perfect your answer.
Regards,
Ambarishan
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]
From India
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Hence, please don't look for an EXACT answer, which by no means is correct. Innovate, try, and let people know they can definitely help you improve and suggest ways to perfect your answer.
Regards,
Ambarishan
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]
From India
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You people misunderstand me. I know I can seek help from the internet, but if I or others need assistance, why don't we use search engines instead of coming here and asking seniors? I have 20 questions on my list, and I have prepared answers for them. However, I was confused about two questions, which is why I reached out to you guys to compare your answers with mine. So, what's wrong with that, my friend?
From Pakistan, Karachi
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From Pakistan, Karachi
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Well, in that case, maybe you might like the following points. Hope this should get you going!
Five Common Sources of Inspiration
Below is a list of five common sources of inspiration or driving forces, as you say:
1. **Having a Vision of Success** - Some of us are inspired by visualizing success. This source of self-inspiration is part visualization and part ambition, usually present among those who have a high energy level and are willing to continually try new things and grow their careers. The inspiration is the visualization, which propels one to do more. Books like "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne are based on this source of inspiration.
2. **Observing the Achievement of Others** – Some of us are inspired when we see others, comparably placed in life, succeed. This source of inspiration may come from watching a friend or colleague move ahead (remember that inspiration is different from jealousy) – or watching someone achieve something as a result of hard work. Honestly, I love underdog stories. Not the sappy and contrived Hollywood stories, but the real rags-to-riches make-it-happen stories. They renew my energy to do more with my own career. Over the past few months, I've been watching Susan Boyle's video whenever I need a dose of inspiration.
3. **Having Faith** – You may enjoy inspiration through your faith. You respond with greater activity because you have a higher calling to act or are propelled in a way that is consistent with the teaching of your faith. If you have a strong faith, you may see God working through others and allow your own actions to be propelled through this desire to do the work for a greater good.
4. **Having a Desire to Give** - You may be inspired to achieve in your career because you have a strong desire to give those you love more in their lives. You are inspired by the happiness you can bring others, and you do not want to fail or disappoint those you love. Newlyweds and new parents often enjoy this sense of inspiration.
5. **Transferring Emotional Stimulation** – Have you ever been inspired to do more from taking in natural beauty, art, poetry, or music? The feelings produced help you transcend your current state and transfer positive emotions which, in turn, energize your activities. Music does it for me. While I love and appreciate art, I have not yet been brought to a higher state myself as a result of it. I know so many people who take hiking trips and return with a renewed sense of purpose. (They almost make me want to take up hiking.) Again, inspiration is personal.
Top 9 Skills Needed to Add Value to an Organization
What skills do you think are needed to add value to an organization? Well, here are the top 9 that you need to have!
#1: **Organization**
Human Resources management requires an orderly approach. Organized files, strong time management skills, and personal efficiency are key to the Human Resources function. You're dealing with people's lives and careers here, and when a manager requests a personnel file or a compensation recommendation that lines up with both the organization and the industry, it won't do to say, "Hold on. I'll see if I can find it."
#2: **Multitasking**
On any day, an HR professional will deal with an employee's personal issue one minute, a benefit claim the next, and a recruiting strategy for a hard-to-fill job the minute after. Priorities and business needs move fast and change fast, and colleague A who needs something doesn't much care if you're already helping colleague B. You need to be able to handle it all, all at once.
#3: **Discretion and Business Ethics**
Human Resources professionals are the conscience of the company, as well as the keepers of confidential information. As you serve the needs of top management, you also monitor officers' approaches to employees to ensure proper ethics are observed. You need to be able to push back when they aren't, to keep the firm on the straight and narrow. Not an easy responsibility! Of course, you always handle appropriately and never divulge to any unauthorized person, confidential information about anyone in the organization.
#4: **Dual Focus**
HR professionals need to consider the needs of both employees and management. There are times you must make decisions to protect the individual, and other times when you protect the organization, its culture, and values. These decisions may be misunderstood by some, and you may catch flak because of it, but you know that explaining your choices might compromise confidential information. That's something you would never do.
#5: **Employee Trust**
Employees expect Human Resources professionals to advocate for their concerns, yet you must also enforce top management's policies. The HR professional who can pull off this delicate balancing act wins trust from all concerned.
#6: **Fairness**
Successful HR professionals demonstrate fairness. This means that communication is clear, that people's voices are heard, that laws and policies are followed, and that privacy and respect are maintained.
#7: **Dedication to Continuous Improvement**
HR professionals need to help managers coach and develop their employees. The goal is continued improvement and innovation as well as remediation. And looking to their own houses, the HR professional also uses technology and other means to continuously improve the HR function itself.
#8: **Strategic Orientation**
Forward-thinking HR professionals take a leadership role and influence management's strategic path. In gauging and filling the labor needs of the company, devising compensation schemes, and bringing on board new skill sets leading to business growth, they provide the proof for the often-heard management comment, "People are our most important asset."
#9: **Team Orientation**
Once, companies were organized into hierarchies of workers headed by supervisors. Today, the team is king. HR managers must consequently understand team dynamics and find ways to bring disparate personalities together and make the team work.
Regards.
From India
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Five Common Sources of Inspiration
Below is a list of five common sources of inspiration or driving forces, as you say:
1. **Having a Vision of Success** - Some of us are inspired by visualizing success. This source of self-inspiration is part visualization and part ambition, usually present among those who have a high energy level and are willing to continually try new things and grow their careers. The inspiration is the visualization, which propels one to do more. Books like "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne are based on this source of inspiration.
2. **Observing the Achievement of Others** – Some of us are inspired when we see others, comparably placed in life, succeed. This source of inspiration may come from watching a friend or colleague move ahead (remember that inspiration is different from jealousy) – or watching someone achieve something as a result of hard work. Honestly, I love underdog stories. Not the sappy and contrived Hollywood stories, but the real rags-to-riches make-it-happen stories. They renew my energy to do more with my own career. Over the past few months, I've been watching Susan Boyle's video whenever I need a dose of inspiration.
3. **Having Faith** – You may enjoy inspiration through your faith. You respond with greater activity because you have a higher calling to act or are propelled in a way that is consistent with the teaching of your faith. If you have a strong faith, you may see God working through others and allow your own actions to be propelled through this desire to do the work for a greater good.
4. **Having a Desire to Give** - You may be inspired to achieve in your career because you have a strong desire to give those you love more in their lives. You are inspired by the happiness you can bring others, and you do not want to fail or disappoint those you love. Newlyweds and new parents often enjoy this sense of inspiration.
5. **Transferring Emotional Stimulation** – Have you ever been inspired to do more from taking in natural beauty, art, poetry, or music? The feelings produced help you transcend your current state and transfer positive emotions which, in turn, energize your activities. Music does it for me. While I love and appreciate art, I have not yet been brought to a higher state myself as a result of it. I know so many people who take hiking trips and return with a renewed sense of purpose. (They almost make me want to take up hiking.) Again, inspiration is personal.
Top 9 Skills Needed to Add Value to an Organization
What skills do you think are needed to add value to an organization? Well, here are the top 9 that you need to have!
#1: **Organization**
Human Resources management requires an orderly approach. Organized files, strong time management skills, and personal efficiency are key to the Human Resources function. You're dealing with people's lives and careers here, and when a manager requests a personnel file or a compensation recommendation that lines up with both the organization and the industry, it won't do to say, "Hold on. I'll see if I can find it."
#2: **Multitasking**
On any day, an HR professional will deal with an employee's personal issue one minute, a benefit claim the next, and a recruiting strategy for a hard-to-fill job the minute after. Priorities and business needs move fast and change fast, and colleague A who needs something doesn't much care if you're already helping colleague B. You need to be able to handle it all, all at once.
#3: **Discretion and Business Ethics**
Human Resources professionals are the conscience of the company, as well as the keepers of confidential information. As you serve the needs of top management, you also monitor officers' approaches to employees to ensure proper ethics are observed. You need to be able to push back when they aren't, to keep the firm on the straight and narrow. Not an easy responsibility! Of course, you always handle appropriately and never divulge to any unauthorized person, confidential information about anyone in the organization.
#4: **Dual Focus**
HR professionals need to consider the needs of both employees and management. There are times you must make decisions to protect the individual, and other times when you protect the organization, its culture, and values. These decisions may be misunderstood by some, and you may catch flak because of it, but you know that explaining your choices might compromise confidential information. That's something you would never do.
#5: **Employee Trust**
Employees expect Human Resources professionals to advocate for their concerns, yet you must also enforce top management's policies. The HR professional who can pull off this delicate balancing act wins trust from all concerned.
#6: **Fairness**
Successful HR professionals demonstrate fairness. This means that communication is clear, that people's voices are heard, that laws and policies are followed, and that privacy and respect are maintained.
#7: **Dedication to Continuous Improvement**
HR professionals need to help managers coach and develop their employees. The goal is continued improvement and innovation as well as remediation. And looking to their own houses, the HR professional also uses technology and other means to continuously improve the HR function itself.
#8: **Strategic Orientation**
Forward-thinking HR professionals take a leadership role and influence management's strategic path. In gauging and filling the labor needs of the company, devising compensation schemes, and bringing on board new skill sets leading to business growth, they provide the proof for the often-heard management comment, "People are our most important asset."
#9: **Team Orientation**
Once, companies were organized into hierarchies of workers headed by supervisors. Today, the team is king. HR managers must consequently understand team dynamics and find ways to bring disparate personalities together and make the team work.
Regards.
From India
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HR & IR Interview Preparation Questions.docx