Sample Interview Questions
Please note that the interview questions vary upon career field.
General Questions (any industry)
- Why are you interested in this position?
- How does this job fit into your long-term career goals?
- What are your strengths/weaknesses?
HR Positions
- Tell me what you know about our organization.
- What is your background in finance and accounting?
- What can you tell me about pay for performance?
- What would you do if you were a compensation manager and an employee wants a promotion to a higher grade but past performance doesn't warrant a move? What if the employee threatens to quit?
- Why did you decide to study HR? Why did you choose Cornell?
- How do you pay what the market pays--how do you know what the market pays?
- What kind of company do you want to work for?
- Why do you want to work in this industry? What other industries are you interviewing with?
- What do you find appealing about a rotational program?
- Describe your analytical abilities.
- Human Resource professionals should be a model for high standards in regard to ethical and professional behaviors. Tell me about an experience when your values were challenged.
- What are the important issues in Human Resources today? Choose one and explain an action plan.
- What Human Resources issues have you been trained for?
- What should business managers expect from Human Resources today?
- "Organized labor is in eclipse." Do you agree or disagree? How does this influence the practice of the profession?
- Devise a strategy plan to prevent good employees from leaving the organization.
- Where should Human Resources fit in an organization? What is its role.
- You have an employee whose quality of work is diminishing; the work is unsatisfactory. The manager looks to you. What do you do?
Labor Movement
- Why do you want to work for a labor union?
- Have you or your family members been active in a labor union?
- What are your ideas for strengthening labor unions in a changing economy?
- What type of labor union work are you seeking?
- Are you willing to be an organizer?
- How would you approach being an organizer in the current economical and political environment?
- What experience do you have working for unions or other advocacy organizations?
- Are you involved with COLA or any other activist group on-campus?
- What language skills do you have?
- What do you know about this union?
- What do you plan to do if you don't get this job?
