1.Desired position.

Title: HR Manager or HR Generalist

Job Description: HR Manager or Generalist is responsible for driving the key HR initiatives across the company, including compensation planning, training and development of employees, performance management. HR Manager is responsible for monitoring and managing HR policies and procedures of the company in compliance with state and federal employment requirements. Person at this position also manages benefits administration including enrolment, changes in status and termination coverage; responsible for organizing the “on-boarding” process and new hire orientation; guides managers through the process of employees’ performance evaluation and employees’ development process. So in general HR Manager or HR Generalist is in charge of all the procedures, policies and activities that are connected with employees and employment process in the company.

Education / experience requirements: Usually at this type of positions Bachelors degree is required in Business, Organizational Development Psychology, Management or any other related field with GPA 3.3 and higher. Master degree usually is not required, but is preferred.  There is usually a requirement for total 5+ years of work experience within Human Resources sphere (the field of the company’s operation may be different), and at least 2 years of experience on the position of the HR Department Manager or HR Generalist. Candidates for this type of positions must have strong knowledge of all state and federal employment laws and legal requirements.

Necessary Skills: HR Manager must have excellent communication skills both written and verbal. He / she must be able to interact with all levels of management / staff across company lines; he /she should have an experience and ability to resolve complex employee issues and to develop solutions acceptable to both management and employees of the company. And also HR Manager should have good presentation skills and should be proficient in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Salary range and possible benefits: the usual wage range for this type of positions is $ 75K to 100K plus bonuses. The annual bonus in the amount of the monthly salary may be offered. Often in addition to salary and bonuses large companies also offer different types of social packages that may include healthcare and life insurances, paid mobile phone connection, child-care and elderly-care services etc. Also very important aspect is training and advancement opportunities within the company.

2. Interview questions.

1) Tell me about your previous work experience. What are your greatest professional achievements so far? How many employees did you have in your supervision before?

2) What fields of HR do you like the most – Compensation & Benefits, Trainings and Development, Personnel Record, Recruitment etc.? Why?

3) Do you have an experience of working with the company’s budget? Tell me about it.

4) What are your professional strengths and weaknesses? List at least 3 of each and explain.

5) What are you looking for in the future (new) position?

3. Responses to the questions.

1) From the viewpoint of interviewer.

If I were an interviewer and if I conducted a job interview for the position of HR Manager or HR Generalist I would be first of all interested in the previous job record and work experience of the candidate, in his / her professional skills and abilities. Desired responses to the questions in section 2:

1. Tell me about your previous work experience. What are your greatest professional achievements so far? How many employees did you have in your supervision before? In this type of questions I would be looking for an organized, well-structured response that will disclose all the previous experiences of the candidate, what specific results he / she has achieved at one’s former job position. This will provide me not only with the candidate’s professional background, but also with one’s ability to organize his / her own thoughts and therefore actions. I would be also looking for a confidence and self-believe in the candidate’s answer as an indicator of one’s truthfulness.