Here is the list of key requirements you can use to prepare for the Recruiter interview:
- key questions and follow-up questions,
- and what are the warning signs that are not aligned to employer values and requirements? (think how to avoid these)
Process and solution orientation
Q1: Imagine you’re struggling to fill a role. Talk me through the steps you'd take to diagnose and solve this challenge.
Follow up questions:
What did you do first/second?
What metrics would you look at?
What things can you affect?
What were the learnings?
⚠️ Candidates may have a detailed, structured process here, or they may need prompting. Use the prompts if they don’t have a structured answer with clear steps and outcomes. Please note if they required a lot of prompting, as this is a negative indicator.
Process optimisation / first principles thinking
Q1: How do you optimise a hiring process for efficiency?
Follow up questions:
How do you define efficiency?
Walk me through the steps you’d take.
Tell me about a time you improved a hiring process.
How did you measure the improvement?
⚠️ Lacks understanding of key recruitment metrics or fails to link analytics to process improvements.
Metrics
Q1: Apart from hires made, what key recruiting metric were you able to impact in your last project?
Follow up questions:
Why?
What would tracking these metrics tell you?
How did these connect to wider business goals?
⚠️ Limited understanding of technical roles or inability to apply this knowledge in recruitment.
Approach
Q1: What principles guide your work?
Q2: How do you apply these principles when working with hiring managers or candidates?
⚠️ Gives vague or surface-level answers; can’t explain how values shape decisions or behaviours.
Stakeholder Management
Q1: Tell me about your most challenging hiring manager:
Follow up questions:
Why were they your most challenging?
What did you do to rectify the situation/relationship?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn from the experience?
⚠️ Needs heavy prompting; blames others; no reflection or future adaptation; no rituals or clear stakeholder comms.
Ownership / reflective
Q1: Tell me about a project that was behind on targets or not going to plan
Q2: Walk me through steps you took.
⚠️ What are the warning signs that are not aligned to your values.
Problem-Solving
Q1: Describe a complex recruitment challenge you faced and how you solved it.
Q2: What was the outcome?
⚠️ Shows a lack of problem-solving skills or fails to provide a clear example of overcoming recruitment challenges.
Adaptability
Q1: How do you adapt to changes in the recruitment needs of a fast-paced tech company?
Q2: Can you provide an example of adapting to a sudden change?
⚠️ Inability to demonstrate adaptability or lacks examples of effectively managing changes in recruitment needs.
Coachability / reflectiveness
Q1: What's a piece of feedback you remember from your last manager?
Remember, the key to succeed in any job interview is not just about having the right answers but also demonstrating your strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, can-do attitude and passion for growth.
Good luck with your interviews!