15 interview questions you need to prepare for

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Looking to get into Recruitment? - 15 Interview Questions to Prepare for

1. Why Recruitment?

2. Why Will You be Successful in the Role?

3. When Did You Start Looking for a Role in Recruitment?

4. Why Do You Want to Work for Us?

5. Which Other Companies Have You Applied to So Far?

6. What is Your Understanding of the Role of a Recruitment Consultant?

7. What is Your Biggest Achievement in Life and What Does it Say about You?

8. What is Your Biggest Failure?

9. What is Your Biggest Weakness? 10. How Would Your Closest Friends Describe you in Three Words? 11. What Career Would You Choose if Recruitment Didn’t Exist? 12. What are You Passionate About? 13. What Makes You Angry? 14. If You Were Me, What Two Concerns Would You Have About Your CV? 15. Where do You See Yourself in 5 Years?

1. Why Recruitment?

Working as a recruiter is a heavily commission orientated sales role, so for the majority of

employers, it’s important for them to hear that you are money motivated. If you shy away from

mentioning money or mention it briefly in passing, an interviewer might be concerned you lack the

motivation to succeed in a financially rewarding sales role. So be deliberate about your money

motivation and talk about what goals and targets you have set yourself that earning commission

could allow you to realise. For example, what house or car do you want to own and by when? Having

clear goals will add conviction and clarity to your argument and knowing what you want to achieve

will make it easier for you to sustain your motivation over time.

With an emphasis on organic growth and hiring at the graduate trainee level, many recruitment companies offer an exceptional opportunity for anyone with the required abilities, motivation and determination to progress quickly into a position of leadership as soon as their abilities allow. With this is mind, you should also mention your interest in realising the potential for rapid career




progression and development. The best employers will embrace this level of ambition as they’ll be confident they can reward your success with high earning potential and rapid career progression.

2. Why Will You be Successful in the Role? By asking this question, an interviewer is searching for tangible evidence as to how you match up to the required competencies that make a successful Recruitment Consultant. Saying that you are competitive and persuasive for example is a good start but you need to back up your claims with specific examples whilst demonstrating an awareness of why you are using the examples. If you fail to use any examples, it’s merely lip service and is unlikely to reassure an employer that you will be consistently successful in the role.

Here are some of the most important competencies a successful recruiter needs to have and that you should be able to evidence during interview. Give some thought as to what examples you can use from your professional and personal life to support your suitability.

Competitiveness Resilient Proactive Money Motivated Positivity Self Awareness Excellent Communication Skills Persuasive Lateral Thinking Engaging/Likeable Personality Tenacity

3. When Did You Start Looking for a Role in Recruitment?

The most important thing to do when answering this question, is simply to be honest! For some

reason I hear many candidates exaggerate the length of time they have been interested in

recruitment, in the hope they will be taken more seriously by the employer. They can be easily

caught out however and it can often backfire. If you have been looking to get into recruitment for a

long time, why are you not already working in the industry? Proactivity is an essential quality of a

recruiter after all. If you have only been considering recruitment for a few days, then that’s fine.

What matters is that you are seriously focused on securing a role in the industry now and you are

able to be honest about what other careers you’ve considered and why recruitment is your

preferred choice.




4. Why Do You Want to Work for Us?

Consider the following aspects of the company that might make them a good company for you to

work for. What is their unique selling proposition? What do they do differently relative to their

competition? What are your thoughts on the size of the company, the potential for career

progression, earning potential, quality of training? What are the benefits of the market/s they

specialise in recruiting within and how might these aspects of the company appeal to you personally.

5. Which Other Companies Have You Applied to So Far?

Many candidates seem unsure what to say in response to this question. Many shy away from saying

they have interviewed or are going to interview anywhere else as they do not want to come across

less interested in the company they are interviewing with. However, any good employer will want to

hear you have considered other options by at least researching other companies as a basis for

comparison and are looking therefore to make an informed and confident decision about who you

decide to work for.

Be aware that some recruitment to recruitment agencies will tell their candidates not to tell anyone

which companies they are interviewing with. This is often because the agency does not want their

competitors to find out who their clients are. This is not in the best interests of the candidate

however as an employer understandably does not want you to withhold this information. If an

agency asks you not to mention who you are interviewing with, they probably don’t have very good

client relationships and are fearful that a competitor will steal their clients away from them! I

suggest avoiding such agencies and rather work with agencies that serve the best interests of their

clients and candidates by adopting an honest approach and are confident with the quality of service

they offer.

6. What is Your Understanding of the Role of a Recruitment Consultant?

If you have done your research, this is a chance to showcase your knowledge. The exact nature of

the role will inevitably vary from one company to another so make sure you tailor your answer to

the specifics of the role you are applying for. There is a lot to say in response to this question so it is

easy to say too much and risk losing the attention of the interviewer. Whilst ensuring your answer

has enough depth, keep it concise. For example, “I understand that I will be tasked with the

objective of winning new business relationships through cold calling the decision makers of various

companies, pitching my services as a supplier and negotiating terms of business with them. After

ascertaining the specifics of their hiring needs and obtaining job specifications, I’ll generate suitable

candidates through advertising, networking, headhunting and recommendations and referrals. I’ll

then introduce the candidate to the client and manage the negotiation of offers and close deals.” If




the interviewer wants more detail than this, by all means elaborate but saying more than this

initially could run the risk of losing their attention.

7. What is Your Biggest Achievement in Life and What Does it Say about You?

Many candidates tend to focus on the achievement of their degree when answering this question.

This is perfectly understandable as their degree might be something they have worked really hard to

achieve and a recently obtained, therefore fresh in their mind. It’s not however going to set them

apart from the thousands of other graduates out there that could be interviewing for the same role.

Your achievement needs to set you apart not show you are one of the crowd. Sporting and/or

extracurricular achievements can often be good examples if they are presented in the right way so

keep it individual to you and explain in what way the achievement warrants merit. Specifically, what

challenges and setbacks did you experience before realising the achievement?

8. What is Your Biggest Failure?

Assuming that you are able to identify the lessons to be learned and bounce back from the failures

that you experience, then the process of failing can be a necessary step towards accomplishing an

outstanding level of achievement. “Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of

enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill.

Keep this in mind when preparing your answer and use an example where you have failed yet been

able to learn from it and improve in some way. If you think you have never failed you probably

haven’t been pushing yourself hard enough – Thomas Edison was reported to have failed over

10,000 times in his quest to invent the light bulb. When quizzed about the numerous unsuccessful

attempts he’d made, he simply replied, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't

work."

9. What is Your Biggest Weakness?

Weaknesses are fine providing you have the self-awareness to identify what they are and show that

you are willing to do all you can to address them. If you claim to have no weaknesses you will

probably be viewed as unrealistic or even dishonest so give serious thought to this. Most employers

do not need candidates to be perfect, rather to show elements of promise that will justify the hire.

Showing some humility whilst being confident can be an endearing quality.




In order to help think of weaknesses, imagine you were given the chance to have just one training

session with someone who has achieved success in business, someone you respect and admire.

Together your goal is to put together a personal development plan tailored to you. What would you

want to include in that plan? What are your biggest challenges towards achieving the success you

desire?

10. How Would Your Closest Friends Describe you in Three Words?

It’s fair to say most interviewers want you to be honest in your answer. Contrived answers never go

down well here and keep in mind the interviewer wants to get to know what you are really like on a

personal level.

11. What Career Would You Choose if Recruitment Didn’t Exist?

This is a frequently asked question and one that can catch some candidate out if they are not

prepared for it. If you are genuinely focused towards securing a role in recruitment, you may not be

considering any other jobs outside the recruitment industry. Therefore you’re naturally thinking I

will get into recruitment. It’s not a case of if, but when! However, if you had to pick an alternative,

make sure you pick a sales focussed, commission based role. Examples could include media sales,

property sales or IT sales for example. It could be cause for concern if your answer is not sales

focussed.

12. What are You Passionate About?

This is a genuine opportunity to let the interviewer get to know you, so make the most of it and

express yourself. Consider what gets you excited and what you could talk about for hours if given the

chance. Hobbies, interests and anything else that allows you to really get your personality across

here is recommended.

13. What Makes You Angry?

As a general rule, being angry is not desirable for an interview or any other time for that matter.

That said however, an employer will want to know you care about something and will want to know

how you cope when something gets you worked up. It’s usually best not to go for something too

political here but being hesitant about expressing yourself at all here could be a concern. Be honest

and get to the point and be sincere with your answer.




14. If You Were Me, What Two Concerns Would You Have About Your CV? This is a great opportunity for you to demonstrate both your self-awareness and your determination to succeed. The interviewer will want you to be brutally realistic and accountable when talking through the concerns yet able to be positive about your ability to overcome them and be successful. For example, you could talk about a potential concern over lack of relevant sales experience yet go on to use examples in your personal and professional life as to where you have shown the qualities that a successful recruiter must have and therefore why, if given the chance, you will be a success.

15. Where do You See Yourself in 5 Years?

The best employers do not get intimidated by an ambitious individual with big goals. The best

employers are also disappointed when candidates have very modest financial and professional goals.

So think big and aim for the most impressive level of achievement you can think of as a starting

point. Modify only if you feel you need to.

15 interview questions you need to prepare for

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