1. Why do you want to work here as Director Of Talent?
It helps me instantly find out if the applicant has done any research on the company and if they will take as much pride in their job as I do.
2. Do you think your boss is a good manager?
I have never had any problems with the management expertise of my boss and as already mentioned he/she is not the reason I'm looking for another job.
Never criticise your company...
3. What you would like me to know about you?
With this question alone, I am able to discern what is most important to the candidate, what their hobbies and interests are, their communication skills, their sense (or lack of) humor, their presentation comfort level, their educational background, their grasp of what the position entails, and their work style.
4. Explain me about the last spontaneous thing that you did in any facet of your life?
I look for an unusual response with something fun, like a last-minute trip or driving to Atlantic City at 11 o'clock at night. Something that shows me the person has some personality to react positively in different (and crazy) situations that oftentimes occur in our line of work.
5. What do you think of your current job? / Why do you want to leave?
As a company they are fine but I do not think they can match my ambitions with the possible opportunities offered and now is a right time for me to move on.
Be positive...
6. Why did you leave your last job as Director Of Talent?
You felt your career prospects and progression could go no further and you need a challenge where your potential can be exploited.
Never criticise your manager...
7. Tell me your adaptability when dramatic change is required?
In the fast changing, chaotic, and volatile environment we operate under, everyone and every process should be adaptable. So please show us how you would adapt to this situation that may occur in this job (provide them with a possible major change that requires adaptivity in this job) by walking us through the steps of how you would adapt to it.
8. Tell me do you use social media in hiring or to research candidates?
I wouldn't say that we research candidates using social media because that can get very sticky. We use social media to present job opportunities. I'm searching LinkedIn and I see you might be qualified for a position, I'll share a link to the job. But you have to be careful on how deeply you probe. Information you discover might be protected information.
9. Tell me for whom is the technological solution intended?
Lumesse ETWeb is designed for organizations of any size, particularly those where specific HR processes take place and the organization is interested in adjusting its HR plans to suit the strategic and tactical plans of the organization.
The solution is available either in Hosting, operated from a secure data center, or On-Premises model.
This question gets people thinking and helps me see how someone reacts when caught off guard. The titles can be truly insightful, revealing struggles and challenges that they have faced and overcome.
11. Tell me if money wasn't a factor, what job would you do all day?
To be completely effective in any company, the candidate needs to feel passionate about what they are doing. Employees that settle eventually cost a company far more lost revenue than the hour wasted on interviewing the wrong person.
12. Why should we offer you the position?
I've listened very carefully to what you've told me about the position and on that basis I'm confident that I could do the job as well as, if not better than, the others you have seen.
Why you want the job...(listen carefully during the interview & note interesting pointers)
13. Tell us a joke that wouldn't offend anyone?
This breaks the ice, shows the ability to think on their feet and if they can enjoy working together. Whatever joke is told, it almost always leads to a story.
14. Tell us how you would be a continuous learning expert?
Rapid learning is essential in our fast moving company and industry. So please select an important subject matter area in this job where you will need to continuously be on the bleeding edge of knowledge. Then show us in some detail how you will initially learn and then maintain your expert status.
15. Tell me do you have any career goals in the human resources industry?
I enjoy recruitment because it allows me to play a front line role in picking out the team of people I work with. I think the people that you work with are really important when it comes to any job. That being said, I would like to continue working in this industry and eventually gain enough experience to become a human resources manager. The reason for this is that I really care about making a job experience the best possible scenario for all workers involved. That's why I got involved in human resources in the first place.
16. Tell me how do you ensure the security of employee data?
Our answer to this question, naturally, refers to Lumesse ETWeb.
Lumesse has adopted the strictest security standards defined by ISO27002 and operates accordingly.
The system in the hosting model also operates according to the ISO27001 standard and is certified as such.
Lumesse management established an information security forum that convenes at least once every three months. The forum is responsible for all aspects of information security and includes the CTO, the Chief of Global Operations, the International HR Manager, and the Security Manager.
Lumesse conducts periodic risk assessments and inspections and uses evaluations by professional experts regarding potential security threats.
Based on these risk assessments, internal and external reviews, and “best practice” procedures in the field, Lumesse has developed an information security monitoring system that provides a solution for controlling the processes of prevention, detection, and correction.
In addition, every year there is an inspection carried out by an external company specializing in the field.
17. Do you get on with your current manager?
I have a good relationship with my boss; he/she is not the reason I'm looking to move.
18. What interests you most about the position on offer?
The career prospects, job content, work environment, day-to-day duties, etc
19. What is your greatest weakness as Director Of Talent?
An impressive and confident response shows that the candidate has prepared for the question, has done serious self-reflection and can admit responsibility and accept constructive criticism. Sincerely give an honest answer (but don't say too much), be confident in the fact that this weakness does not make you any less of a great candidate, and show that you are working on this weakness and tell me how
20. Tell me can you identify the likely problems in this process?
Our employees should be able to quickly identify problems in our existing processes, systems, or products. So please look over this outline of one of our processes and identify the top three areas or points where you predict that serious problems are likely to occur?
21. Tell me where do most of your hires come from? Job referrals? Online applications?
First, we have a few groups of hires. Nurses are a huge piece of our talent community. And then there are professionals like therapists and non-clinical professionals like marketing, finance, etc.
We get over 50,000 applications a year. It's really hard to just put an application in and stand out, so there is definitely something to networking. However, we get a bulk of our people from college relationships and memberships. In health care, credentialing is very important. For non-clinical, you're working next to PhDs and MDs. So it's not only your education but your certifications and professional memberships.
When it comes to memberships, obviously I can't just take your resume and give you a job. But if I keep running into this person at events and meetings, she's going to be the first person I call. If I go to Drexel University and I'm part of alumni group or new students, we're living, working, and playing together. This is how networking works for us and how we find many hires.
While there is really no right or wrong answer, I can often deduce the overall work style of a job candidate by their response. If they say they are a cautious, careful driver I tend to learn that they are a little gun shy when it comes to making decisions at work as it relates to their daily responsibilities. They often will need a secondary party before they can move forward. If they respond that they are fast or aggressive or they get where they need to when they need to and on time, I often deduce that the candidate has a more confident, determined approach.
23. Do you know what is talent management?
Although there are numerous definitions, concepts, and methods associated with this term, our basic definition of talent management is: a leadership process that enables the organization to identify and manage the totality of skills and competencies that ensure business success.
There are two key concepts today regarding talent management.
The first focuses on the management of talent, that is, emphasis is placed on nurturing and developing employees with the highest potential for contribution to the organization.
The second focuses on the management of skills, that is, on creating an optimal match between the skills required for various jobs and the available pool of employee skills.
24. Tell me how do you run an effective employee development plan?
A successful employee development plan must address three issues: personal development, group development, and career development.
Personal development is based on the profile of the employee's specific capabilities. The employee's strengths and weaknesses are identified as part of the performance assessment process, and together with the employee a plan is tailored for him to close gaps and fill in missing skills. Such a plan is usually built from a “menu” of options that include coaching, courses, organizational experiences, mentoring etc.
Group development is intended to meet the common talent needs of a group, such as developing long-term strategic thinking, bringing about change, and more. There are organizations that send such employees for training, for example, to Harvard or INSEAD. Others stretch the process over an extended period of time, during which managers from other organizations visit and describe their experiences, and so on.
I would start by making the content for a page on the company website that reaches out by advertising our open positions. I would make sure the page gave clear details as to the requirements to apply for the position as well as a description of what would be involved in the job. I would extend the search by emailing potential sources of candidates, such as college professors who could reach out to students and alumni. I would show up at job fairs to talk to people in person and see who is interested. The interview questions would be focused on identifying which candidates are the most knowledgeable about this company's industry, and also to identify their primary strengths and weaknesses.
One person we recently hired had great self-awareness of what her strengths were and what she needed to develop. Usually when we ask someone, “What are your strengths and areas for development?” they say they take on too much work or that they are a perfectionist. This doesn't really demonstrate self-awareness. I want to hear specifically what areas you are strong, what areas you aren't, and how you hold yourself accountable for your personal development.
This person in particular noted that she was a harmonizer and great at helping defuse conflict. Her areas of development were strategic thinking and decision quality. She had specific examples of how she tries to improve this.
27. Fresh Director Of Talent Job Interview Questions:
☛ Describe a time you made a mistake that cost you a good candidate
☛ Have you ever encountered problems dealing with recruitment agencies? How did you resolve them?
☛ Tell us about your experience with onboarding
☛ Describe a time you helped someone do their job better
☛ Tell me about your most successful accomplishment in talent management
28. Operational and Situational Director Of Talent Job Interview Questions:
☛ What do you find motivating about this job?
☛ What does a healthy work environment mean to you?
☛ How do you source passive candidates?
☛ What would you change in your recruitment process to increase team diversity?
☛ Walk me through the process of building an employee development plan.
☛ What are the most common mistakes during the onboarding process?
☛ How do you motivate your team to increase engagement?
☛ What would you include in a compensations package to attract and retain younger talent?
☛ Are you familiar with ATSs? Mention any candidate management software you have experience working with.
☛ What are the main culture aspects you would like our company to have?
☛ How do you identify talent within internal teams?
☛ In what ways is succession planning useful? How would you ensure its effectiveness?
29. Behavioral Director Of Talent Job Interview Questions:
☛ Have you faced conflicts between hiring managers in your previous experience? What did you do?
☛ What's the highest time-pressure project you have undertaken and how did you handle?
☛ Can you give some examples of employee development planning you successfully implemented?
30. Basic Director Of Talent Job Interview Questions:
☛ How do you build a talent pipeline?
☛ What sourcing techniques do you prefer?
☛ Have you used any ATS systems?
☛ What is your experience with internet recruiting?
☛ What are key elements that affect an employment brand?
☛ How important do you think networking is? What are your preferred networking methods?
☛ Walk me through the hiring process for the position of [example]
☛ What are you looking for while CV screening?
☛ How do you ensure a positive candidate experience?
☛ How do you prepare for interviews? What are the most important things to consider?
☛ What KPIs have you found useful in the past? What have you done to improve them?
☛ How do you assess current employees to discover fits to open positions?
☛ What's important to consider when creating succession plans?
☛ How do you stay current with hiring trends?
☛ Imagine there is a disagreement between hiring managers for a candidate. How do you approach this?
☛ You are asked to fill twice as many positions in the next year than in the last. How do you maintain quality in sourcing and recruiting?
I expect you to be building relationships. You can't get anything done alone these days.
Much depends on your job, however you should be highly proficient in your job duties in the first year at a minimum. A great way to figure out your goals is to sit with your manager to clarify expectations. Also ask yourself, “How will I become proficient so I can operate on my own 90% of the time?” Employers need talent individuals who add value really from day one.
The question can reveal a lot of information, including the real reason the applicant is looking to make a change, what's important to them in their next position, whether they are really motivated to make a move and whether or not their expectations are realistic.
Surely it is possible and advisable to manage talent in a small organization.
A small organization faces challenges that are similar to those of a large organization, such as the need for succession planning (bench players) and responding to situations when talent leaves the organization, often because of limited opportunities for development and promotion.
When talent leaves, a small organization is exposed to greater risk than a large one, since the volume of activity supported by the talent is much higher.
The damage that could be caused to the organization by not maximizing employee potential, the wrong placement of an employee, or top talent quitting, represents a high risk factor.
The main difference between small and large organizations is in the implementation of the plan and its adjustment to the size of the organization.
A talent management plan in a small company usually includes “leaner” processes based on “best practices,” as well as restricted mapping processes, to enable a quick course of action that meets the needs of the organization.
The technological system needed to support the process should therefore be modular and adapt to processes the organization needs at the current stage, but with an option for future expansion based on the changing needs of the organization and on its growth.
34. Tell me which modules are included in the technological solution?
Lumesse ETWeb is a comprehensive and integrative system based on a modular approach, which provides the organization with a partial or complete Talent Management solutions that the organization is interested in implementing.
The system includes:
HR Core – to collect and consolidate employee and job data across modules, such as learning management and performance management, providing accurate and timely information without the need for duplicate data entry, and reducing the number of errors significantly.
Performance Management – to create a correlation between employees' individual goals and the strategic objectives of the organization. Managers and employees work together to define, test, measure, and update the objectives, with the help of intuitive web-based self-service tools.
Compensation Management – allows HR personnel, professional managers, and management to work together to develop an encouraging and competitive approach based on salary, bonuses, incentive plans, and benefits – an approach that is simple, flexible, transparent, and easy to compare with current market rates.
Skills and Competence Management – helps you identify the employees with the skills, training, knowledge, and personal qualities you need, and plan their course of development in accordance with your organizational goals.
360Degree Feedback – allows creating personal and balanced employees assessment to determine their potential, strengths, and weaknesses. Feedback is provided anonymously by a large number of relevant sources, including supervisors, peers, subordinates, partners and customers.
Career and Succession Planning – helps you handle the issue of missing skills, manage the talent pool of the company identify successors, plan their development course, and identify opportunities for internal mobility of employees.
Learning Management – allows you to create and manage an effective learning culture in the workplace based on determining and matching the individual learning needs of employees with organizational needs.
35. Tell me where do you see yourself professionally in our organization in one to two years?
I ask this instead of asking a job applicant where they see themselves professionally in five to ten years because their response allows me to determine the level of motivation and commitment for the position. If the response is overly ambitious, that's a red flag.
