Interview Question Bank

This guide covers practical, targeted questions candidates can expect in interviews across HR Generalists and Centres of Excellence.

HR Generalists

HR Admin / HR Coordinator

Focus: accuracy, process, stakeholder support, foundations of HR.

Common Questions:

• Tell me about a time you managed a high-volume admin workload. How did you stay organised?

• How do you ensure accuracy when entering or updating employee data?

• What’s your approach to confidentiality in HR?

• What’s one HR process you’ve supported end-to-end?

• What’s an example of a process you’ve improved/streamlined?

• How do you build relationships with stakeholders when you're new in the role?

Scenario-Based:

• You receive two urgent requests from different managers at once. How do you prioritise?

• An employee emails you asking for something you don’t know the answer to. What do you do?

• Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work. How did you identify it, what steps did you take to fix it, and what did you put in place so it didn’t happen again?

HR Advisor / HR Business Partner

Focus: ER, coaching managers, operational HR, policy application.

Common Questions:

• Talk us through a complex ER query you’ve handled from start to finish.

• How do you build credibility with managers you haven’t worked with before?

• Describe a time you coached a manager through a performance-related issue.

• Tell me about a time you coached a leader who was inexperienced in handling people issues. What was your approach and what changed?

• How do you balance being approachable with still holding firm on policy?

• Describe a time you had to interpret a policy in a grey or unclear situation. How did you land on the right approach?

• Talk me through a time you implemented or supported a policy change. How did you communicate it to stakeholders?

• What’s an example of a time you supported a team through a small-scale cultural or behavioural shift?

Scenario-Based:

• A manager wants to performance manage someone but hasn’t documented anything. What do you do?

• Employees are confused about a new policy rollout. How would you reset expectations?

• Two leaders are in conflict, and it’s impacting their teams. They both want HR to “fix it” but aren’t taking ownership. How do you approach resolving this at a team and leadership level?

HR Business Partner / Senior HR Business Partner

Focus: strategic partnering, workforce planning, change, influencing, commerciality.

Common Questions:

• How do you take an ambiguous business problem and translate it into a people plan?

• What’s your approach to influencing a difficult senior leader?

• Share an example of how you’ve used data/insights to shift business thinking.

• Describe a time you’ve redesigned an HR process to make it more effective.

• How do you assess whether HR is adding measurable business value?

• Tell me about a change initiative you’ve led. What was your role, and how did you ensure leaders were equipped to lead through it?

• How do you balance operational BAU with longer-term strategic work?

• Tell me about a time you joined a business where the HR function was still maturing. What challenges did you face and what did you prioritise first?

• How do you build trust and credibility in an environment where HR has not historically been seen as strategic?

Scenario-Based:

• A senior leader is highly effective commercially but is impacting culture and engagement across their function. How do you balance commercial performance with people risk, influence behavioural change, and coach them without losing their trust?

• Engagement results show a sharp decline in a key business unit that directly affects customer or financial outcomes. How do you diagnose what’s going on, influence the leader to take accountability, and create a turnaround plan with measurable outcomes?

Head of People / HR Director

Focus: enterprise level strategy, CEO/board engagement, operating model, organisational priorities.

Common Questions:

• Walk us through your most recent people strategy - what were the enterprise priorities, how did you align it to business performance, and what outcomes did you deliver?

• How would your executive peers describe your leadership style, and how does it enable high performance at an organisational level?

• How do you build alignment and influence decision making at ELT level when priorities compete or move quickly?• Tell us about a time you led the organisation through a significant transformation or period of disruption. What was the commercial or cultural shift you were driving?Tell us about a time you constructively challenged another C-suite executive or board member. How did you influence the outcome while maintaining trust and shared accountability?

• Tell us about a time you reshaped or elevated the HR function to better serve the business.
  
  

Scenario-Based:

• A senior leader is delivering strong commercial results but their behaviour is causing turnover and tension in the team. The CEO wants to overlook it because of their performance. How would you approach this situation and influence the CEO to address the issue.

• You are leading an organisational redesign after a period of heavy change. Engagement is low and trust is fragile. How would you lead the restructure in a way that maintains stability and rebuilds confidence while keeping the business running effectively.

Centres of Excellence

ER/IR

ER Advisor

Focus: case management, investigations support, policy and award/EBA application, documentation, and coaching managers through low to medium risk matters.

• Walk me through a complex investigation you’ve supported end-to-end. What was the situation, how did you handle it and what was the result?

• What is the volume of cases you’ve worked on at any given time?

• Describe a time a stakeholder wanted to go against your advice, but you knew it would land the company in hot water. What did you do to influence the decision?

• Tell me about a time you had to manage multiple ER issues at once with competing deadlines. How did you prioritise and ensure nothing slipped?

• Tell me about a time you coached a manager who was inexperienced or nervous about handling an ER matter. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?

  
  

Senior ER Advisor

Focus: high risk and sensitive matters, end to end investigations, Fair Work and consultation, pattern and trend analysis, and partnering with senior leaders on ER and IR risk.

• Share your experience leading investigations with high risk (e.g., bullying, discrimination).

• How do you evaluate the risk level of an ER issue?

• What’s your approach when the business wants to act quickly but the process requires more diligence?

• Describe a time you identified a pattern or trend in ER issues. What did you do with that insight, and did it lead to any preventative actions?

• Tell me about your experience representing an organisation at the Fair Work Commission. What was the matter, what preparation did you undertake, and what was the outcome?

• Tell me about a time you identified systemic ER issues across a business unit. What actions did you recommend, and how did you work with HR/ELT to address root causes?

• Give an example of a complex consultation process you’ve managed (e.g., restructure, roster changes, major workplace change). How did you ensure the business met its obligations while still achieving commercial outcomes?

  
  

Head of ER/IR

Focus: enterprise ER and IR strategy, bargaining and EBAs, union relationships, major dispute management, risk and governance, and capability uplift across HR and leaders.

• How do you build ER capability in leaders and HRBPs?

• What’s your philosophy for balancing commercial outcomes with employee fairness?

• Tell me about the most complex EBA you’ve negotiated. What was the commercial risk, what strategies did you deploy?

• Give an example of a time you navigated a major industrial dispute or threat of protected action. How did you mitigate operational and reputational risk?

• Describe a time you had to challenge the CEO or Board on an ER/IR risk they underestimated. How did you present the risk, influence the decision, and ensure the business took action?

• Describe your approach to building and maintaining constructive union relationships, especially during tense bargaining or organisational change.

L&OD

L&OD Coordinator

Focus: logistics and coordination, LMS and systems support, data accuracy, participant and facilitator experience, and vendor management.

• Talk me through an L&D program you coordinated. What were your responsibilities, and how did you ensure everything ran smoothly?

• How do you ensure facilitator, participant, and venue/materials logistics are all aligned for successful delivery?

• What steps do you take to ensure accuracy when managing attendance records, evaluations, or LMS data?

• What experience do you have working with an LMS? What were your responsibilities?

• Tell me about a time you had to troubleshoot a technical issue for a learner or facilitator. What was your approach?

• Describe your experience working with external vendors or training providers.

• Tell me about the metrics you’ve tracked for L&D programs. What did you report on?

• Describe a time you took initiative to improve a process or streamline coordination.
  L&OD Advisor / Business Partner
  Focus: capability diagnosis, program and intervention design, facilitation, measuring impact, influencing leaders, and partnering with HRBPs to embed learning and OD.
  Capability Needs

• Describe a capability need you identified. How did you diagnose it, and what solution did you implement?

• Describe a time you used diagnostics such as engagement insights, capability assessments, or leadership 360 data to shape an L&OD intervention. What insights did you draw and what did you do with them?

• Talk me through an L&OD initiative you led that improved capability or performance. What business problem were you solving, and what changed as a result?

• How do you encourage a culture of continuous learning rather than one-off programs?

• How do you embed OD or L&D work so it continues after the workshop, training, or intervention ends?
  Measuring Impact

• How do you measure whether training actually landed? What indicators do you look for at individual, team, and organisational levels?

• Tell me about a time you evaluated a learning initiative and discovered it wasn’t having the intended impact. What did you change?

• How do you translate L&D outcomes into business-relevant metrics leaders care about?
  Influencing

• Describe a time you had to influence a leader who didn’t initially see the value in an L&OD initiative. How did you bring them on board?

• How do you make learning accessible and relevant for diverse learner groups (frontline, corporate, leaders, remote teams)?

• Tell me about a time you built a business case for an L&D or OD initiative. What data, risks, and commercial outcomes did you use to gain approval?

• Describe a time you delivered an L&OD project within tight resources or budget constraints. How did you maximise impact?
  Collaboration

• Describe a time you partnered with HR Business Partners to embed an L&OD or OD intervention. How did you ensure consistency across different leaders or business units?

• How do you work with HRBPs to identify capability gaps before they become business risks?
  Facilitation and delivery

• What’s your facilitation style, and how do you adapt it for different audiences?

• Describe a workshop you’ve facilitated that required you to shift participant mindset or behaviour in the moment. What did you do?

L&OD Manager / Head of L&OD

Focus: enterprise learning and OD strategy, leadership and culture, ELT and board influence, capability frameworks, and measuring commercial impact of capability work.

• How have you built, led, or uplifted an L&OD function?

• Walk us through a learning or capability strategy you’ve built. What business problem was it solving, what levers did you use, and how did you measure enterprise impact?

• How do you ensure the L&OD strategy remains aligned to evolving business priorities, especially during periods of growth, transformation, or disruption?

• Talk me through a cultural or behavioural shift you led.

• Describe your approach to influencing the ELT on capability, culture, or leadership issues. Can you give an example where your insights changed a major decision?

• How do you demonstrate the commercial value of L&OD initiatives to the ELT? What metrics or insights do you use to show genuine business impact?

• How have you built or used capability frameworks to drive performance, leadership maturity, and succession readiness across the business?

Talent Acquisition

TA Coordinator / TA Advisor

Focus: high volume coordination, process and systems, candidate experience, sourcing support, and stakeholder communication.

• How do you manage competing priorities during high-volume recruitment periods? Give an example of how you organised your workload.

• Describe your approach to juggling admin tasks (screening, scheduling, reference checks, offers) while keeping candidates moving through the process.

• Tell me about a great candidate experience moment you created. What made it meaningful or memorable?

• How do you maintain strong candidate communication and engagement when you’re working across multiple processes?

• Give me an example of a time you improved a recruitment process. What problem were you solving and what impact did it have?

• Describe a niche role that you’ve filled, what sourcing strategies did you use and how did you approach the search?

• Tell me about a time you struggled to find talent. What did you try next?

• Tell me about a time you supported a hiring manager who was unclear or inconsistent about what they wanted. How did you get clarity?

• Describe a time something went wrong at the offer or contract stage. What happened and how did you fix it?

• What ATS have you used and what were your responsibilities within it?

TA Business Partner

Focus: strategic partnering with leaders, hiring manager capability uplift, EVP activation, data insight, and improving TA processes and maturity.

Hiring manager capability and partnership:

• How do you manage hiring manager capability and uplift? Can you give an example where your coaching changed the quality of hiring outcomes?

• Describe a time you pushed back on a hiring manager’s expectations (role level, salary, speed, candidate fit). How did you influence the outcome?

• Tell me about a time you built credibility with a hiring manager who was sceptical of TA. What shifted the relationship?

• Talk me through your approach when a hiring manager isn’t aligned on what ‘good’ looks like. How do you recalibrate the role brief?
  Data and metrics

• What metrics do you track and why? How do you use them to influence stakeholders or improve decision making?

• Tell me about a time data changed the way you or the business approached recruitment.

• How do you use pipeline data to proactively identify talent risks?
  EVP and talent strategy

• Tell me about a time you helped shape or create an EVP. What data or insights did you use to understand what employees valued most?

• Describe a time you updated or refreshed recruitment collateral to better reflect the organisation’s EVP. What changes did you make and why?

• How do you ensure the EVP isn’t just words on a page? Can you share an example of embedding EVP into the day-to-day candidate experience?
  Elevating TA

• Describe your role in building TA maturity across an organisation. What frameworks, processes, or cultural shifts did you drive?

• How do you position TA as a strategic partner rather than a transactional function?

TA Manager

Focus: leading and developing the TA team, TA strategy execution, workforce planning input, operational excellence, and function-wide process and technology uplift.

• Tell me about your approach to leading and developing a TA team. What do you prioritise first when you take over a new team?

• How do you manage performance within a TA team. Both high performers and those who need more guidance?

• Walk me through a TA strategy you built. What were the business drivers, and what outcomes did you achieve?

• Describe your approach to workforce planning and how it influences your TA strategy.

• Describe a major process improvement you led in TA. What problem did it solve and what measurable improvement occurred?

• Tell me about a time you completely redesigned a recruitment process from end-to-end. What were the outcomes?

• What metrics do you use to measure the effectiveness of the TA function, and how do you report these to the business?

• Describe a time you inherited a TA function with issues (poor candidate experience, slow turnaround, low capability). How did you turn it around?

• What ATS or recruitment technologies have you implemented or optimised? What was the business impact?
  Head of Talent
  Focus: enterprise talent strategy, workforce planning, EVP and employer brand at scale, TA operating model design, and advising the ELT on talent risk and future capability.

• Tell me about a time you transformed TA from a transactional function to a strategic partner. What levers did you pull?

• Walk us through a talent strategy you’ve built at enterprise level. What future capability needs were you solving for, and how did you align it to business strategy?

• How do you anticipate future talent risks (skills shortages, market shifts, workforce demographics), and what long-term strategies have you put in place to mitigate them?

• How do you engage Finance, HRBPs, and ELT stakeholders in the workforce planning process to ensure alignment and accountability?

• How do you build an enterprise-wide EVP and ensure it is embedded consistently across sourcing, assessment, hiring manager behaviour, and onboarding?

• Describe a difficult conversation you had with the CEO/ELT around talent risk, structure or capability. How did you influence the outcome?

• How do you position TA as a strategic partner at an executive level?

• How do you manage talent strategy in environments of rapid change, hyper-growth, or organisational restraint?

• What do you see as the biggest future challenges in talent acquisition, and how are you preparing your teams and strategies for them?
  
  

Remuneration & Benefits

Junior – Mid Level

Focus: data analysis and modelling basics, job evaluation support, policy and process administration, compliance, and partnering with HR and Finance on core rem activities.

• What experience do you have with Excel or other data analysis tools for rem purposes? Can you provide an example of a what data analysis you've performed?

• How would you explain a compensation policy or decision to an employee who doesn’t understand or agree with it?

• Can you share your experience with job evaluation tools, such as Mercer, KornFerry, Hay Group, and how you've utilised them in your previous roles? (Erica, Job evaluation tools are crucial for helping companies figure out the grading of different roles, making sure everyone’s pay is fair and consistent across the board. I will explain more tomorrow)

• Can you share an experience where you worked on implementing a new compensation policy? How did you communicate this to the business and what was your role in this?

• What types of data analysis have you performed in the context of compensation and rewards? How did you ensure accuracy in your findings?

• What types of people data and analytics have you managed and reported on in your previous roles (An example here might be the WGEA reporting, equity plans, sales incentives, exec rem and then you have your general people data)

• How would you ensure compliance with both organisational policies and Australian laws regarding pay?

• Can you describe a time when you had to collaborate with other departments, such as finance or HR, to ensure the alignment of remuneration and reward strategies?

Mid – Senior

Focus: complex modelling and analysis, reward governance, incentive and variable pay design, executive reward support, and influencing senior stakeholders on pay decisions and risk.

• Tell me about a time you advised the business on a complex remuneration issue (e.g. compression, retention risk, market movement, equity concerns). What analysis did you do and what recommendation did you make?

• What’s your approach to ensuring remuneration decisions are consistent, defensible, and aligned to governance frameworks?

• Describe your involvement in incentive design or management (sales incentives, STI, retention bonuses). What inputs do you consider and how do you model scenarios?

• Can you share a time you identified an issue within an incentive plan (e.g. unintended outcomes, incorrect modelling, lack of alignment to KPIs)? How did you resolve it?

• What’s the most complex remuneration analysis or model you’ve built? What were the assumptions, risks, and business decisions it supported?

• Tell me about a time you used data to influence a senior leader’s decision in remuneration or reward. What worked?

• What experience do you have supporting or preparing executive remuneration changes, benchmarking, or papers?

• Tell me about a time you identified a compliance, equal pay, or governance risk within remuneration. What steps did you take to address it?

• Tell me about a time you identified a compliance, equal pay, or governance risk within remuneration. What steps did you take to address it?