HR and Recruitment Interview Questions and Answers: 60 Questions from Easy to Hard
This guide is for freshers and MBA HR students in India preparing for HR executive, recruiter and talent acquisition interviews, and for HR professionals with a few years of experience moving into HR operations, HR business partner or technical recruiting roles. It has 60 questions with model answers in three levels: the basics, the day-to-day work of the first few years, and senior topics such as workforce planning, compliance cases and HR analytics. Every amount (PF, ESI, gratuity, notice pay, F&F) has been calculated, and every statutory rate or limit is given as an assumption in the question, because these change; check the current figures before using them at work. Answer each question aloud first, then compare with the model answer.
- 60 questions, 3 levels
- Updated
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- 3,088 open HR jobs
What HR and recruitment interviews cover
- Recruitment: requisitions, job descriptions, sourcing and Boolean search, screening, interviews, offers and joining, and the metrics used to run them.
- HR operations: employee master data, attendance and leave, payroll inputs, letters, onboarding and the HRMS that holds it all.
- Statutory basics: PF, ESI, gratuity, bonus and professional tax, usually asked as a calculation with the rates given in the question.
- The rest of the employee life cycle: performance reviews, engagement, exits, F&F settlements and POSH.
- For experienced roles: workforce planning, HR analytics, compliance calendars and sensitive cases such as absconding or a complaint against a senior leader.
How to prepare (freshers and experienced)
- Freshers: learn the recruitment cycle end to end and be ready to explain CTC, gross and net pay with a simple salary breakup.
- Practise the PF, ESI, gratuity, notice pay and F&F calculations on paper until each takes a few minutes, and always say which rate you assumed.
- Experienced: prepare three or four STAR stories with numbers, such as roles closed, time to fill, offer-to-join ratio or an attrition problem you fixed.
- Read the current rates, limits and rules on official sources (EPFO, ESIC, the state labour department) just before the interview, because they change and outdated figures are noticed.
- Know one ATS or HRMS well enough to describe the reports you used and how you kept the data clean.
Common mistakes and interview-day tips
- Quoting a statutory rate or limit from memory as if it never changes. Say "assuming a rate of ..." and show the method.
- Saying that HR investigates POSH complaints. The Internal Committee does; HR supports the process and acts on its recommendations.
- Talking only about the number of profiles sourced. Interviewers want conversion, joiners and how long the hires stayed.
- Sharing confidential details from a past employer, such as names in a disciplinary case or salary data. Describe cases without identifying anyone.
- Not asking anything at the end. Ask about hiring volumes, the HRMS in use and how success in the role is measured.
HR and Recruitment interview questions: Easy questions (freshers)
20 questions1. Walk me through the recruitment cycle, from a hiring request to the employee's first day.
It starts with a manpower requisition that the business approves against budget and headcount. HR then agrees the job description and must-have skills with the hiring manager, sources candidates, screens resumes, holds screening calls and runs the interview rounds. The selected candidate gets an offer after a pay discussion and approvals, then background checks and document collection, and HR stays in touch through the notice period until joining. Onboarding closes the cycle. A common fresher mistake is to describe only sourcing and interviews.
2. What should a good job description contain, and how is it different from a job specification?
A job description says what the role does: title, team and reporting line, location and work mode, the purpose of the role, key responsibilities and how success is measured. A job specification describes the person: qualifications, experience, and must-have and good-to-have skills. Most postings combine both. A good JD is short, specific and honest about the work, so the right people apply and the wrong ones filter themselves out. A long wish list of skills and vague lines such as "dynamic go-getter" lower the quality of applications.
3. What are the main sourcing channels for hiring in India, and how do you choose between them?
The usual channels are job portals and their resume databases, LinkedIn, employee referrals, the company careers page, campus hiring, recruitment agencies, social media and community groups, and past applicants already in the ATS. The choice depends on the role and the urgency. Volume roles such as customer support fill well through portals, walk-in drives and referrals; freshers come from campus drives; niche or senior roles often need direct headhunting or an agency. Track which channel gives hires who stay, not just which gives the most applications.
4. Explain AND, OR, NOT, quotes and brackets in a Boolean search, using a search for Java developers.
AND narrows the search, because every term must appear. OR widens it to any of the terms, so it is used for synonyms and spelling variants such as Bengaluru and Bangalore. NOT removes profiles containing a term, here interns and trainees. Quotes keep words together as an exact phrase, and brackets group the OR terms so the logic is read the way you meant. Without brackets, a mix of AND and OR can return very different results. The exact syntax differs a little between LinkedIn, Google and each job portal, so check the help page of the tool.
("java developer" OR "java engineer")
AND ("spring boot" OR microservices)
AND (Pune OR Bengaluru OR Bangalore)
NOT (intern OR trainee)5. What do you check in the first screening call with a candidate?
First confirm interest in the role and that the resume is accurate: the current role, key skills, and the projects or targets the person actually handled. Then check practical fit: notice period and whether it can be bought out, current location and willingness to relocate or work from the office, current and expected pay, and offers already in hand. Note the reasons for past job changes. End by explaining the next steps and the timeline. Skipping the practical checks is a common mistake that loses candidates later, at the offer stage.
6. What is a structured interview, and how does the STAR method help in one?
In a structured interview every candidate for a role gets the same core questions, linked to the skills the job needs, and is rated on the same scale with written notes. It is fairer and predicts job performance better than a free-flowing chat, because candidates are compared on the same evidence. The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) helps candidates give a complete answer to a behavioural question such as "Tell me about a time you closed a hard role", and helps the interviewer probe what the person did personally.
7. What is the difference between time to fill and time to hire? Work both out for the dates shown.
Time to fill measures the whole process from the approved requisition, so it shows how long the team waited: 1 July to 18 August is 48 days. Time to hire starts when the selected candidate entered the pipeline, so it shows how fast the recruiter moved once the right person was found: 21 July to 18 August is 28 days. Some companies end both at the joining date instead, which here adds 56 days of notice period. Agree the definition before comparing recruiters or teams, because the same hire can give very different numbers.
Requisition approved 01-Jul-2025
Candidate applied 21-Jul-2025
Offer accepted 18-Aug-2025
Candidate joined 13-Oct-20258. What is the difference between an offer letter and an appointment letter?
An offer letter comes first and states the role, location, pay, expected joining date and conditions such as background verification and document checks. The candidate accepts it in writing or by e-sign. The appointment letter is issued on or after joining and is the fuller contract of employment: probation, notice period, leave, working hours, confidentiality and other terms, often with a detailed salary annexure. The two must match what was agreed; a mismatch in pay or notice terms is a common cause of disputes later.
9. What is the difference between onboarding and induction, and what should happen in a new employee's first week?
Induction is the orientation on day one: the company, its policies and introductions. Onboarding is the longer process, from offer acceptance to the end of the first few months, that makes the person productive and settled. In week one the laptop, email, ID card and HRMS login should be ready on the first day, documents and statutory forms are completed, the manager explains the goals for the first 30 days, and a buddy helps with the unwritten rules. A poor first week is a common cause of early exits.
10. What is employee master data, and why must HR keep it accurate?
Master data is the core record of each employee in the HRMS: employee code, name, date of joining, designation, department, manager, location, salary structure, bank account, PAN, UAN, ESI number and nominee details. Payroll, attendance, leave, statutory filings, letters and reports all read from it, so one wrong entry spreads: a wrong joining date changes gratuity service, and a wrong bank account sends salary to the wrong person. Changes should need a document or approval and leave an audit trail, and access should be limited because the data is personal.
11. Explain CTC, gross salary and net take-home pay using the breakup shown. Assume employer and employee PF at 12% of basic, a gratuity provision of basic x 15/26 / 12, professional tax of Rs 200, TDS of Rs 1,500, and that ESI does not apply.
CTC is the employer's total cost for the person, so it includes items the employee does not get in hand, such as the employer's PF and a gratuity provision. Gross salary is CTC minus those items: here 50,000 less 2,400 and 962 leaves 46,638. Net take-home is gross minus the employee's own deductions, here PF, professional tax and TDS, which leaves 42,538. Candidates often compare offers on CTC alone; a good recruiter also explains the in-hand amount, so the first payslip holds no surprises.
Monthly CTC 50,000
Employer PF (12% of basic) 2,400
Gratuity provision 962
Gross salary 46,638
Basic 20,000
HRA 8,000
Special allowance 18,638
Less employee PF 2,400
Less professional tax 200
Less TDS 1,500
Net take-home 42,53812. What are PF and ESI, and how are the monthly amounts worked out? Assume PF at 12% each from employee and employer on basic pay, ESI at 0.75% (employee) and 3.25% (employer) of gross, and ESI only for gross pay up to Rs 21,000 a month.
Provident Fund is a retirement savings scheme run by EPFO: both sides contribute a share of basic pay plus DA, and part of the employer's share goes to the pension scheme. ESI is a health and cash-benefit insurance scheme run by ESIC for lower-paid employees, with contributions on gross wages. With the assumed rates, Kavya pays 1,440 PF and 142.50 ESI, and the employer adds 1,440 PF and 617.50 ESI. Arjun's gross is above the assumed ESI limit, so only PF applies.
Employee Basic Gross PF each side ESI emp ESI employer
Kavya 12,000 19,000 1,440 142.50 617.50
Arjun 25,000 48,000 3,000 nil nil13. Who is eligible for gratuity, and how is it calculated? Assume a formula of last drawn basic plus DA x 15/26 for each year of service, a minimum of 5 years' service except on death or disablement, a part year over six months counting as a full year, and a ceiling of Rs 20 lakh.
Gratuity is a lump sum paid on leaving after long service: on resignation, retirement or termination after the minimum service, and on death or disablement without that condition. Rahul has last drawn basic plus DA of 42,000 and 7 years 8 months of service; the 8 months count as a year, so his gratuity is 42,000 x 15/26 x 8 = 1,93,846.15. With 7 years 5 months it would be only 7 years, or 1,69,615.38. The 15/26 comes from 15 days of wages for each year, taking a month as 26 working days.
14. What is professional tax, and how much does an employee pay in a year under this assumed state slab: nil up to Rs 7,500 a month, Rs 175 from Rs 7,501 to 10,000, and Rs 200 above Rs 10,000, with Rs 300 instead of Rs 200 in February?
Professional tax is a state tax on people earning from a profession, trade or employment. The employer deducts it from salary and deposits it with the state, and may need its own registration as well. Slabs, due dates and even whether the tax exists differ by state, and the Constitution caps the yearly amount a state may charge. Under the assumed slab, an employee earning 35,000 a month pays 200 for eleven months and 300 in February, or 2,500 for the year. Payroll must use the slab of the state where the person works, not where the head office is.
15. What is the difference between a KRA and a KPI? Give examples for a recruiter.
A KRA, or key result area, is a broad area the role is responsible for. A KPI, or key performance indicator, is the measurable target that shows how well that area is done. For a recruiter, one KRA is closing open positions, with KPIs such as 8 joiners a quarter and a time to fill under 45 days. Another KRA is candidate quality, measured by the share of hires who clear probation. A third is hiring manager satisfaction, measured by a short survey score. Keep KPIs few, measurable and largely within the person's control.
16. What is employee engagement, and how do companies measure it?
Engagement is how committed people are to their work and the organisation: whether they put in extra effort, recommend the company and plan to stay. It is not the same as happiness or perks. Companies measure it with a yearly survey and short pulse surveys, the employee net promoter score, and behaviour data such as voluntary attrition, absenteeism and internal referrals. The follow-up matters more than the survey: share results with teams, pick two or three actions and report progress. A survey with no visible action lowers trust.
17. What is a full and final (F&F) settlement, and what does it include?
F&F is the last account between the employer and a leaving employee. The payable side has salary for the days worked in the last month, encashment of eligible leave, pending reimbursements, bonus or incentives due under the policy, and gratuity if the person qualifies. The recovery side has any notice shortfall, outstanding loans or advances, unreturned assets, and statutory deductions such as PF and TDS. HR first collects clearances from IT, admin, finance and the manager. The statement should show every line, so the employee can check it.
18. What is the difference between a relieving letter and an experience letter, and when are they issued?
A relieving letter confirms that the employee resigned and was relieved from duty on a stated date, with no pending obligations. A new employer often asks for it as proof that the person has left. An experience letter, or service certificate, confirms the period of employment and the last designation, and sometimes the role. Both are usually issued after clearance, on or after the last working day. Issue them on time and keep them factual; holding them back to pressure someone in a dispute is risky and should not happen without legal advice.
19. The POSH Act, 2013 requires an employer with 10 or more employees to set up an Internal Committee. What else must the employer do?
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 makes the employer responsible for prevention, not only for handling complaints. Besides forming the committee at each office or unit, the employer must have a written policy, display the consequences of harassment and the committee details, run awareness sessions for staff and training for committee members, give the committee the support it needs, act on its recommendations, and report the number of cases in its annual report. The workplace includes travel and work events.
20. How do you calculate the attrition rate? A team started the quarter with 480 people, ended it with 520, and 36 people left during the quarter.
Attrition rate is the number of leavers in a period divided by the average headcount for that period, times 100. The average headcount here is (480 + 520) / 2 = 500, so the quarterly attrition is 36 / 500 x 100 = 7.2%. Multiplying by four gives an annualised rate of about 28.8%, which is easier to compare with yearly figures. Report voluntary and involuntary exits separately, and look at exits within the first 90 days on their own, because they usually point to a hiring or onboarding problem rather than pay.
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HR and Recruitment interview questions: Medium questions (1-3 years)
20 questions21. What is X-ray search, and how would you use it to find data engineers in Hyderabad?
X-ray search uses a general search engine to search inside one website, here public LinkedIn profile pages, with the site: operator. It helps when a recruiting tool's own search is limited or costly. In Google, OR must be in capitals, quotes keep a phrase together, and a minus sign excludes a word instead of NOT. Excluding jobs and hiring removes job posts and recruiter profiles. It finds only public profiles that the search engine has indexed, so it adds to the job portals rather than replacing them. Respect each site's terms of use.
site:linkedin.com/in ("data engineer" OR "big data engineer")
(spark OR databricks) Hyderabad -jobs -hiring22. How do you run an intake meeting with a hiring manager for a backend Java developer role?
The aim is to turn "we need a good Java developer" into a clear profile. Ask what the person will build in the first six months, the must-have skills (for example Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs and SQL) versus the ones that can be learnt on the job (Kafka, a particular cloud), years and kind of experience, team size, the interview rounds and panel, the budget band and how long a notice period is acceptable. Agree on the kind of companies to source from and review a few sample profiles together. Fix feedback turnaround times before you close.
23. A selected candidate has a 90-day notice period. How do you reduce the risk that they do not join?
Start before the offer: ask whether they are interviewing elsewhere, how they would respond to a counter-offer, and whether part of the notice can be bought out or shortened. After acceptance, keep regular and useful contact: a call from the hiring manager, an invite to a team meeting or event, and joining formalities spread over the weeks. Watch for warning signs such as slow replies, repeated requests to move the date, or questions about points already settled. Keep a backup candidate warm until the person has actually joined.
24. Which interviewer biases do you watch for, and how do scorecards reduce them?
Common ones are the halo effect, where one strong point colours the whole rating; similarity bias, favouring people like the interviewer; first-impression bias; the contrast effect, rating a candidate against the previous one instead of the standard; and confirmation bias, looking only for evidence that supports an early opinion. A scorecard lists the skills to assess, a rating scale with examples and space for evidence. Interviewers rate on their own before discussing, so the loudest voice does not decide. HR should also track pass rates by interviewer.
25. Work out the cost per hire for the quarter shown, and the fee cost per hire for agency and referral hires. The quarter had 40 hires, 12 of them through agencies and 8 through referrals.
Cost per hire is the total recruiting cost, internal and external, divided by the number of hires: 12,40,000 / 40 = 31,000. By source, agency hires cost 4,80,000 / 12 = 40,000 each in fees alone, and referral hires 1,20,000 / 8 = 15,000 each in bonuses. The source figures leave out shared costs, so use them to compare channels, not as full costs. A low cost per hire is not good on its own; read it with time to fill and with how long the hires stay. Leaving out internal costs such as the team's time is a common mistake.
Agency fees 4,80,000
Job portal subscriptions 1,50,000
Referral bonuses 1,20,000
Assessment tool 60,000
Recruiting team cost (share) 3,90,000
Candidate travel 40,000
Total 12,40,00026. Read this hiring funnel for a customer support drive. Where would you act first?
Each stage is divided by the one before it. Only 30% of shortlisted people were interviewed, which points to slow scheduling, no-shows or weak screening calls. Offer acceptance is 72%, but only 15 of the 25 offers, or 60%, became joiners, so 3 of the 18 who accepted never joined. Overall it took 80 applicants for each joiner. I would fix the offer-to-join gap first, because those candidates had cleared every round and losing them wastes the most effort, and then the interview drop-off.
Stage Count Conversion
Applied 1,200
Shortlisted 300 25.0%
Interviewed 90 30.0%
Offered 25 27.8%
Accepted 18 72.0%
Joined 15 83.3%27. What does a background verification check, and what do you do if a discrepancy shows up after joining?
A background verification usually checks identity, address, education and past employment with dates and designation, and depending on the role a criminal record check, a credit check or references. Take the candidate's written consent and collect only what the role needs. If a discrepancy appears after joining, do not act at once: ask the employee to explain and share documents, separate honest errors from deliberate falsification, and follow the policy and the condition in the offer or appointment letter. Record the decision and keep the report confidential.
28. Which statutory and payroll details do you collect from a new joiner, and how do you handle an existing PF account?
Collect PAN, bank details, the identity and address proofs the policy needs, nominee details, and the EPF declaration form (Form 11), which records an existing UAN and past employment. If the person already has a UAN, link the new membership to it instead of creating another, and ask them to transfer the old balance so their service stays continuous. If ESI applies, register them and share their insurance number. Store identity documents securely, mask Aadhaar numbers where the rules require it, and collect nothing the role does not need.
29. What are the usual leave types, and how do leave and attendance feed into payroll?
Common types are casual leave for short personal needs, sick leave, earned or privilege leave that builds up with service and may be carried forward or encashed, maternity and other statutory leave, and compensatory off. The policy sets accrual, carry-forward limits, encashment and approvals, within what the applicable shops and establishments or factories law requires. Each month attendance and approved leave close at a cut-off date; an absence without leave balance becomes loss of pay (LOP) and cuts paid days. Late approvals cause most salary corrections.
30. Payroll pays on calendar days. Priya joins on 12 September 2025 with a monthly gross of Rs 36,000, and Rohan, on Rs 46,500, has 2 LOP days in October 2025. What are their salaries for the month?
With calendar days, the daily rate is the monthly gross divided by the days in that month. September has 30 days and Priya is paid from the 12th to the 30th, which is 19 days, so 22,800. October has 31 days, so Rohan's 2 LOP days cost 3,000 and he gets 43,500. Some companies always divide by 30, or by 26 working days, which changes the result, as the 3,100 line shows. The method must be written in the policy and used the same way every month. Statutory deductions are then worked out on the earned amounts.
Priya: 36,000 / 30 x 19 days = 22,800
Rohan: 46,500 - (46,500 / 31 x 2) = 46,500 - 3,000 = 43,500
If the policy used a fixed 30 days:
Rohan: 46,500 / 30 x 2 = 3,100 LOP31. What inputs do you send to payroll each month, and which errors do you check for before the run?
Inputs are new joiners and exits with dates, attendance and LOP, approved leave, salary revisions and promotions with effective dates, arrears, variable pay or incentives, overtime where it applies, reimbursements, loan or advance recoveries, and tax declarations. Before the run, compare headcount and total payroll with last month and explain every large change, confirm that leavers are stopped and joiners added, and look for duplicate bank accounts or zero-pay cases. A maker-checker approval on changes catches most errors before salaries go out.
32. Assume PF at 12% from the employee and 12% from the employer on actual basic, with 8.33% of a Rs 15,000 wage ceiling going to the pension scheme (EPS). For basic pay of Rs 25,000, how is the employer's share split?
The employee's 3,000 goes fully to the EPF account. The employer's 3,000 is split: the pension share is capped by the wage ceiling, so only about 1,250 goes to EPS and the remaining 1,750 to EPF. EDLI and admin charges are paid by the employer as separate items. Many companies pay PF on basic capped at the ceiling instead, which makes each side 1,800; paying on actual basic is a policy choice that must be applied consistently and shown clearly in the offer. Mixing the two methods across employees is a common audit finding.
Employee PF 12% of 25,000 = 3,000
Employer PF 12% of 25,000 = 3,000
to EPS 8.33% of 15,000 = 1,249.50 ~ 1,250
to EPF 3,000 - 1,250 = 1,75033. Assume ESI covers gross pay up to Rs 21,000 a month, at 0.75% from the employee and 3.25% from the employer, with contribution periods of April to September and October to March. Neha earns Rs 20,000 in April and gets a raise to Rs 22,500 from July. What happens to her ESI?
Coverage follows the contribution period. Neha was covered when the April period began, so she stays covered until it ends on 30 September, even after her pay crosses the limit. For July to September, contributions are on her actual 22,500: 168.75 from her and 731.25 from the employer each month. From October, the start of the next period, she is out of ESI because her wage is above the limit. Stopping ESI in July is a common mistake: it leaves her without cover for the rest of the period and creates a compliance gap.
34. Assume the bonus law covers employees with basic plus DA up to Rs 21,000 a month who worked at least 30 days in the year, calculates bonus on the higher of Rs 7,000 or the minimum wage, and requires 8.33% to 20%. Suresh earns basic plus DA of Rs 15,000 all year and the minimum wage for his job is Rs 9,500. What is his bonus range?
Suresh is eligible, because his salary is within the assumed limit. The bonus is calculated on a capped salary, not his actual 15,000: the higher of 7,000 and the 9,500 minimum wage, so 9,500 a month or 1,14,000 for the year. The minimum bonus at 8.33% is 9,496.20 and the maximum at 20% is 22,800; where it falls depends on the allocable surplus worked out under the Act. Some employers pay it monthly with salary, but the payment must still meet the Act's conditions. Minimum wages and the limits change, so check the current figures.
35. How do you run a performance improvement plan (PIP) fairly?
A PIP should be a real chance to improve, not paperwork before an exit. Start from documented gaps against agreed goals, with examples. Set two to four specific, measurable targets for a fixed period, often 30 to 90 days, and state the support offered, such as training, closer coaching or clearer priorities. The manager holds weekly check-ins and writes short notes; HR checks that the targets are achievable and in line with what peers deliver. At the end, record the outcome: met, extended once, or further action under the policy.
36. What are the pros and cons of a forced distribution (bell curve) in appraisals, and what is calibration?
A forced distribution makes managers place fixed shares of people in each rating, such as 10% top, 70% middle and 20% low. It stops rating inflation and makes managers separate top performers, which matters when the increment budget is fixed. On the other hand, in a small or very strong team it forces unfair low ratings, it can hurt teamwork, and people chase rank instead of results. Calibration is a meeting where managers compare proposed ratings across teams against one standard and adjust outliers, with HR facilitating.
37. In a pulse survey of 240 employees, 96 scored 9 or 10, 84 scored 7 or 8 and 60 scored 0 to 6 when asked how likely they are to recommend the company as a place to work. What is the eNPS, and what would you do next?
eNPS is the percentage of promoters (9 or 10) minus the percentage of detractors (0 to 6); passives count in the total but not in the score. Promoters are 96/240 = 40% and detractors 60/240 = 25%, so the eNPS is +15 on a scale from -100 to +100. One number does not explain itself, so break it down by team, tenure and location, read the comments and compare with the last survey. Then share the result, pick a few fixes with owners and dates, and check them in the next pulse. Never report groups too small to keep answers anonymous.
38. Ananya has a 60-day notice period but asks to leave after 40 days. Policy recovers a shortfall at gross/30 per day and encashes earned leave at basic/30 per day. Her gross is Rs 54,000 a month, basic Rs 24,000, and she has 15 days of earned leave. What is the effect on her F&F?
She is 20 days short, which at 1,800 a day is a recovery of 36,000. Her 15 days of leave are encashed at 800 a day, or 12,000. Together these two items reduce her F&F by 24,000, before salary for the days worked and the other lines. Some policies let leave be adjusted against the shortfall, or let the manager waive part of it, and either needs written approval. If the company itself relieves her early, a recovery is normally not applied. Explain the figures to her before the last day so the settlement is no surprise.
Notice shortfall 60 - 40 = 20 days
Recovery 54,000 / 30 x 20 = 36,000
Leave encashment 24,000 / 30 x 15 = 12,000
Net effect on F&F = -24,00039. Under the POSH Act, 2013, a complaint is normally made within three months of the incident and the inquiry finished within 90 days. An employee tells you, the HR executive, about harassment by her manager. What do you do?
Listen, take it seriously and explain that the Internal Committee, not HR or the manager, handles the complaint. Help her file it in writing with the committee, which can also help her put it in writing if she cannot. Keep it confidential and share it only with the committee. During the inquiry she may ask the committee for interim relief, such as a transfer or a change in reporting line. HR supports the process, protects her from retaliation and acts on the committee's recommendations. Do not investigate yourself or push for an informal settlement.
40. The table shows hires in the first half of the year by source and how many left within 90 days. What does it tell you?
Exits within 90 days usually signal a hiring or onboarding problem, because few people leave that fast over pay or growth. Campus and referral hires stay best; agency hires leave at 30%, nearly double the 16% average. I would check whether agencies oversell the role or the pay, whether the replacement guarantees in their contracts were claimed, and the exit reasons by source. The numbers are small: 9 leavers out of 30 is a signal worth checking, not proof. Read it with cost per hire before cutting any channel.
Source Hires Left in 90 days Early attrition
Referral 40 4 10.0%
Job portal 80 16 20.0%
Agency 30 9 30.0%
Campus 50 3 6.0%
Total 200 32 16.0%Ready to check yourself? Take the free HR and Recruitment mock test
HR and Recruitment interview questions: Hard questions (experienced)
20 questions41. A Pune IT services firm needs 120 engineers to join within six months. Assume offer-to-join of 70%, interview-to-offer of 25%, screen-to-interview of 40%, two one-hour technical rounds per interviewed candidate, and 4 joiners a month per recruiter. How do you plan it?
Work backwards from joiners through the funnel: 172 offers, 688 candidates interviewed and 1,720 screened. That needs about 57 panel hours a week, so book the panel with the delivery heads up front, or interviews become the bottleneck. At 4 joiners per recruiter a month, 5 recruiters are needed. With 60 to 90 day notice periods, offers must peak in the first three months rather than spread evenly. Add a buffer in case the ratios slip, track the funnel every week, and move sourcing towards the channels that convert best.
Joiners needed 120
Offers = 120 / 0.70 172 (rounded up)
Interviewed = 172 / 0.25 688
Screened = 688 / 0.40 1,720
Panel hours = 688 x 2 1,376 (about 57 a week over 24 weeks)
Joiners a month = 120 / 6 20 -> 5 recruiters42. How would you design an employee referral programme, and what are its risks?
Referrals often bring faster and cheaper hires who settle in well, so make the programme easy and visible: a simple form in the HRMS, open roles shared every week, a quick acknowledgement, and status updates so referrers are not left guessing. Pay the bonus only after the hire completes a set period, such as 90 days, and set a higher bonus for hard roles. The risks are a less diverse workforce, since people refer people like themselves, pressure on interviewers to pass friends, and conflicts of interest. Keep the referrer off the panel.
43. Engineering managers complain that good candidates fail your technical rounds while weak hires get through. How do you redesign the assessment?
Start with data: pass rates by round and by interviewer, and how past hires performed against their interview scores. Then tie each round to the job, with a short work-sample task, a code review or a debugging exercise instead of puzzles unrelated to the role. Use a shared question bank and a scored rubric for each round, train new interviewers by shadowing, and recalibrate or replace interviewers whose pass rates are far out of line. Keep any take-home task to a few hours or experienced candidates drop out. Review the results every quarter.
44. How would you measure quality of hire? Build a simple index for two sources, weighting first-year rating 40%, 12-month retention 30% and hiring manager satisfaction 30%.
Quality of hire asks whether the people hired perform and stay, so it can only be measured months later. A practical index combines a few measures on a 0 to 100 scale: the first-year performance rating, the share still employed after 12 months, and the hiring manager's score at 90 days. With these weights, referral hires score 0.4 x 80 + 0.3 x 90 + 0.3 x 85 = 84.5 and agency hires 71.5. Keep the weights fixed for at least a year so trends mean something, and compare by source, recruiter and role family.
Source Rating score Retention Manager score Index
Referral 80 90% 85 84.5
Agency 70 70% 75 71.545. About 30% of accepted offers in your company end in no-shows on the joining date. How do you diagnose and fix it?
Treat it as a funnel problem and get data first. Split no-shows by role, notice period, source, recruiter and the pay hike offered, and call the people who dropped out to ask why. Common causes in India are counter-offers, a better offer during a long notice period, and a slow or impersonal pre-joining phase. Fixes include testing for counter-offer risk before the offer, faster offer turnaround, supporting a notice buyout for critical roles, a joining bonus with a clawback, and regular manager contact during the notice period.
46. A manager's draft JD for a sales role asks for "male candidates below 28, from a top college, with 12 skills". How do you fix it?
Explain the risk first: a men-only condition can breach the law against sex discrimination in recruitment, an age cap with no job reason is hard to defend, and both shrink the talent pool for no business reason. Ask what the job actually needs, such as daily field travel, a local language or a two-wheeler licence for city visits, and write those as requirements open to anyone who meets them. Replace "top college" with the skills that matter, cut the list to four or five must-haves, and use neutral language. Then watch whether the applicant pool changes.
47. Assume a company applies a wage rule like the one in the Code on Wages, 2019: wages are basic only, and if the excluded allowances exceed 50% of total pay, the excess is added back to wages. Monthly pay is basic Rs 20,000 plus allowances of Rs 30,000. What is the effect on PF at 12% and on gratuity for 10 years at 15/26?
The allowances are 5,000 over half of total pay, so wages rise from 20,000 to 25,000. If PF is paid on actual wages, each side's PF rises by 600 a month, and the gratuity for 10 years of service rises by about 28,846 per person. Within a fixed CTC the extra employer cost must come out of another component, so take-home pay falls unless the company absorbs it. HR should model this for every grade, explain it to employees, and confirm with legal which rules apply and from which date before changing any salary structure.
Total pay 50,000
Excluded allowances 30,000
50% of total pay 25,000
Excess added back 5,000
Wages for PF and gratuity 25,000
Employee PF at 12% 2,400 -> 3,000 a month
Gratuity, 10 years 1,15,384.62 -> 1,44,230.77 (+28,846.15)48. Your plant uses 60 housekeeping and security staff through a contractor. Assume the contract labour law applies to your site. What do you check as the principal employer?
The principal employer can be held liable if the contractor fails to pay wages, PF or ESI, so compliance cannot be left to the contract. Check that the site registration and the contractor licence are valid and cover the head count, that wages meet the notified minimum and are paid on time, and that the monthly PF and ESI challans and returns cover these exact workers. Keep copies, audit a sample of payslips every quarter, and add indemnity and audit clauses to the contract. Route day-to-day instructions through the contractor's supervisor.
49. Assume gratuity of last drawn basic plus DA x 15/26 per year, a part year over six months counting as a full year, and a ceiling of Rs 20 lakh. Work it out for Imran (joined 10 March 2016, left 30 September 2025, basic plus DA Rs 85,000) and for a senior manager with basic plus DA of Rs 3,20,000 and 15 years. When can gratuity be forfeited?
Imran's part year is over six months, so it counts as a tenth year: 4,90,384.62. The senior manager's formula amount is 27,69,230.77, but the assumed ceiling limits the statutory amount to 20 lakh; paying more is the company's own choice. Under the Act, gratuity can be forfeited only after termination for specific misconduct: to the extent of the loss caused by damage to the employer's property, or wholly or partly for riotous or violent conduct, or for an offence involving moral turpitude in the course of employment.
Imran: service 9 years 6 months 20 days -> 10 years
85,000 x 15/26 x 10 = 4,90,384.62
Manager: 3,20,000 x 15/26 x 15 = 27,69,230.77
capped at assumed ceiling = 20,00,00050. Prepare Vikram's F&F under these assumptions: last working day 20 October 2025, monthly gross Rs 72,000 and basic plus DA Rs 30,000, 12 days of leave encashed at basic/30, gratuity for 6 years at 15/26, an approved bonus of Rs 40,000, 10 days' notice shortfall at gross/30, a salary advance of Rs 15,000, PF at 12% of earned basic, professional tax of Rs 200 and TDS of Rs 18,000 as computed by payroll.
List every payable and every recovery separately with its basis, so the employee and an auditor can follow it. Here the payable side totals 2,02,297.77 and the recoveries 59,522.58, so the net is 1,42,775.19, usually rounded. Check the inputs first: the exact last working day, the leave balance in the HRMS, clearances from IT and admin, and whether gratuity is paid through the F&F or a separate trust. TDS must be worked out on the full year's income, not as a flat rate on the payout. Pay within the time the policy and the applicable law set.
Payable
Salary, 20 of 31 days 72,000 x 20/31 46,451.61
Leave encashment 30,000 / 30 x 12 12,000.00
Gratuity 30,000 x 15/26 x 6 1,03,846.15
Bonus 40,000.00
Total payable 2,02,297.77
Recoveries
Notice shortfall 72,000 / 30 x 10 24,000.00
Salary advance 15,000.00
Employee PF 12% of 19,354.84 2,322.58
Professional tax 200.00
TDS 18,000.00
Total recoveries 59,522.58
Net payable 1,42,775.1951. An employee has not come to work or answered calls for 12 days. The manager wants to mark him terminated and hold all his dues. How do you handle it?
Do not treat absence as a resignation automatically. First check for a genuine reason, such as a medical emergency, through his emergency contact. Then send written notices by email and post to his last known address, asking him to report or explain by a date, as the standing orders or policy require. If there is still no reply, follow the policy process, which may include an inquiry, before ending employment in writing. Earned dues such as salary for days worked cannot simply be withheld as a penalty; recoveries must follow policy and law. Document every step.
52. A business head wants a low performer out of the company by Friday. How do you respond as the HR business partner?
Separate the goal from the method. Ask for the evidence: goals that were set, reviews, feedback given, and whether a PIP or other support was offered. If the record is thin, a sudden exit is a legal and morale risk, and it may look like retaliation if the person recently raised a complaint. Options are a proper PIP with a clear end date, a role change, or a negotiated separation with a fair settlement. If ending employment is justified, follow the appointment letter terms on notice or pay in lieu, involve legal, and treat the person with dignity.
53. Under the POSH Act, 2013, the Internal Committee needs a senior woman employee as presiding officer, at least half its members women, and one external member. How do you handle a complaint against the managing director, and conflicts of interest on the committee?
Where the complaint is against the employer, the Act sends it to the Local Committee formed by the District Officer instead of the Internal Committee, since the internal committee would be judging the person it reports to. Whether a managing director counts as the employer depends on his role, so take legal advice and record the reasoning. For complaints against other senior leaders, any member who reports to or is close to either party should step aside for that case and be replaced. Choose an external member with no business ties to the company.
54. The increment budget is 8% of a Rs 5 crore fixed payroll. Managers propose 14% for the top-rated group (payroll Rs 60 lakh), 8% for the middle group (Rs 3.5 crore) and 3% for the low group (Rs 90 lakh). Is it within budget, and what else would you check?
The proposal costs 39,10,000, or 7.82% of payroll, leaving 90,000 of the 40,00,000 budget. The differentiation is reasonable: the top group gets nearly twice the middle. Next check position in the pay range with compa-ratios: a top performer paid well below the band midpoint may need more than 14%, while someone above the band maximum may get a one-time payment instead. Look for gaps by gender or team within the same rating, and keep the 90,000 for promotions and corrections. Tell managers the budget is an average, not a flat rate.
Group Payroll Increase Cost
Top 60,00,000 14% 8,40,000
Middle 3,50,00,000 8% 28,00,000
Low 90,00,000 3% 2,70,000
Total 5,00,00,000 39,10,000 (7.82%)
Budget at 8% 40,00,000
Headroom 90,00055. A business unit with an average headcount of 200 lost 30 people last year. 12 of them were among the 50 people rated top performers. How do you read this, and what do you do?
Overall attrition is 15%, but 12 of the 30 leavers, or 40%, were regretted losses, so regretted attrition is 6% of headcount. Among top performers it is 12 of 50, or 24%, double the 12% for everyone else. The unit is losing the people it most needs to keep. Check whether the exits cluster under a few managers, compare their pay and growth with the market, and read exit interviews with care, since people soften their reasons when leaving. Hold stay interviews with the remaining top performers now and give managers retention goals.
56. Leadership wants an attrition risk score for every employee. How would you build it responsibly?
Start from the decision it supports, such as which teams need stay interviews, not a label on individuals. Use data you already hold and may use for this purpose: tenure, time since the last promotion or raise, rating trend, manager changes, work-mode or location changes, and team-level survey scores. Test it on past data to see whether it predicts exits better than simple rules. Leave out gender, age, health and marital status, which add bias and legal risk. Limit access, follow the DPDP Act, 2023 on purpose and access, and never let a score alone block a promotion.
57. Read these hiring cohorts. What does cohort analysis show that a single attrition rate hides?
A cohort follows a group hired in the same period, so the effect of when and how people were hired is not mixed up with tenure. Here Q2 2024 keeps only 65% at 12 months, against 86% for Q3 2024. That points to something specific about Q2: perhaps a rushed bulk drive, a different source, a weak trainer or a new manager. A company-wide attrition rate would average it away. Next I would split Q2 by source, team and manager to find the cause. Recent cohorts need time before their 12-month figure is final, so do not compare them early.
Cohort Hires Still employed Still employed
at 6 months at 12 months
Q1 2024 60 51 (85%) 45 (75%)
Q2 2024 80 64 (80%) 52 (65%)
Q3 2024 50 46 (92%) 43 (86%)58. You are moving 1,500 employees from spreadsheets to an HRMS. Which controls do you put in place for HR data and payroll?
Clean the data before migrating: one employee code per person, verified joining dates, bank details, PAN, UAN and salary structures, and reconcile headcount and payroll totals with the old records. Run at least one parallel payroll and explain every difference before going live. In the HRMS, use role-based access so managers see only their teams and salary data stays restricted, a maker-checker approval for salary, bank and master data changes, and an audit trail of who changed what and when. Restrict exports of personal data and review access every quarter.
59. How would you build and run a statutory compliance calendar for an employer with offices in three states? Assume the due dates are those confirmed by your legal team.
List every obligation by law and by state, because professional tax, labour welfare fund and shops and establishments rules differ between states. For each item record the frequency, the due date confirmed by legal or a consultant, an owner and a backup owner, and the evidence that proves it was done. Review it monthly with a simple status of done, pending or late, and include a check on contractor compliance at each site. When a rule or date changes, update the calendar and note the source. A missed deposit can bring interest and damages.
Item Frequency Due (assumed) Owner Evidence
PF ECR and payment Monthly 15th Payroll Challan, ECR
ESI contribution Monthly 15th Payroll Challan
Professional tax By state As per state Payroll Challan, return
Labour welfare fund By state As per state HR Ops Receipt
POSH annual report Yearly As per rules IC / HR Copy filed60. A Bengaluru fintech will onboard 200 campus hires in one batch, and last year 18% of the batch left within 90 days. How would you redesign onboarding?
First find out why last year's batch left: exit calls, the manager and team of each leaver, and when in the 90 days they left. Then fix the whole path. Keep in touch from offer to joining, which can be months for campus hires, with useful content and a named contact. Run a short common induction, then move people into teams with ready managers, a buddy and a 30-60-90 day plan. Hold check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days, track attendance and early warning signs, and report 90-day attrition by team each month.
Practice questions for November 2026
New every month3 questions from the HR and Recruitment mock test, the way they appear in it. A new set comes on the 1st of every month. Pick your answer, then open it.
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A raise from Rs 40,000 to Rs 43,000 a month is effective from 1 April, but is first paid in the June payroll. What arrears are paid in June for April and May?
- Rs 6,000
- Rs 3,000
- Rs 86,000
- Rs 9,000
Show the answer
Answer: Rs 6,000. Arrears are the difference for the months already paid at the old rate: (43000 - 40000) x 2 = Rs 6,000. June itself is paid at the new rate, so it is not part of the arrears.
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A marketing partner asks HR for employees' phone numbers to promote a gym offer. Under data-protection principles such as those in India's DPDP Act, 2023, what is right?
- Share only with each employee's clear consent for that purpose, or not at all
- Share the numbers, but ask the partner to delete them within twelve months
- Share only the numbers of employees who have not opted out within the last year
- Share all numbers, since employees gave them to HR when they joined the company
Show the answer
Answer: Share only with each employee's clear consent for that purpose, or not at all. Data collected for employment should be used for employment purposes. Passing it to a third party for marketing is a new purpose, so it needs the person's specific consent. Silence or an opt-out is not consent, and a deletion promise does not make the sharing lawful.
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Which hiring method does research on selection generally find to predict job performance better than an unstructured interview?
- A handwriting analysis of the cover letter to judge the candidate's personality
- A ranking of candidates by the reputation of the colleges named on their resumes
- A long informal chat over lunch where the manager gets a general feel for the candidate
- A structured interview or a job-related work sample, scored against defined criteria
Show the answer
Answer: A structured interview or a job-related work sample, scored against defined criteria. Decades of selection research find structured interviews and work samples more valid than unstructured chats, because they test job behaviour consistently. Handwriting analysis has no valid link to job performance, and college prestige is a weak proxy.
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