5 Common HR Generalist Interview Questions & Answers

In my last job, I was HR generalist for a construction company. I was faced with the responsibility to create policies for the safety of the company’s truck drivers based on the data the HR department had gathered. By carefully assessing the statistics from our own company and comparing them with the numbers from similar sized corporations, I realized that we could make major improvements in safety by increasing driver’s safety training for all truck drivers. I presented this data and suggestion to the CEOs and am happy to report that after they implemented increased driver training, the number of traffic and other accidents declined dramatically.

Generally speaking, the labor laws are the regulations and mandates that protect employee safety and health and manage the policies that affect benefits, leave, and wages. The Fair Labor Standards Act deals with the standards for wages and overtime pay. Occupational Safety and Health Administration programs give guidelines for workplace safety and health. Worker’s Compensation laws affect the compensation for disability or death caused by work-related injuries or illnesses. These are some of the labor laws I am responsible to see that the company is in compliance with as HR generalist.

A few years ago, I noticed that one of the bright managers in my company was starting to lose interest in her position, and her performance suffered considerably. As the HR generalist, I reached out to her to discover what might be causing the lapse in performance. I encouraged her boss to offer more one-on-one training and support, and we also increased company-wide seasonal incentives. After focusing on helping meet this manager’s personal career goals by giving her more freedom to direct her responsibilities, we saw her revive as a manager and go on to encourage the employees under her to be their best. I feel that my HR interventions are directly responsible for her continued success.

In my current job, I am responsible for keeping the records of over 100 employees. With regard to payroll and hours, I ensure accuracy by applying the following practices: I methodically deal with one department at a time. This helps me ensure that I apply each pay grade to the proper employee. Then, I always work through the files alphabetically and keep to dealing with one person’s files at a time. When I complete one set of records, I move on to the next only after thoroughly reviewing and saving the first set. By staying organized in my approach, I have a very good history of accuracy in all record keeping matters.

Dissatisfied employees usually have a reason for their dissatisfaction. I do my best to understand the personality types of all the employees I work with, and I use the information I obtain from the various personality tests and training exercises I implement to help me reach employees on an individual level. Then, I try to understand the reason that a particular employee isn’t happy. If there is something that I can do to insulate that individual from further damage, I do it. Then, I work to improve the employees’ experiences and remind them why they wanted their current jobs in the first place. With careful attention, most employees can return to satisfied and productive status.