Practice: HR question drill
50 min · Intermediate
Need help? Ask a tutor on WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)An HR round is mostly predictable questions, so preparation beats talent. This drill helps you practise every common question aloud, fix weak answers, and test yourself before the day.
Drill 1: 20 common HR questions
An answer outline is a few keywords that show the shape of an answer, such as present, past, future. You say it in your own words with your own true facts, so it never sounds memorised.
Here are the 20 common HR questions, each with an outline. Answer every one aloud and mark the ones where you hesitated.
Example 1 · 20 HR questions with answer outlines
1. Tell me about yourself. 11. A conflict with a teammate.2. Strengths? 12. A tight deadline.3. Weaknesses? 13. Showing leadership.4. Describe yourself in three words. 14. Criticism you received.5. Why this company? 15. Learning something quickly.6. Why should we hire you? 16. Willing to relocate / shifts?7. Where in five years? 17. Service agreement OK?8. What do you know about us? 18. Higher studies plans?9. Why this role? 19. Salary expectations?10. A time you failed. 20. Any questions for us?1 present-past-future, 60-90 s 11 STAR: listened, evidence, fair outcome 2 claim + example + result + link 12 STAR: prioritised, cut scope, informed others 3 real weakness + example + action 13 STAR: influence without title, numbers 4 3 words, each with a tiny example 14 STAR: accepted, changed, better result 5 specific company fact + your evidence 15 STAR: how, how fast, what you built 6 skills proven + quality + interest 16 honest preference + reason + flexibility 7 growth in skills and ownership 17 open; ask duration, exit amount, documents 8 what they build, recent fact, tech 18 truthful; experience first 9 role duties linked to your projects 19 campus: fixed band OK; off campus: researched range 10 STAR: real mistake, owned, habit 20 2 specific questions + next steps
What this code does
- Each outline is the structure taught in this module. Your answer fills it with your own facts; never memorise someone else's story.
- Questions 10-15 all use STAR, so one strong story bank covers six questions.
Cover the outline, answer aloud in under two minutes (the introduction in 60-90 seconds), then compare. The questions where you hesitated are the ones to write out and practise again.
How the 20 are grouped, with the lesson to revise:
- Introduction and self, questions 1-4. Revise: Tell me about yourself (opens in a new tab) and strengths and weaknesses (opens in a new tab).
- Motivation and fit, questions 5-9. Revise: why this company (opens in a new tab).
- Behavioural (STAR), questions 10-15. Revise: the STAR method (opens in a new tab).
- Constraints, offer and close, questions 16-20. Revise: relocation and bonds (opens in a new tab), salary and offers (opens in a new tab) and questions to ask (opens in a new tab).
Order of execution
Plan your practice
Put these practice steps in the order that gives the best result.
Drill 2: improve three weak sample answers
Here are three weak answers, each rewritten with the same true facts. Try your own rewrite before you read the improved version.
Example 2 · Three weak answers improved
A) "Why should we hire you?" "Because I am hard-working, honest and I really need this job."B) "What is your weakness?" "I am a perfectionist. I work too hard."C) "Tell me about a time you failed." "In our project the team did not do their work properly so we got low marks. It was not my fault."A) "You need freshers who can contribute to Python backend work quickly. I have built a Python API with JWT security and 45 tests, and in my internship I fixed 12 bugs in a production API. I learn new tools fast, like Alembic in two days, and I am genuinely interested in your payments work." B) "I used to hesitate to ask for help. In my internship I lost a day on a configuration issue my mentor solved in ten minutes. Now I ask after 30 minutes stuck, with notes on what I tried, and my mentor said my questions became much clearer." C) "In our third-year project I underestimated the database work and we demoed with two reports missing, which cost us marks. I owned that part, so I learned to list every feature with an estimate on day one and review progress weekly. In my final-year project we finished all features a week early."
What this code does
- A replaces adjectives and need with proof and fit. B replaces a disguised boast with a real weakness, action and progress.
- C removes blame, owns a real mistake and shows the habit that fixed it, with proof from a later project.
An answer rewrite keeps the candidate's true facts and fixes the structure and wording. Look for the usual faults: no evidence, cliches, family details, blame, a vague result, or no link to the job.
After writing your version, compare: did you remove the same problems and add the same kind of evidence?
Drill 3: record and review a two-minute STAR answer
A rubric is a short checklist of scoring points, such as structure, action share, result, honesty, time and filler words. You use it to score your own recorded answer fairly.
This program scores a recorded answer against a six-point rubric and tells you what to fix next.
Example 3 · Scoring a recorded STAR answer
seconds = 138fillers = 9rubric = { "Clear S and T in under 30 seconds": True, "Action is the longest part, in first person": True, "Result has a number and a lesson": False, "Story is true and specific": True, "Time 90-120 seconds": 90 <= seconds <= 120, "Fewer than 5 filler words": fillers < 5,}
for item, passed in rubric.items(): print(("[x] " if passed else "[ ] ") + item)score = sum(rubric.values())print(f"Score {score}/{len(rubric)} (time {seconds} s, fillers {fillers})")failed = [item for item, passed in rubric.items() if not passed]print("Fix next:", failed[0] if failed else "nothing, record a new question")[x] Clear S and T in under 30 seconds [x] Action is the longest part, in first person [ ] Result has a number and a lesson [x] Story is true and specific [ ] Time 90-120 seconds [ ] Fewer than 5 filler words Score 3/6 (time 138 s, fillers 9) Fix next: Result has a number and a lesson
What this code does
- Four items are judged by you while listening; time and filler count are measured and scored automatically.
- The program names the first failed item to fix. Change one thing per recording; three rounds usually reach 6/6.
A recording shows you what the interviewer hears. Answer one behavioural question in STAR form into your phone, then score it against the rubric.
Fix the weakest point and record again. Most students improve noticeably between the first and the third recording.
Predict the output
Score the recording
Read the code and pick what it prints.
Round 1 of 2
A recording with 4 filler words. What does this print?
Drill 4: offer comparison exercise
This program compares three sample offers on fixed pay, role, learning, location and bond. Change the numbers to your own and run it again.
Example 4 · Comparing three sample offers
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclassclass Offer: name: str fixed: float variable: float bond: bool role: int learning: int location: int
def score(o): pay = min(10, o.fixed) bond_rating = 3 if o.bond else 10 return 0.30 * o.role + 0.25 * o.learning + 0.20 * pay + 0.15 * o.location + 0.10 * bond_rating
offers = [ Offer("Service MNC", 4.2, 0.0, True, 6, 8, 6), Offer("Product startup", 6.5, 1.0, False, 9, 6, 7), Offer("Fintech mid-size", 5.5, 0.5, False, 8, 8, 9),]for o in offers: bond = "yes" if o.bond else "no" print(f"{o.name:<17} fixed Rs {o.fixed:.1f} L, variable Rs {o.variable:.1f} L, bond {bond:<3} -> score {score(o):.2f} / 10")Service MNC fixed Rs 4.2 L, variable Rs 0.0 L, bond yes -> score 5.84 / 10 Product startup fixed Rs 6.5 L, variable Rs 1.0 L, bond no -> score 7.55 / 10 Fintech mid-size fixed Rs 5.5 L, variable Rs 0.5 L, bond no -> score 7.85 / 10
What this code does
- Pay is scored on fixed pay only (lakhs, capped at 10), so variable amounts do not inflate a weak offer. Amounts are in lakhs (4.2 = Rs 4.2 lakh), and
@dataclassgives each offer named fields without extra code. - With these weights the fintech offer narrowly beats the startup. Change the weights or ratings to your priorities; if the result flips easily, let the team and role decide.
An offer comparison practises the method from salary and offer evaluation (opens in a new tab): split each offer into fixed and variable pay, note one-time items and any service agreement, then score on weighted factors that match your priorities.
Change the ratings and weights and see whether the decision changes. If a small weight change flips the result, the offers are close and other factors, like the team, should decide.
Drill 5: self-review checklist
This program turns the module into eight yes/no checks you can run the night before an HR round.
Example 5 · Night-before self-review
checks = { "Intro in 60-90 s, no family details": True, "Strength with an example and result": True, "Real weakness with action and progress": True, "Why-this-company passes the swap test": False, "Story bank: 5 stories in STAR": True, "Honest answers on relocation, bond, studies": True, "Know the CTC split of this offer": False, "2-3 questions ready + closing line": True,}
done = sum(checks.values())for item, ok in checks.items(): if not ok: print("TODO:", item)status = "ready" if done == len(checks) else "practise the TODOs aloud"print(f"{done}/{len(checks)} - {status}")TODO: Why-this-company passes the swap test TODO: Know the CTC split of this offer 6/8 - practise the TODOs aloud
What this code does
- Each line is one lesson of this module as a yes/no check. The program lists only the TODOs, so the morning plan is clear.
- Here the company answer and the offer split need work: research the company for 20 minutes and read the offer annexure.
Score yourself honestly. Every "no" is a specific thing to fix tomorrow morning.
Target: all yes. If two or more are "no", practise those answers aloud again rather than reading more advice.
What's next
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