Kohler Co. Hr Manager Interview Questions
& Process

They have a really thorough assessment process. It kicked off with some initial personality tests and then went into several rounds of interviews with different people involved, including the hiring managers. Overall, I had a great experience; the rounds were conducted very professionally.

A Kohler recruiter reached out via InMail on a Thursday about an HR Manager role and asked for my availability the following week. I replied with my interest and times. She sent the same message again asking for availability. I responded again with detailed times. On Friday, she emailed again, ignoring my previous responses, and asked if I had union experience. I confirmed I did, providing details. No further response was received until Tuesday morning. At 9:47 AM, my phone rang - caller ID was blocked, I let it go to voicemail. It was the recruiter apologizing for me missing a scheduled 9:30 AM call and asking me to call back. I checked my InMail and saw she had messaged at 8:55 AM (35 minutes before the call) stating she would call at 9:30 AM, assuming I'd be monitoring InMail. Before I could call back, my phone rang again at 9:51 AM from a blocked number. It was the recruiter asking if it was a good time to talk. I said yes. She then mentioned they needed a Change Management professional, which confused me as I applied for an HR Manager role. I confirmed I had change management experience and gave an example using the STAR method. I questioned whether the role was Change Management or HR Management. She seemed confused, stating she thought it was an HR Management role focused on Change Management due to facility issues. I noted the distinction between Change Management and HR Management, suggesting the recruiter didn't understand the difference and was unprepared. She then said she'd share my example with the hiring manager and I'd be contacted if moving forward. I had no chance to ask questions. The interactions were unprofessional and disorganized, both via email and phone.

Had an initial phone chat, then there was some quiet time for a few weeks. After that, I had another call, followed by an in-person meeting with the hiring manager. Later, I met with the hiring manager again, this time with one of her colleagues. About a month after that, I had to travel to Milwaukee for about three hours of intelligence and personality testing. That testing was followed by a one-on-one interview with an industrial/organizational psychologist. The job offer came through about three months after I started the process.