Populus Group Recruiter Interview Questions
& Process

Started with an initial phone screen where they asked if I was interested in the role, gave an overview of the company culture, and talked about pay and the general office atmosphere. Then had a phone interview where we discussed how much recruiting sucks, they looked for gaps in my work history and pushed on them to see how I'd react. The in-person interview was an attitude check, with the interviewer showing little emotion and coaching/giving feedback on my answers to see my reaction. I met the team in the office, and they asked me questions. Finally, I did a mock cold call with someone from another office.

I had 2 phone screens; the first was with an internal recruiter, and the second with a hiring manager. Red flags about the job/company were raised, including: 1. The first interviewer said 'recruiting sucks!' 2. Both interviewers emphasized it was a 100% sales job, which I don't agree with. 3. Travel was involved, which wasn't in the job description or mentioned by the first interviewer. 4. The training program is described as 3 weeks, but it's actually only a week of job training, and switching to salary takes 3-6 months to reach thresholds. 5. After the second screen, I was told I'd hear back by tomorrow but never did, even after asking for an update. 6. Working weekends is expected. I decided not to pursue the job after the second screen.

I went through 4 interviews for the Recruiter role. The overall interview was tough because I felt like I was asked too many personal questions instead of focusing on my work background. The stages were: 1. Phone Screen, 2. Phone interview with the Recruiter, 3. Phone interview with the Recruiting Manager, and 4. In person interview with the Manager. The first interview with the recruiter was fine. But the interview with the recruiting manager was really uncomfortable because he asked a lot of personal questions, almost like he was trying to find something negative from my past to disqualify me. He brought up things from my childhood and used them to judge my current abilities as a recruiter. It felt weird because I don't think people stay the same from childhood to adulthood. I was pretty upset but managed to hide it. The next interview wasn't much better, and when I got to the location for the final interview, I immediately thought 'this isn't the place for me.' But since I had already made the trip, I stayed. The interviewer there also didn't care about my resume and again, wanted to dive into my personal life. I get that people spend a lot of time at work, but I prefer to keep my personal life separate unless it directly impacts my job. In those cases, then it's okay to ask about it.