How many of you have actually interviewed with HR? (interview, application, job)

[K-Luv]

In reading through many threads in this forum it seems that interviewing with members of HR is the defacto way a business handles the hiring process. Thing is, as far as I can tell, I have never once been interviewed, let alone hired, by anyone in "HR". I assume that most are equating "HR" with whom-ever conducted the interview whether that business has an HR department or not?

In my experiences--and I have worked a variety of jobs--I was always interviewed/hired by the person who would become my direct manager/supervisor with HR, if the business even had an HR department, only handling the paperwork.

Based on my experiences, I would guess that dealing directly with the HR department is possibly something that only happens with large, "professional" entities where one is most likely to work at a desk in a cubicle, but I dunno.

Am I wrong in my assessment? Or have just been lucky so far?

[move4ward]

Usually, HR does a light phone screening. They speak in broad terms about the position, because they haven't worked in that dept. They have no say in the hiring decision.

When I have gone through 3rd party recruiters, HR did no phone screening. The 3rd party recruiter took care of it. HR only scheduled the interviews with the hiring managers.

[mizzourah2006]

The only time I've ever heard of someone interviewing with HR is when HR also happens to be the hiring manager or a recruiter that does a light phone screen like the above poster mentioned. Typically even if the recruiter does a phone screen they still don't have the power to actually make a decision. They take the responses to the hiring manager as additional information (resume, application, phone screen responses, etc.).

[timberline742]

I've been phone screened / intro screened with HR. That's about it.

[jaydez]

My initial screening was done by HR over the phone. After that I had a 1st interview with the department managers I would directly report to. A few weeks later I had a second interview with a peer immediately followed by a 3rd interview with the regional VP, department VP and the HR Manager.

This was for a very large company though.

[joe from dayton]

Never. And HR is not involved in any part of the hiring process where I am at now other than to make sure that we jump through the required hiring policy and EEOC hoops. No candidate will speak with anyone from HR until after they accept a job offer.

[MSchemist80]

Frequently. They usually run phone screens as the previous posters indicated but also on many occasions direct the managers and workers on what questions they want the interviewers to ask, and usually are one of the people I was forced to interview with during the in-person (most frequently there was a long list of people I had to interview with often everyone short of the nigh janitor).

[Shoshanarose]

In my field, I've never been interviewed by HR.
The direct supes interview.
Then HR comes into the picture only once you're hired, for filling out paperwork, giving you an orientation, an ID card, etc.

[mcq]

It's extremely rare that I don't have some form of contact with HR (recruiters, talent acquisition managers, whatever titles they have) before having contact with the hiring manager. As others have said, it is a phone screen with pretty basic interview questions. Sometimes these are questions I already answered if I completed an online application. On occasion, they do ask deeper questions. These questions may or may not have been supplied to them by the Hiring Manager.

[Jjury15]

I'm on the HR track/in HR so those are the only ones I tend to meet with.