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Paychex Interview Questions & Reviews

Getting the Interview  149 Interviews

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Interview Experience  144 Ratings

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149 interview experiences
Updated May 13, 2013
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Interview Outcome:   All No Offer Received Offer

Sales Representative at Paychex

No Offer – Interviewed in Kennesaw, GA May 2013 – Reviewed May 13, 2013 New

Interview Details – Contacted me via phone after finding my resume on LinkedIn. Went through phone interview and wanted me to come in for a face to face with a pre-filled application. Had to take off work for the interview, and the interviewer gave the impression that I was wasting her time. Felt like it was over before it started. Didn't even ask for my application, had to remind her that I had it. Total waste of time, and after speaking with a few people that have worked/interviewed with them said they had a similar experience. Very unprofessional to ask people to take time off work to interview and not take the time serious.

Interview Question – None! she barely asked anything. Her only question was about my current employer, not me.   View Answer

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Sales Representative at Paychex

Accepted Offer – Reviewed May 10, 2013 New

Interview Details – Went well.... took about 2 months to get through the process and receive the "offer letter."

Negotiation Details – No

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Compliance Analyst at Paychex

Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Rochester, NY Oct 2009 – Reviewed May 6, 2013

Interview Details – Resume is submitted electronically, telephone screen interview is probable, followed by another phone interview and then in person.

Interview Question – Probably, "give a situation that you used your creative talents to resolve."   View Answer

Negotiation Details – no response here.

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Health & Benefits Account Manager at Paychex

No Offer – Interviewed in San Diego, CA Aug 2012 – Reviewed Apr 23, 2013

Interview Details – Completed a profile online: resume/cover letter etc. I call them a few times to express interest.

I had a series of phone interviews. They were great, I was able to truly address my ability to fulfill the position. One interview was a prep interview for the in-person interview which was a panel interview. The phone interviews were clearly to assure them that I know my work and have the skill set.

The in person (panel) interview was a bit unorganized, but that was ok. I was just confused for a few seconds. The panel interview was a mock renewal health and benefits presentation to an existing employer, and the presentation had to include the topic of health care reform.

Then a few questions about Paychex, why Paychex?
Why me?

Interview Question – It was clear to me that the managers had less skill than I, and I didn't know what to say. I kinda offended them with strategies they didn't know. Their mind set is sell, sell, sell. Mine is sell smart. The difficulty was the friction.

I actually just gave them a hint of a strategy, but I regret it now. There are easier examples for discussing such complex topics and I wish I had taken the easy approach. I just thought it would be wise to discuss the root of why such knowledge is important.
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Sales Representative at Paychex

Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Glendale, CA Oct 2012 – Reviewed Apr 21, 2013

Interview Details – Paychex hiring process is very extensive and can be cumbersome however it does give you insight into the amount of effort placed into there hiring process. They recently switched the testing method to Top Grading. This method requires about 4 interviews and testing, once you are hired you are sent to rochester for training. You will then need to pass a Job dependent test in order to have a job. I would recommend to be proactive and plan for a 1-2 month hiring process.

Interview Question – They generally dont ask alot of very difficult questions however they do ask a lot. They ask you to paiint them a snapshot of your current career and how you got there. They will ask questions that indicate to them Why you make the decisions that you do. There were was not one question that stood out to me, sorry that I can't be more specific.   Answer Question

Negotiation Details – There is no negotiation. Salary vary from department and city.

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Sales Representative at Paychex

Declined Offer – Interviewed in Fort Washington, PA – Reviewed Apr 7, 2013

Interview Details – Was contacted through a recruiter. Nothing unusual about the interview; they just went through my resume and asked questions about previous experience and employers

Interview Question – Why did I want to get back to work after taking time off and why did I want to get into sales   Answer Question

Reason for Declining – The position seem like a dead end opportunity

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Payroll Specialist at Paychex

Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Tampa, FL Jun 2009 – Reviewed Mar 29, 2013

Interview Details – Applied for position found in newspaper ad and was called within 3 days to interview for the position. Recruiter responded and we set up an initial phone interview which lead to an in person interview. Recruiter called within 2 days to let me know that she didn't like me for that position but wanted me to interview for another position which paid more money. Came in later during that same week to interview for the position with two supervisors of the department and was called within that hour with the job offer. What normally happens is after the recruiter phone interview and in person interview (most times its just a phone screening), you interview with a panel of supervisors (2-4 people) then you're set up for another interview with the branch manager for the final interview but I bypassed that step because they needed someone immediately and the managers had been in a conference that entire week. So there is a set of 3 interviews (phone, panel, branch manager) you will be asked to complete a personality and math test in the initial stages which is done for every position prior to your panel interview as well. Most questions are situational questions i.e. how would you handle an angry customer? What did you do the last time you had a client screaming at you? All of which are relevant because it happens in this place all the time.

Interview Question – What are items about yourself that you should work on?   Answer Question

Negotiation Details – The salary is set and pretty final (also low). Recommended two friends who were made offers but the salary was non negotiable.

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Billing Specialist at Paychex

Accepted Offer – Reviewed Mar 27, 2013

Interview Details – one -on- one with manager, then upper manager all in same day

Interview Question – they talk to you like an idiot because they don't want smart people so they can pay you so poorly.   Answer Question

Negotiation Details – sadly - I accepted the job, with them not negotiating. My bad since 1 month after hire they froze all pay raises for 2 years then raised benefit costs.

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Account Executive at Paychex

No Offer – Interviewed in Jan 2013 – Reviewed Mar 22, 2013

Interview Details – Initially contacted by a recruiter who was very personable and pleasant to talk to. After the standard screening call, I was set up for a phone interview with the hiring manager. Upon the conclusion of this call, she stated that I had made a good impression with her and instructed to take a 90 minute skills and personality assessment. Then I was contacted by the recruiter a few days later to inform me that the results of the assessment were favorable and they wished to bring me in for an in person interview with the Hiring Manager and her counterpart. This is were it all went South in short order.

 I drove an hour to their office and was basically asked the same questions by the hiring manager's counterpart that I had been asked on the phone interview with the hiring manager. The "point" of this inane, thoughtless exercise, was simply to get another opinion. The hiring manager has been with the organization for 18 years and needed another eye to make a hiring decision? If these managers can't make their own hiring decisions, I'm not sure what, if any decisions they actually do make within the organization. to make their own decisions or she The hiring manager sat there, hardly uttering a word as I was asked to walk him through my resume - the 3rd time I had to do this and he shared with me some of the results from my assessment. Midway through the interview, I knew that working under either of them would not be an appealing prospect, but I tried to be courteous and professional while letting the process play out, although I was annoyed that they made me drive out there only to rehash what had previously been discussed. The worst of it is that after assuring me that I would receive some sort of feedback within a week regarding their decision, I never heard a word from them or the recruiter. Needless to say, I was dismayed by the complete lack of professionalism these individuals exemplified in their recruitment process.

Interview Question – Nothing unexpected   Answer Question

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Sales Representative at Paychex

No Offer – Interviewed in Mendota Heights, MN Jan 2013 – Reviewed Mar 13, 2013

Interview Details – The interview starts with a timed math test. The test questions are ticky weird questions like:
Two men went fishing and caught 50 fish. Man one caught twice as many as man two. How many fish did man two catch? -- Odd questions like that.

Next you sit in an interview with probably two people and they only ask sales questions. The questions are like 'what would your manager say are your 3 best sales qualities' or what makes you a strong salesperson. I found the interview to be very impersonal and the interviewers were very dry and uninteresting. The job description they gave me was that I'd be making 100 cold calls per day to local businesses to offer them payroll. From those calls they ask that I have at least 50 presentations. Of those 50, 10 of them need to be closing presentations, of those 10, 2 of them need to buy the product.

If you get past the first interview, you should expect to have at least two more and a ride along with one of the sales reps to see if you'd be interested in what they do.

Interview Question – Since you have no business to business experience, why would we want to hire you?

My initial thought was: you wouldn't.

At that point I knew this job was NOT for me
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