I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Hays (London, England) in Jul 2016
Interview
Stage 1: Applied online, internal recruiter got back to me within 2 hours
Stage 2: Telephone interview - Why Hays and Recruitment?
Stage 3: assessment centre - definitely the most challenging part of the process so far. The day begins with a video about Hays and you are expected to take lots of notes, as following this video you would be required to present to the rest of the group and Regional Managers, a unique selling point. Do thorough research as you will be asked what Hays are known for, what awards did they win? After this, you role play a business development call with the internal recruiter and the RM's give you feedback. Next, on to the selling a candidate role play. The RM's are looking for you to build on from your previous interview and take their feedback on board. We were also given the opportunity to explore the office and talk to existing members of staff. Ask lots of questions and remember the names of the people you were assigned to! Finally we had to write a job advert, pay attention to spelling and punctuation and keep the client description short.
Next stage is a final interview with the regional manager. I rejected an offer from the previous stage, so I did not get to this stage!
I applied through other source. I interviewed at Hays (Kuala Lumpur) in Mar 2026
Interview
The pre-screening session felt quite rushed, and I didn’t really have the opportunity to fully introduce my background as the interviewer often moved on before I could finish my responses. This made the conversation feel one-sided. Unfortunately, it also gave me a less positive impression of the interview culture, and I decided not to proceed with the second round.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Recruitment can be quite challenging and fast-paced. What attracts you to this field?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Hays in Mar 2026
Interview
Had the first round interview. Basically common questions with a kind person. There's question that I didn't prepare and ask her to let me think few seconds, overall it's a good exp.
First it was a pre-screening call, then you'll be given a time slot to attend what is called as assessment centre. It's usually within a group setting and there's 3 parts of to it as well. There's the ice breaker, debate session and role play - all to test your critical thinking skills under pressure. Some might find it daunting and challenging and might not even make it past the first round. They will give you feedback on your answers and it's an eye-opener. Don't let it dishearten you, take it as a learning curve. If you wanna be prepared for any other interviews, just go and get yourself interviewed at Hays first, you'll ace all the other interviews because you'll already be ready for any challenging questions.