Payroll Specialist

Payroll Specialist interview questions

Your ideal candidate is awesome with numbers, has strong attention to detail and pro organizational skills. They’re also great communicators, have calm personalities and a commitment to confidentiality. 

Top tip: Hire candidates you can grow with by making sure their personal career goals align with your company's mission.

Problem solving interview questions

• How do you make sure attendance records are reported on time?
• How would you handle two face-to-face client complaints at the same time?
• What would you do if an employee claimed they received less money than agreed?
• If hired, what would you do in your first week?
• What would you do if an employee pressed you to know a coworker’s salary?

Role-specific interview questions

• What reports should a payroll specialist prepare?
• How much do you know about FLSA?
• How do you keep up-to-date with IRS regulation changes?
• What’s included in local taxes withholdings?
• What payroll source docs do you need?
• What’s your union contracts experience?
• What payroll tech have you used?
• How do you keep focused when entering a ton of data?

Behavioral interview questions

• Tell us about a time you improved a payroll process.
• Have you ever worked with a difficult colleague? What happened?
• Tell me about a time you got stressed at work. What did you do?
• Have you ever not provided excellent customer service? What would you do differently?
• Tell us about a time you delivered negative news to a client. What happened?