I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Populus Group (Bellevue, WA) in Aug 2015
Interview
PG is aiming to become a preferred provider, which means they are working hard to develop a strong, coveted company culture. Their interview process reflects this. There are 3 interviews. The first two focus on "getting to know you." They don't ask very much about your skills or experience. More so, what are your likes, dislikes, etc. The final interview becomes more technical, incorporating the job-specific skills that you'll need and how your experience corresponds to them. My interpretation is that personality and character are most important to the company, even if you lack the experience.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Populus Group (Lisle, IL)
Interview
The interview process for me wasn't too bad. I only had two interviews. One was a culture interview where I interviewed with someone in leadership. This interview is to determine if you fit in with the culture of the company/office. My second interview was more situational questions and typical interview questions.
The process began with me being contacted by a recruiter for Populus Group and spending some time talking with her about my background, the company, and the job I'd applied for. She then scheduled a phone interview for me. The phone interview is considered their cultural interview, meaning they want to see if you'd be a good fit for the company as company culture is very important to them. Next, an in-person interview was scheduled for me at their local office. This was the technical interview, having to do with the job itself. Everyone I interacted with was great and I got a good impression of Populus Group. Unfortunately, I was not chosen for the position and did not have what would have been a final phone interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
A lot of the questions were the type where they ask you to "describe a time when...", like "Describe a time when you received criticism on your work" or "Tell me how you've responded when someone in your group wasn't doing their part?"
Also be prepared with questions about the company and about the position you are applying for.
Payroll Administrator applicants have rated the interview process at Populus Group with 3.7 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 55.6% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Payroll Administrator roles take an average of 19 days to get hired, when considering 4 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Populus Group overall takes an average of 14 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Populus Group as a Payroll Administrator according to 4 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 33%
One on one interview: 33%
Background check: 11%
Personality test: 11%
Group panel interview: 11%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -