Former HR employee reveals the one question candidates should ask recruiters

‘I only took an HR job because I wanted to learn exactly how it works,’ they said in the viral video

A human resources professional has gone viral online after he revealed the one question job candidates should ask during an interview to make sure their time isn’t being wasted.

Miles, who goes by @milesmadeit on TikTok, received more than one million views on the platform last week when he informed his followers on “how to avoid the bullsh*t” during the job interview process.

“Now listen, some other day I’m going to give a TED Talk about why everyone should work in HR for at least six to 12 months,” he began the viral video. “You need to learn how the system works on the inside because a motherf***er like me, I only took an HR job because I wanted to learn exactly how it works so I can pass it on to the people.”

Miles went on to explain that he had a resume client tell him that a company made them go through 13 rounds of interviews for a position and they still didn’t get the job. “I’m going to tell y’all how to avoid the bullsh*t,” he said.

At the end of the interview, once a candidate has asked all the important questions, Miles suggested asking about the recruiter’s hiring timeline.

“You need to say, ‘With respect to your time-to-hire metrics and my competing opportunities, could you be so kind as to share the hiring timeline for the role?’” Miles said. “Is this role a priority? Organisations will tell you the truth and be like, ‘Oh, we’re waiting for the right–’”

Miles interrupted himself to warn viewers that if a recruiter says they’re waiting for the right person to fill a role, it really means they “might hire today or next year or never”.

He also shared that recruiter performance is measured by whether a recruiter meets the internal time-to-hire metrics, so they won’t mind sharing their timeline if asked by a job candidate.

Miles’ viral TikTok video prompted some users to share their own harrowing experiences with job interviews, while others said they are similarly working an HR position in order to learn the ins and outs of the interview process.

“I went to an interview, they had 60+ people show up for one position,” one person commented. “I was like, dang, they couldn’t narrow it down to ten.”

“After four interviews with a job they had the AUDACITY to not even email me telling me they gave the role to someone else. Had me waiting days,” someone else wrote.

One TikToker said, “Me over here working in HR for the same reason,” while another user commented: “Working in HR for a year, not only so I can be in the midst of everything, but so I can move on up to the department I want to with little to no push”.

In a follow-up video, Miles offered up some of his handy questions to ask during a job interview, such as: “How would someone in this role work best with the rest of the team? What is the history of the position? What is the feedback structure/How is performance measured?”