Payroll interview tips
Although most interview advice applies to all finance specialisms, a more specific approach needs to be taken for payroll in order to raise your game above others applying for the same jobs.
Professional studies
If you have already embarked on Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP) studies, you might want to consider your answers to these questions:
- What motivated you to go for the IPP qualification?
- What stage are you currently at?
- How do you feel this enhances your suitability as a candidate for this job?
- How do you manage to balance study and work commitments?
- How do you see your career developing upon qualification?
If you have not started studying, it is still crucial to think about the following issues as you are showing an interest in developing professionally to your potential future employer:
- You have not started your IPP studies - how committed to a career in payroll are you?
- Would you be prepared to undertake studies towards a professional qualification?
- What do you know about IPP qualifications and how could this be relevant in your working day?
- How do you feel about starting studying again (especially if you have not studied for many years)?
On the job
You will need to be ready to answer technical questions about your work; some or all of these issues may come into play during the interview:
- Who do you report to? How many are there in the payroll department?
- What payroll system do you use - computerised or manual/ bureau system?
- How many staff are on the payroll? How many are you solely responsible for?
- How many staff are paid monthly? How many staff are paid weekly?
- What responsibility do you have for the calculating of hours?
- How are the hours determined for payroll input? How are the staff paid?
- What experience do you have of:
- PAYE / Income Tax
- Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
- National Insurance (NI)
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
- P45s / P60s, Practice Implementation Indicator Description (PIID)
- Directors' emoluments
- Are you involved with starters/leavers, tax code queries, pension fund admin, personnel records?
- Who writes up suspense journals for any miscalculations?
- Who codes for payroll input?
The wider picture
You also need to be able to demonstrate an interest in the wider picture. For example, how does your role fit into the company you work for? Consider the following:
- What kind of business does your employer carry out? What is the annual turnover?
- How many people are in the payroll department?
- How does your role slot into the accounts team?
- How closely do you work with HR?
- Are you responsible for employee benefits? Are you responsible for training staff?
- Have you been involved in the transferral or implementation of payroll software?
Management questions
If you are in a supervisory position, your potential employer will also want to know about your experience of managing people:
- How many people are you responsible for?
- What are your supervisory responsibilities?
- Appraisals
- Target-setting
- Coaching
- Recruitment
- What experience of controls and procedures do you have?
- What individual and team targets do you oversee?
- How do you motivate your team?
- How could your management skills be improved?
