Finance Interview Questions & Answers

After initial application screening, a telephone interview is the next stage. Here the questions are competency based with little technical/financial knowledge tested. Motivational questions were key here, testing reasons for applying to the position. Preparation is a must, you must know the company well and be prepared to answer in detail why you chose SWIP and why the specific asset class. There was a large emphasis on being a team player. Have plenty of unique examples of working well in a team, and leading a team if possible.

After the telephone interview is a face to face interview with one person from HR. A very friendly and enjoyable experience. Here the questions go over your background (CV, cover letter and answers to application questions) and also some more technical content. Here is the time to demonstrate your interest by knowing the company's ethos, business structure, investment strategy, etc.. Technical questions did come up, but they were not too quantitative or hard going, as HR were conducting this stage. Basic asset management and investment knowledge would suffice, although more in-depth knowledge would be very beneficial.

Also, they want to meet you in person to make sure you're approachable, communicative and able to get along with people well, I assume this ties in with their concentration on working well in a team.

My own personal choice not to attend a leading business school to study a masters degree was a talking point. The interviewer was keen to see if I had thought it through properly and weighed up each option. They are less concerned with your actual choice; they want to see the logic behind your decision making, and that you do your homework.

Have a view on investing, tell them what you think and why.

Very friendly and relaxing. One to one interview, quite informal.

Interview went very well. The questions were very challenging, even for Investment Banking. 1st round was over the phone, about my motivation and interest for the job and experience - took 45 minutes. The second stage was a 4 hours personal interview with 4 different senior members, including the partners. The process was similiar to the 1st round only a bit more personal as it was face to face.

How do you consider the tax benefits of interest payments in the company valution?

In investment banking its about the little details. You need to be overall very confident and know you the position and organisation inside out. You have to be technically very fit and the valuation such as DCF in very detail.

n/a

Fairly normal interview. No out of the ordinary questions that confused me. Three motivational questions and three competency questions. Lasted about 30 minutes, wasn't with a direct employee of the company, but rather an employee from a recruiting company employed by Close Brothers. There was no communication issues, e-mails and phone calls were clear.

Describe a recent mistake you have made. what was the situations, what would you change, and what have you learned from this?

Make sure you are clued up about the company, although there were no specific questions relating to the history of the company, they do ask questions that implicitly want you to focus on why you applied for the company, which is aided for a detailed look through their website

Have not yet attended the assessment centre

The initial telephone interview covered specific questions around Santander and Geoban. As I would be working in Finance, I remember I was asked about my knowledge regarding Finanncial Regulators and their role within Santander. I didn't expect this but they were friendly and told me I shouldI research this and rememeber examples for my face to face interview. I had to complete an online competency test which was personally the most difficult one yet! Then there were background check and an interview in person with 2 people. Mainly competency questions, I used the STAR approach for most which they were impressed with. Finally, there was 4 weeks intense training with an academy sign off at the end, we had to achieve a certain pass grade for knowledge gained in training to officially become a case handler. Alot was not covered in the interview such as this sign off. Also that we would be self employed, so you would need to set up a limited company (I highly recommend this) or join an umbrella company (I don't recommend this as it is more costly). It is an extremely intense job and I think the interview downplayed this. But overall a positive experience and a very big learning curve!

The hardest questions were regarding financial regulators and their rules and regulations, how they are implememnted. And also applying my experience to a financial role because I came from a retail and arts background. But everything you have done will play a part in this. They ask for a graduate that has achieved a 2:1, as it is a graduate role. So all my experience in uni helped me answer the question regarding why I would be suitable for the role.

If you go for this job, expect 12 hour shifts, weekends and long evenings/early starts. This job requires extreme leveles of concentration, stamina, confidence, self-motivation and attention to detail. No one told us how much commitment would be required, not everyone made it. I am still there now but it was a very, very long journey. But once the hard part is over, it gets easy!

NA

First meeting with the MD an the office manager involved a brief introduction about myself and from the management of the company and the role. I was asked to go through my CV and pick out highlights from it.
Then a number of competencies were tested such as time management, building relationships and strengths and weaknesses.

What would you say to a client to convince them to choose us?

Prepare and research the company, also understand some basics of the real estate market. Understand that the role requires some time to understand and you will need to learn a lot during the initial time period .

The second interview involved a personality test and a logical reasoning test and a chance to ask questions as well as a short on the spot scenario question.