Associate Finance Executive Interview Preparation Guide
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Associate Finance Executive related Frequently Asked Questions in various Associate Finance Executive job interviews by interviewer. The set of questions here ensures that you offer a perfect answer posed to you. So get preparation for your new job hunting

26 Associate Finance Executive Questions and Answers:

1 :: Can you explain will you be out to take my job?

Maybe in about twenty years, but by then, I suspect you'll be running the entire company and will need a good, loyal lieutenant to help you manage this department!

2 :: I see from your resume that you worked at ABC for four years, and that's terrific. But I also noticed that you weren't promoted during that time. Why not?

ABC is a great company, and thanks in part to my team's contributions, they are doing very well these days. But that wasn't always the case.

During the first two years that I worked there, people were being fired left and right, and just hanging onto my job was a feat.

Once the company began to turn around, [my boss] was offered a terrific job at a rival organization and it took ABC six months to replace him, and when they did, the new boss was eager to bring in his own people. Once again, I tenaciously hung on to my job, and, even though I was long overdue for a promotion, I really didn't think that the timing was right for me to broach it. No one from the old staff was there to even vouch for my performance!

3 :: Tell me what is your biggest weakness that's really a weakness, and not a secret strength?

I am extremely impatient. I expect my employees to prove themselves on the very first assignment. If they fail, my tendency is to stop delegating to them and start doing everything myself.

To compensate for my own weakness, however, I have started to really prep my people on exactly what will be expected of them.

4 :: Suppose you have changed careers before. Why should I let you experiment on my nickel?

As a career-changer, I believe that I'm a better employee because I've gained a lot of diverse skills from moving around. These skills help me solve problems creatively.

5 :: Can yo walk me through a cash flow statement?

Start with net income, go line by line through major adjustments (depreciation, changes in working capital and deferred taxes) to arrive at cash flows from operating activities.

☛ Mention capital expenditures, asset sales, purchase of intangible assets, and purchase/sale of investment securities to arrive at cash flow from investing activities.
☛ Mention repurchase/issuance of debt and equity and paying out dividends to arrive at cash flow from financing activities.
☛ Adding cash flows from operations, cash flows from investments, and cash flows from financing gets you to total change of cash.
☛ Beginning-of-period cash balance plus change in cash allows you to arrive at end-of-period cash balance.

6 :: Suppose If you were running a company that produces X and the market was tanking for that product, what would you do?

I would search for new markets for the product while I spurred the engineers to change the product to make it more marketable to its original core audience.

7 :: Explain what is working capital?

Working capital is defined as current assets minus current liabilities; it tells the financial statement user how much cash is tied up in the business through items such as receivables and inventories and also how much cash is going to be needed to pay off short term obligations in the next 12 months.

8 :: Do you know our clients feel more comfortable with ethnic writers. So, while I would love to recommend you for the position, I'm worried that our clients will feel uneasy about us hiring you?

I sincerely believe that being a great writer requires one major skill beyond being able to string sentences together, and that quality is empathy. I think that, rather than looking at my skin colour, your company needs to consider whether or not I can empathize with our target market, and the answer is certainly yes.

9 :: Tell me why do capital expenditures increase assets (PP&E), while other cash outflows, like paying salary, taxes, etc., do not create any asset, and instead instantly create an expense on the income statement that reduces equity via retained earnings?

Capital expenditures are capitalized because of the timing of their estimated benefits - the lemonade stand will benefit the firm for many years. The employees' work, on the other hand, benefits the period in which the wages are generated only and should be expensed then. This is what differentiates an asset from an expense.

10 :: Are you telling me that, now that you are forty-something, you would be willing to start at an entry-level position just to get your foot in the door here?

Sometimes you need to take a step backward to move your career forward. Starting in an entry-level role would allow me to learn your business from the ground up.

The career that I've been in is so different than yours that I would love the opportunity to start over again in your field. The salary cut will be well worth it.