Financial Services Interview Preparation Guide
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74 Financial Services Questions and Answers:

1 :: What motivates you the most?

Is it money? Is it career development? Is it recognition? Is it a sense of achievement? Is it to impress your peers? Is it for fame?

2 :: What type of people do you not work well with?

Be very careful answering this question as most organization employ professionals with an array of personalities and characteristics. You don't want to give the impression that you're going to have problems working with anyone currently employed at the organization. If you through out anything trivial you're going to look like a whiner. Only disloyalty to the organization or lawbreaking should be on your list of personal characteristics of people you can't work with.

3 :: Why did you select the University _______?

Discuss the academic program, the extracurricular program(s), the school spirit, the quality of your peers, and the professors.

4 :: How does your present position differ from past ones?

Describe the difference with regards to responsibilities, culture, team, career opportunity, and the work itself.

5 :: Why did you leave your last job In Financial Services?

Regardless of why you left your last job make sure to stay positive. Always smile and focus on the positive reason such you were seeking the opportunity to expand your career opportunities, your interest in working with a new firm that provided greater opportunity, you desired to work in a new location, etc. Don't reference previous job problems or differences with management that caused you to leave. If you stay positive, your answer may help you. If you're negative, you will likely decrease your chances of getting the job for which you're interviewing.

6 :: Tell me about a decision you made recently and how you reached it In Financial Services?

The key is to show that you put a lot of thought (weighing out the pros and cons) but were able to be decisive. Be sure to explain your logic in arriving at the decision.

7 :: Give me an example of how you handled pressure at work In Financial Services?

The company is looking to see if you can handle pressure well. Share with them an example where you were able to stay calm during a pressure filled situation (perhaps it was a deadline, or there was an emergency with a customer occurring). Discuss the situation, your reaction and steps you took to resolve it and the outcome.

8 :: Tell me about a time when you had to think strategically?

There was a time when I was told I had to get rid of 20% of my people. I had to determine which persons I needed the most by determining who could do what. I had to put aside personal feelings so that I could keep a working crew to handle he same workload with less people.

9 :: What motivates you at the work place?

Keep your answer simple, direct and positive. Some good answers may be the ability to achieve, recognition or challenging assignments.

10 :: If you felt like you were hitting the proverbial "wall" and getting burned out, what would you do to re-energize yourself?

Take a break to rest. Work in smaller increments of time to increase focus with breaks in between. Delegate tasks to those that are willing to help.

11 :: What have you done to improve your knowledge In Financial Services in the last year?

Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job In Financial Services. A wide variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement. Have some good ones handy to mention.

12 :: Your client is upset with you for a mistake you made, how do you react?

Acknowledge their pain - empathize with them. Then apologize and offer a solution to fix the mistake.

14 :: How do you rate yourself in computer skills? Please describe the programs and software that you can use well?

Ideally you want to able to type quickly, have the ability to effectively use Microsoft Office, and more importantly be able to quickly adapt to computer / technology skills. More and more it's become an integral part of work. If the job doesn't require technology skills - then this question shouldn't be asked!

15 :: Are you currently looking at other job opportunities?

Just answer this question honestly. Sometime an employer wants to know if there are other companies you're considering so that they can determine how serious you are about the industry, they're company and find out if you're in demand. Don't spend a lot of time on this question; just try to stay focused on the job you're interviewing for.

16 :: Do you consider yourself successful?

You should always answer yes to this question. Briefly explain why without going on and on. If you communicate that you're more successful than you really are you may come off as arrogant or unrealistic. A goof explanation is that you have set professional goals and that you have met some of these goals and are on track to meet more in the near future.

17 :: Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year In Financial Services?

We all have difficult decisions in our lives. Show how you were able to arrive at it and then how you decisively acted.

18 :: What can you offer us that someone else can not?

Bad Answer: Going negative - if the candidate starts trash talking other candidates, it's a sure sign of a bad attitude. Also, if they can't provide a solid answer, it may show that they lack thorough knowledge of the skills the job requires, and an understanding of where they fit in.

Good answer: The candidate can name specific skills, abilities or understandings they have that apply directly to the job that other candidates are unlikely to have, or are in short supply.

19 :: Think about the changes you have seen and tell me how you handle change?

You can cite personal life changes, work place changes, career changes, technology change, industry change. The key is to discuss how seeing or experiencing that change has helped your development. For example, the recent changes in social media has broadened my horizons and helped me learn new forms of efficient marketing.

20 :: What are the goals you've set for yourself?

You could discuss your goals with regards to these categories: Career goals, impact you want to leave on society, financial goals, academic goals, charitable goals.

21 :: Tell me about a problem that you’ve solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you happy or satisfied with it?

In this question the interviewer is basically looking for a real life example of how you used creativity to solve a problem.

22 :: Tell us about a suggestion you have made that has benefited an organization you've worked for?

This is another opportunity to show the interviewer what you're capable of so make sure to be prepared for this type of question. Have an example ready and make sure its an example of a suggestion you've made that was accepted and that have positive influence. If you can come up with an example that relates to the position you're applying for that would be even better.

23 :: Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed. How did you handle it In Financial Services? Why? Were you happy with the outcome?

In many scenarios, you will not have all the information needed. The key is to make the best possible decision based on what you deem to be a sufficient amount of information.

24 :: Describe what a "lot of work" looks like to you In Financial Services?

Ideally you'd like to state that you can take on a lot of work - this shows your work ethic, but at the same time it's okay to tell them that you value work and life balance.

25 :: What differentiates this company from other competitors?

Be positive and nice about their competitors but also discuss how they are better than them and why they are the best choice for the customer. For example: "Company XYZ has a good product, but I truly believe your company has a 3-5 year vision for your customer that aligns to their business needs."

26 :: If hired, how do you intend on making a difference with our company?

Dedicate myself to learn everything about the new company that I can, look for ways and ideas that could improve, processes, safety, removing obstacles from the associates, I want to advance within the company.

27 :: How do you handle repetitive tasks?

Some people enjoy it, others don't. Which are you? If you don't like it, can you at least do it well? And if you don't like it, be ready to explain why in a positive way (i.e. your potential is to do much more than simply be repetitive)

28 :: How do you continue learning on a daily basis? Why is continuous improvement necessary In Financial Services?

You can learn on the job, through books and magazines, through social networks, blogs, seminars, mentors and so on. Continuous improvement is important because the one thing in life that is constant is change. And you have to continue to push yourself day in and day out to be the best.

29 :: What types of books or magazines do you typically read?

Describe both your personal and professional favorites. If you happen to like professional books / magazines that relate to the industry of the company you're applying for - that's definitely worth highlighting.

30 :: If you could offer suggestions on how to improve our company, what would you say?

Examine the trends of the company and also where there may be some weaknesses (news articles often document this on public companies or look at their competitors to see how they're positioning it against them.) Then, once you have that knowledge, think creatively on how you could improve upon that weakness for them.