Six tips for your next finance interview

Whether you’ve got years of experience or are just starting out, interviews can be an intimidating prospect. If you’re looking to land your next finance role, our tips could help…

Despite uncertainty rippling through the global financial services sector — fuelled by  various geopolitical pressures — the finance sector remains a competitive industry for workers.

This competitiveness is never more evident than when you’re trying to land a new role. But to help you out, we have listed some insights on how you can land your new financial job.

Get to the point

Clarity is essential when preparing a CV.  A good way to organise a candidate’s work experience is to split each role into responsibilities and achievements.   It is important to be brief.  Hiring managers generally do not have the time or the will to read through pages of content.

In addition, some information about the companies a candidate has worked at can be useful for a prospective employer.  Company size, turnover, location, number of employees, and industry, can all be useful in letting a prospective employer contextualize work experience.

Know your finances

It is especially important for a finance candidate to research the financial health of the company they would like to work for.  Be prepared to ask questions regarding the reasons behind certain increases and decreases in financial performance.  This is an effective way to demonstrate that a candidate is knowledgeable about the company.

Candidates applying for more senior roles or for smaller companies may need to partake in more detailed research.  However, it is still important to find all the information available and prepare to discuss it during the interview.

Make yourself the added value

During an interview, candidates should put a low priority on repeating things that are easily found on their CV.  Hiring managers already have that information.  An interview is a great opportunity for candidate to discuss how they have impacted the companies they have worked at.  It is also a good chance to demonstrate soft skills, that are difficult to communicate on a paper CV.

These days finance professionals need to achieve a balance between hard and soft skills. Communication skills have become very important especially with the rise of business partnering models.  

Talk confidently about the industry

It is important that candidates are able to discuss the finance industry as a whole.  The image of the lone accountant who sits in silence producing reports is not representative of the finance industry today.  Companies are looking for candidates who display strong commercial acumen and can actively drive business results.

In the present day, where rapidly changing technology has become essential throughout the industry, companies need to be able to stay on top of current trends.

Engage with the interviewer

An interview is an opportunity to make a human connection with the hiring manager.  Therefore, candidates should avoid treating an interview as a mechanical process and try to engage socially.  Interviews give the company a chance to see how a candidate really is off paper. A bit of small talk can go a long way.

It is also a good idea to ask the interviewer questions about themselves.  Discussing their interests in finance not only gives candidates a chance to build a relationship with the interview, but also provides an opportunity to demonstrate some financial knowledge

Keep learning

In the process of selling one’s experiences, it is easy for a candidate to come across as over confident.  Candidates should make sure to demonstrate that they still want to learn.  

It is important to remember that an interview is also a great opportunity to learn more about a company and to gather more information about the role that is being applied for.  Therefore, candidates should come prepared with questions they would like to ask.  This is a great way to learn what is beyond the job description.