The answer is “Yes”.  You have a professional (part) qualification and perhaps with a good career trail behind you.  You should say so.  Try to pick out some work related achievements that are in context with the position you are applying for, such as ‘I’m very pleased with my record so far.  I worked extremely hard to pass the (ICA/ACCA/ CIMA/ AAT/CAT or whatever) qualifying exams and have since gained a lot of practical experience.  I am particularly pleased about my progress in credit control (the area of work you are now applying for) at which I have been involved in different roles and exposed to a lot of different situations’. 
 

Perhaps you haven’t moved up the career ladder as fast as you would have liked, so your answer might be, ‘I’m not one for status and glory seeking, what I find important is to have a job that is both challenging and satisfying.  I’ve been lucky in that respect, so yes, I think my career so far has been successful’.

 

This leads on from the previous question, and requires an anecdote or example (if you have one from your past).  You might respond by stating, ‘I feel that I have been successful in lots of ways, but I am particularly proud of ….. (say, being involved in the feasibility and front-end design team for a major re-engineering initiative of my previous company’s customer-order-payment system). 
 

If you cannot relate a single success then your answer must be a catch-all, ‘I believe that I have been successful in so many ways but find it difficult to pin down one achievement that is more memorable than any other’.

Don’t try and avoid this question, after all we all experience failure (including your interviewer); just try to give it a positive spin.  The question is similar to a previous question we looked at, ‘What problems did you encounter and how did you handle these problems?  Do some preparation work, and have a failure ready to discuss if need be.  Pick out a failure that was not significantly important and which you were able to resolve, i.e. 'I had a quite a lot of difficulty with X, but I made sure the failure did not occur again by doing Y'.  Show that you are a person who can overcome failure rather than someone who lets it fester on and on.  Your interviewer will want to know about the failure and the processes and skills you used to ensure that the problem was resolved satisfactorily.

 

Do not mention anything negative about yourself - the interviewer is looking for a chink in your armour.  Instead, suggest that you are continuously trying to build on and enhance your existing strengths.

 

State how you have successfully acted as a leader, giving an anecdote, if you have one available.  Your interviewer is trying to assess whether you would be able to lead a team effectively and be competent in managing the people who report to you.  One approach might be, ‘I think that my leadership qualities are first rate.  I am always firm but scrupulously fair with people who work for me and I find that this leads to respect and positive results’.

Bear in mind that your interviewer may anticipate being your boss, which means that it’s his or her direction you’ll need to take.  The implication is obvious – you take direction well! You can add credibility to your application by saying something like, ‘I don’t think a team can work effectively unless its members are happy to take direction from the team leader.’ 

 

Your interviewer may well become your boss and invariably will have to censure you from time to time.  He or she will want to know whether the task will be easy, or whether you’ll make it disagreeable.  So give an answer along the following lines: 'I believe that it is important to get accurate feedback on how I am performing so that I can improve any areas which my manager or supervisor highlights’.

 

Be careful – your interviewer may be testing to see whether you bear grudges.  If you choose an instance where the criticism was clearly unfounded and you were in the right, you risk looking as if you’re taking an opportunity to air an old grievance.  Your interviewer may well conclude that you do bear grudges!  The best thing to do is to go for a ‘distant past’ event and play it down or shrug if off as not being of much consequence.  You could also state that you took the criticism to heart and worked hard to ensure that the situation did not occur again.

 

Try and think about how you have reacted to different managers and which factors have motivated you.  You could say, ‘I prefer a carrot rather than a stick approach, and I like my leader to have an open-door approach’, and leave it at that.  Don’t say too much in reply to this question, because there is a danger that your answer is contrary to the leadership style of the interviewer, or the culture of the company, and it might handicap your chances of being employed.  You may have picked up vibes about the character of your interviewer by the way he or she has asked questions, so if you think that ‘the stick’ is more in order, then you could say, ‘I believe a leader has to be firm with people in the team, and they will accept it providing you are completely fair’. 

 

Obviously this question leads on from the previous one, which also provides the same answer.  However, this is ‘a you’ question and so a brief anecdote on your management style would help give credibility to your answer.

 

You should say that it is someone who listens to other people and is prepared to delegate whilst maintaining overall control of the work, achieving targets and budgets.  Good planning skills are essential. 

 

Most jobs in the accountancy and finance fields mean that you have to work very closely with other people.  Expressions such as ‘I enjoy being part of a team …’, ‘I get a real buzz out of collective success …’, ‘I enjoy helping other people solve their problems …’ or ‘I really love to boost other people’s morale and expectations’ suggest that you have the right social and leadership skills.

 

Conflict is inevitable when a group of people work together and must be resolved in a constructive rather than destructive manner.  The qualities of leadership called upon in the resolution of conflict include: getting to the root cause of the problem, finding a solution that the parties to the conflict find acceptable, addressing the concerns with individuals privately, having a fair but firm hand.  Of course, it is possible to twist such a question and give it a positive spin, ‘In my experience I have found that if a team is well managed and the team members have high morale and are motivated, conflict very seldom occurs’.  You’re stretching the question a bit, but your interviewer might be satisfied with the answer.

 

Hopefully you can answer a definite ‘Yes’ to this question.  A brief anecdote would help, if you have one in your experience. 

 

Some positions in the accountancy and finance profession involve working closely with other people but often incorporate the type of responsibilities that the job-holder needs to work at alone.  Therefore, you need to be political in your answer, perhaps saying, ‘As leader of a team I need to work closely with other people, but there are certain responsibilities which as leader I must undertake by myself.  I perform well in both situations’. 

 

Quite an easy question.  Self-discipline may be described as ‘doing the right thing without being supervised’.  A brief answer would suffice, ‘I like to work in an independent situation, achieve personal targets and only ask for support from my manager or supervisor when it’s absolutely necessary.  In this way I think that I’m very self-disciplined in the way I approach my responsibilities’. 
 

 

You should say that you would.  You could enquire as to how much responsibility you would have.

 

You need to say that you are extremely self-motivated and self-disciplined, and also have a high level of dedication to the goals you’ve been set.

 

Most work entails elements of routine, which can be tedious.  However, your answer should clearly be in the affirmative.  Pause, for effect, and then give a thoughtful answer, such as ‘Yes, I understand that all work has parts that involve an orderly approach and I get satisfaction from carrying out routine work effectively’. 
 

 

Another question is, ‘How do you get the best from people?’ These are questions of a sort that is pretty sure to be raised.  Have the right expressions at the ready, ‘Strong communication skills ….’, ‘Setting an inspired example ….’, ‘Recognising the contribution and merit of each individual in the team …’, ‘Seen to be a stronger supporter of the team in all its aspects …., ‘Scrupulously fair to all members ….’ 

 

This is another tricky question.  Your interviewer wants to feel that you are creative and to an extent self-sufficient, but would not welcome the notion that you are aggressively independent or a person who prefers to act as a self-seeking loner.  One approach might be, ‘I think innovation leads to progress and growth, however, it needs to be team based.  I always bounce my ideas off other people before I propose a radical change within my team.  I am prepared to introduce incremental change without authority but am always ready to justify what I have done’. 

 

You might say that you start with an agenda and stick to it, having first invited people to add to the agenda if appropriate for the type of meeting.  You would need to stress how important total participation is for the aim of the meeting, and that as leader you would use your personal skills to get the views and ideas from everyone present, in an air of pleasant co-operation.  If the meeting began to digress then it would be necessary to bring it back on track.  Tell your interviewer that, in your opinion, there three important Ps that make a meeting work – preparation, participation and pace. 

 

This is similar to a previous question, ‘What do you dislike most in your present (past) position?’ Remember the tips we mentioned then. You really like your work, of course!   There’s a juggling act required here. If the present (or past) job is very similar to the job you’ve applied for, then you must, after due pause for meditation, state, ‘I really can’t think of anything that I dislike about my job or the people I work with’.  This might encourage your interviewer along the view that you can be hired because you may well be motivated to work hard most of the time.  If the present (or past) job is significantly different from the new position, then you have more scope.  Perhaps, you might say, ‘I really enjoy my work and the people I work with.  But occasionally I get a little frustrated by working in a small company culture, where the systems, infrastructure and technology are not very sophisticated but this does not stop me from performing work which I know must be done’.

 

The question implies that the job involves difficult deadline dates and milestone targets, but this is bread and butter in the accountancy and finance areas anyway.  A full and thoughtful answer will serve your case better than a brief one.  You could say, ‘I am used to working against strict deadline dates which has often required evening and weekend work, but I’ve kept the situation under control and never once failed to achieve the desired outcome.  If fact I enjoy working under pressure – it seems to bring the best out in me’. 

 

You need to convince your interviewer that the odd periods of unpaid overtime is not a problem for you, ‘I have always been prepared to stay behind in my own time when circumstances have required it.  This has not happened often, but extra time is not a problem when you enjoy what you’re doing’. 

 

Here you simply say that you are prepared to work with anyone, and leave it at that. 

 

There is a very good chance that this question will be asked.  Your interviewer will want to try and learn what you are like outside of your working environment.  If you don’t like cricket or darts don’t say that you do, just provide truthful answers.  There is nothing worse than saying you’re an enthusiast of a sport and then it turns out that your interviewer is crazy about it and begins to ask you questions you can’t answer.  You will look a dope and your integrity will be suspect.

Your hobbies and interests can tell an employer a lot about you, including whether you are outgoing or a loner, and whether you can take on ‘team leadership' roles.  So you should think about which of your interests will reflect the right image of you given the position you are applying for.  But above all – be honest.

 

This question needs a truthful answer. Don’t think that your interviewer is eager to hear you say that you enjoy reading ‘The Economist’ every month and that each publication is an event that really switches you on, or that ‘Porter’s ‘Competitive Strategy’ was the best read of your life.  That is not a good idea - your interviewer will see through you in an instant!  If you have genuinely read 'The Life of Sinatra’ or ‘Bernard Cornwall’s’ books or are an avid collector of Hans Hellmut Kirst’s out of editions, then tell the employer why you are an enthusiast.  Be prepared, though, for a detailed discussion of your choice if it coincides with the interviewer’s own interests.  Of course, if you read publications related to the accountancy and finance profession and have recently read a thought provoking article about the latest 'accountancy exposure draft’ then by all means use this as an example.

 

This can be a difficult question to answer if you are frequently off sick or you have just recovered from a prolonged period of illness.  If you have generally enjoyed good health and this period of illness is not typical then you should say so.

 

 

 

This is a question you don’t want, but you’re almost certainly going to have to answer.  You have to be very careful when answering this question because once an interviewer knows your current salary he or she will try and fix your remuneration package for their post based on the same figure.  This may be acceptable if you only want a modest rise in salary and your current salary is in line with the new company’s salary range and you can see other spin-off benefits from holding the position.  But, what if your current salary is substantially lower than the market rate for the job, or if you think you are worth a substantial salary rise?  In these cases you would be best advised to say, ‘I am sorry but I do not want to prejudice my position by stating my salary which is attached to another position.  What I would like to do is to receive a competitive offer from you based on the position you offer me.  Of course, I accept that you may have a range in mind, but this would be the basis that we could negotiate based on my undoubted skills and ability to contribute to your organisation’.  Don’t lie – remember your employer will eventually have sight of your P45!

 

The answer is to emphatically state that you do not consider that you are overpaid.  Also point out that you are extremely proud of the value you have added to your present company.  Depending on circumstances you could also say, ‘Time has moved on and I believe that with all the extra responsibilities I have taken on since I was originally employed I am possibly under paid.’ (Of course, this would have to be a true statement.)

 

This is another question you don’t want, but you’re almost certainly going to have to answer.  You could try and turn the question back to your interviewer, ‘What salary would you expect to pay for this post?’ or ask what the salary range is (knowing that with your skills you’d expect to be at the higher end of the scale).  If the interviewer quotes a salary and asks for your response, let him or her know that you were thinking of something a little higher. Remember, the interviewer is negotiating and is bound to pitch low.  Don’t quote a figure which is out of the reach of the company – it would probably result in you losing the position. 

“Keep in mind that your employer is at the end of an expensive recruitment process,” says Charles MacLeod, the director of resourcing at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Now that you’ve got the job you can be firm about what you want from the company” (Reference: Reference: Times Online).
 

When an interviewer asks an oddball question they want to see how you react under stress.  Williams says: “Don’t panic, take your time, talk through your thinking and although there is no right answer, commit yourself to one.” (Reference: Times Online).  If you cannot answer a question you might reply with "That's an interesting question - how would you tackle it?“  As far as the ceiling is concerned think of options, however strange:

 

Watch it – this is a trick!  Your interviewer is testing your mental reasoning.  He or she is waiting for you to ask, ‘What kind of story?’  Then, your interviewer might bounce back by asking you for a story about yourself.  So another question spins from you, ‘Do you want a personal story or a work related story?’  A personal story!  ‘OK, so what age do you want me to be?’  By now you’ve narrowed the area down somewhat and the exercise becomes much easier.  Just try to relate some simple anecdote which shows you in a good light.  (So make sure you go to the interview armed with a few stories about yourself.)
 

 

The question is politically slanted and your interviewer is testing whether you are very vocal over political issues.  You should not over react to questions such as this, even though you might have firm views.  In a quiet and level voice simply state your opinion but also emphasise that there are justifiable counter-views.  Make the point that, ‘Nothing is black or white’.
 

 

Answer the question truthfully, but don’t describe the sordid parts of the film in so much graphic detail that you shock your interviewer! It’s enough to simply give an overtone of the nature of the film, and perhaps to state who the director was and the actors playing the different roles.  Do some preparation and enter the interview armed with details of at least one film – director and actors, etc.
 

 

Which book do you wish you’d written?  

This question needs an honest answer.  It’s a good idea to rehearse this type of question and to be able to give a rational explanation as to why you think the book you select is so good.  Incidentally, it doesn’t have to be Shakespeare!  Be careful anyway, you may have the bad (or good) luck to mention a book that greatly interests your interviewer who might then begin discussing its merits.  If you only have a very superficial knowledge of the book, your interviewer may begin to doubt the probity of some of your other answers.
 

 

Your interviewer is trying to assess how much interest you take in the world in general and economics in particular, and also to gauge your values and attitudes to life.  Whatever the topic, you need to demonstrate in your answer that you can talk fluently, see both sides of an argument, examine things holistically, and are capable of making rational judgement.  But, don’t rant on about your particular views, if you hold them – be reasonable and low-key in your response.  An appropriate answer would be, ‘The strengths of maintaining the pound as a currency are more political than economic, and transparency of prices vis-à-vis Britain and Europe may be to the disadvantage of Britain if we did switch currencies.  On the other hand, there is a considerable overhead cost and risk incurred by converting between the two currencies.  There is a lot more to the debate than simple mention of these two factors’. 

 

These sort of one-off questions can be very difficult to answer.  You should give the response, which in your opinion will give you the best chance of getting the job.  You could say, for example, ‘I simply don’t know.  It would be such a big shock that I would have to spend some time wondering what I will do.  I’m too young to retire.  That’s for certain!’.

 

A difficult question, with an obvious trap.  Is the interviewer testing your loyalty or your integrity?  With a little diplomacy you could reflect a positive slant on both by saying, ‘I cannot believe that you would ask me to do this – from our few minutes together I don’t think you’re that kind of person.  You’re just putting me up.  However, my professional ethical guidelines are quite clear on the action I would be compelled to take, and I know that you are already aware of these guidelines’.  Just leave it at that.  
 
 

 

Again, your interviewer is trying to see how you would react under pressure.  The knee-jerk solution would be to contact the auditors and delay their visit.  That however, may not be so easy as it first seems, and presumably would not impress your interviewer.  You might want to talk the problem through with your interviewer, listing the options and then dismissing them, one by one, as impracticable.  Make statements such as, ‘Every problem has a solution …’, ‘A clear mind is called for ….’  You could conclude by saying, ’This is where real team work comes into play.  I would need to re-prioritise all work and persuade everyone still able to work to put their shoulders to the wheel.  A lot of candlelight would be required’.
 

 

This is a question, which effectively criticises your own performance.  After all, the error has occurred in your department, on your watch, so to speak, and you cannot shrink from you own ultimate responsibility.  Do not put it all down to your member of staff, who may have numerous plausible reasons for what seems to be a serious lapse.  Your interviewer will be listening carefully to see whether you would be prepared to accept your responsibility or would simply try to blame your team member.  An answer might be, ‘This is a very serious lapse of work, but there could be several different personal reasons why the member of staff has under-performed.  I would need to investigate this, and instigate disciplinary action only if it was fully justified. In the meantime, I would shoulder full responsibility and brief my own manager on what has happened.  Before this meeting I would have prepared a full assessment of the likely damage and would have ready suggestions as to how the damage could be mitigated, and what actions should be taken to ensure that the situation does not arise again’.
 

 

This question seems difficult but is actually quite easy to answer.  An acceptable response would be, ‘It’s very important that a company has a back-up procedure to deal with such an eventuality.  Providing the back-up system is regularly assessed and updated, and tested in simulated conditions, it would be a case of implementing it quickly and effectively.  I would of course make myself readily available to help the IT experts in any way I could to resolve the problem as quickly as possible’.