Financial Controller Interview Preparation Guide

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Your ability to identify key issues and detect problems from relevant information is key in your answer. Your skill in breaking down, organizing and analyzing information is under the spotlight with this interview question.

This financial interview question explores your ability to communicate information or alternatives in a manner that gains agreement and acceptance. Show how you are able to look at the position of others, present alternatives and reach an agreement that is positive for all parties.

Finance interview questions that examine your motivation are designed to assess whether you will be a good motivational fit with the job opportunity and the company. Make your motivation relevant to what the finance job provides. Most finance positions require self-motivated people whose motivators include managing a challenge, getting the required results, achievement and recognition.

You want to be paid as much as you can, while the hiring firm wants to get your services for as little as they can. Do not undersell yourself and your abilities, but do not make your demands so high that that you are rejected out of hand as a potential hire if you would settle for less.

Discuss a relevant achievement, the challenges you faced in getting there and what made you successful. Discuss why it was important to you, making the reasons relevant to the finance job you are interviewing for. Emphasize how your achievement can be translated into success in this position.

Beyond the preliminary deliverables, it’s important to understand what the employer expects from the winning candidate over the longer haul – after their first, full year, for example, once all the attendant kinks have been worked out and the learning curves mastered.

With the employer painting the picture for you, you’ll be able to visualize how all your skills and experiences could help you reach that landmark.

If the interviewer asks about why you quit a certain job, or why there are gaps in your resume, what should you say? This short video addresses that difficult question.

There are many valid reasons that interviewers are unlikely to hold against you in assessing you as a job candidate. However, presenting your reasons awkwardly or unconvincingly definitely is bound to raise questions about you and damage your chances. Be sure that you rehearse your explanations in accordance with these suggestions.

Provide an interview answer that demonstrates your self awareness and insight.

Finance jobs demand the ability to work well under pressure. The interviewer wants to know whether you are able to perform under stress and cope with difficult situations. Show that you can stay calm and are able to plan to reduce stress.

This can be a great way to stand out from other applicants and demonstrate initiative. Almost every company will have a website, Facebook page, Instagram account, or some sort of digital footprint. Spend a bit of time doing some online research:

☛ If they have a website, check out their “About us” or “Culture/Mission/Vision” pages.
☛ Who are some of the principal people who work there? Who are the founders?
☛ What sorts of things does this company care about? Do they donate to a particular cause or charity? Which one(s)?
☛ What are their core values? Which of their core values resonate with you?
☛ Has the company been in the news recently or have they won any awards (Social Media can be a great place to find this information).

As we have discussed elsewhere, the key to getting a job is not a dry recitation of experiences and accomplishments, but a dynamic demonstration of what you can do for the person and organization with which you are interviewing.

To succeed in marketing yourself, put yourself in the place of the hiring manager. What can you do for them in the future? How can you make their lives easier? How can you make them more successful?

Ever since my first paper route at age 10 I’ve been doing something to keep myself busy and earn money. Back then, it was obviously about earning some spending money. What I didn’t realize was that I was actually starting the journey of establishing what I liked to do and how I fit in to the grand scheme of things. I then worked as a junior computer tech in my last 2 summers of high school. It was here that I discovered what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do. I enrolled in college to get my degree in computer sciences, and I have been working around technology ever since.

An innocent question. But a question that if answered improperly, can be a deal breaker. While many individuals will be looking to a new job as a means of increasing their salary, “not being paid well enough at your last job” is not something you want to mention to your interviewer. After all, are you not likely to leave this particular job if you found you could make more down the street?

If you’re currently employed and leaving of your own accord, craft your response around enhancing your career development and a seeking out of new challenges.

If your current employer is downsizing, be honest about it, remain positive, but keep it brief. If your employer fired you or let you go for cause, be prepared to give a brief – but honest – reply. No matter how tempting it may be, or how “unfair it was that they let you go” steer clear away from any and all drama and negativity. Any experienced employer understands that sometimes things happen. Staying positive is key here.

A prospective employer or hiring manager will typically use the interview to give a broad idea both of what the position entails, and of what skills, qualities, and personality they’re looking for in a successful candidate.

But interviewers tend to be coyer about how precisely a new hire’s performance will be evaluated in the early-going – that is, what specific, concrete benchmarks they’ll need to reach in order to meet expectations and survive beyond the probationary period.

☛ What are your strengths?
☛ What are your weaknesses?
☛ Why are you interested in working for [insert company name here]?
☛ Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
☛ Why do you want to leave your current company?
☛ Why was there a gap in your employment between [insert date] and [insert date]?
☛ What can you offer us that someone else can not?
☛ What are three things your former manager would like you to improve on?
☛ Are you willing to relocate?
☛ Are you willing to travel?
☛ Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
☛ Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
☛ What is your dream job?
☛ How did you hear about this position?
☛ What would you look to accomplish in the first 30 days/60 days/90 days on the job?

☛ What research have you done on our firm and our industry?
☛ What does trust mean to you?
☛ Would he or she recommend you for another job?
☛ What qualities do you find important in a co-worker?
☛ What are your lifetime goals?
☛ Which of your jobs was the best?
☛ What two or three things are most important to you in a job?

☛ Do you know anyone who works with our company?
☛ How would you describe your work style?
☛ What are you looking for in terms of career development?
☛ Example when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
☛ Are you planning to continue your studies?

☛ What have you done to support diversity in your unit?
☛ What support training would you require to be able to do this job?
☛ What major challenges and problems did you face?
☛ What do you think this position involves.
☛ What's most important to you in a new position?

☛ How do you evaluate your ability to handle conflict?
☛ Have you ever had difficulty working with a manager?
☛ What have you been doing since your last job?
☛ What do you think you can bring to this position?
☛ What is the difference between a good position and an excellent one?

☛ Discuss your resume.
☛ Discuss your educational background.
☛ Describe yourself.
☛ Tell me how you handled a difficult situation.
☛ Why should we hire you?
☛ Why are you looking for a new job?
☛ Would you work holidays/weekends?
☛ How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?
☛ What are your salary requirements?
☛ Give a time when you went above and beyond the requirements for a project.
☛ Who are our competitors?
☛ What was your biggest failure?
☛ What motivates you?
☛ What’s your availability?
☛ Who’s your mentor?
☛ Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
☛ How do you handle pressure?
☛ What is the name of our CEO?
☛ What are your career goals?
☛ What gets you up in the morning?
☛ What would your direct reports say about you?
☛ What were your bosses’ strengths/weaknesses?
☛ If I called your boss right now and asked him what is an area that you could improve on, what would he say?
☛ Are you a leader or a follower?
☛ What was the last book you’ve read for fun?
☛ What are your co-worker pet peeves?
☛ What are your hobbies?
☛ What is your favorite website?
☛ What makes you uncomfortable?
☛ What are some of your leadership experiences?
☛ How would you fire someone?
☛ What do you like the most and least about working in this industry?
☛ Would you work 40+ hours a week?
☛ What questions haven’t I asked you?
☛ What questions do you have for me?

☛ Describe a team experience you found disappointing. What could you have done to prevent it?
☛ Give an example of a time when you assisted a co-worker to enhance their work skills?
☛ What do you like least about your job?
☛ What was the toughest problem you had to solve?
☛ Tell me what are the first 5 things you would do if you got this position?
☛ To what extent do your grades reflect how much you learned?
☛ What were your favorite courses in school?

☛ What can you do for us that other candidates cant?
☛ Give me an example of a high-pressure situation?
☛ Give an example of a time you successfully worked on a team.
☛ What kind of personality do you work best with and why?
☛ What do you like and dislike about the job we are discussing?

☛ What type of management style do you thrive under?
☛ What parts of your education do you see as relevant to this Financial Controller position?
☛ What do people most often criticize about you?
☛ You have not done Financial Controller job before. How will you succeed?
☛ Who has impacted you most in your career and how?
☛ Examples of situations when your initiative ideas for improvement have made a significant difference.
☛ How do you make your decisions in general?

☛ Give me an example that best describes your organizational skills.
☛ How would you describe your presentation style?
☛ Tell about a problem that you solved in a unique or unusual way.
☛ Example when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
☛ What is your usual role in a team?
☛ Give an example when you had to explain a complex technical issue to someone.
☛ Give some examples of teamwork as Financial Controller.

☛ Situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise.
☛ Describe a situation in which you had to collect information.
☛ How would you weigh a plane without scales?
☛ What was the most difficult period in your life, and how did you deal with it?
☛ How did you react when faced with constant time pressure?