Showing posts with label questions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label questions. Show all posts

Sunday, 9 August 2015

6 Tips for Dressing for a Job Interview

21:57:00

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The first impression you make when you go for a job interview is the most important one. Before you even open your mouth, you are being judged on how you dress and this can give out certain ideas about who you are as a person as well as your work ethic.
It can potentially make or break the interview. So how exactly should you dress when you go for a job interview? Here are some tips and tricks to remember so you create a great first impression…good luck!
1. Research the company’s culture and dress code
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What outfits are considered appropriate for an interview often varies by industry. If you know people who work at the company you are interviewing for, ask them what they wear to work.
If you don’t know anyone, that’s ok too. Call the Human Resources department of the company and ask them for recommendation. Even if a company is known to have a casual dress code, they may expect you to dress up a little for your first interview.

2. Invest in a “power outfit”

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In some industries, suits and ties are the norm. If you are applying for a job in one of these industries, invest in a few professional but comfortable “power outfits”. Don’t just get one because you may be asked to return for follow up interviews. These outfits may cost more but they will make you look good.

3. Wear appropriate and comfortable shoes

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Your outfit includes your shoes too, but unfortunately, many people don’t realise this. Your overall appearance won’t quite have the desired impact if you wear a beautiful, tailor-made suit with a pair of tattered and dirty shoes.
For men, a pair of dress shoes or loafers is usually appropriate. For women, try to be conservative and wear a pair of low heels, and don’t expose your toes.

4. Try out your interview outfit

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Even though you might have tried the clothes before you bought them, put the whole outfit while you are at home to be sure it’s appropriate. Make sure that you can walk and sit comfortably, and you may even wish to have a sort of “dress rehearsal”, answering your interview questions in your interview outfit.

5. Don’t over accessorize

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Whether you are a male or female, accessories are very important. However, try not to wear too much jewellery, especially large, flashy, and distracting ones and is may take the attention away from what you are saying and rather on the bling you are sporting. If you are a male, a watch and a nice belt are good options. 

6. Groom yourself

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Besides your outfit, make sure that your hair looks neat and your fingernails are clean. You’ll have to shake hands with people at the interview, and you don’t want them to see the dirt under your fingernails!
What outfit do you rely on when you go for an interview? Let us know in the comments below!
Main image credit: Shutterstock
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13 Interview Questions You Should Be Asking Finance Candidates

21:48:00

Here are 13 questions you should be asking your finance job candidates today:

1. What motivates you?

This is your chance to detect what drives your finance candidates. Dig further to find out whether it’s about the money or the finance industry itself. Keep in mind, the desire to make money doesn’t necessarily equate to a  sufficient drive to succeed or real passion for the business. It often comes with limitations.

2. What is your greatest achievement?

For some finance candidates, the answer may be related to a specific project they undertook or an award they received. If they don’t share insightful details about why they feel this was their greatest achievement, be sure to question further. Ask yourself: Is this relevant to the role they’re interviewing for?

3. What can you bring to this role that you’re certain other applicants can’t?

Get to the bottom of why this finance candidate truly deserves your attention. It could be their precise role-related experience, achievements within the industry, or even their unique personality. This question is also important for testing your candidate’s level of confidence — is it too much or just right?

4. What hurdles or obstacles have you overcome?

Posing this question will help you key into your finance candidate’s ability to overcome adversity or challenges throughout their career. If you’re particularly interested in a piece of information on their resume, like a layoff, ask them directly about how they overcame that situation.

5. What would previous coworkers and managers say about you?

Zeroing in on how others perceive your interviewee is essential to finding out whether they’re a match for the position and your company as a whole. Jot down what your candidate shares with you and follow-up with their references to see if the descriptions match.

6. Where do you see yourself in five years?

It’s important to understand whether your finance candidate’s career path is aligned with the position to which they are applying. Bringing on a candidate who’s just looking for a “here and now” type of position won’t do you any favors in terms of a long-term hire. Watch out for cookie cutter answers that end up sounding more like wishful thinking than actual long-term plans.

7. Are you willing to relocate?

This should be a no-brainer for candidates who are truly passionate about the role. Any hesitation in answering this question should lead you to question them further.

8. Are you willing to work all hours?

Depending on the available position and the company culture, it may be necessary for your potential finance hire to work late to ensure their responsibilities are completed. Their answer to this question will reveal if they’re dedicated and passionate about the role.

9. Do you play sports?

If a competitive spirit is crucial for thriving in the role you’re interviewing for, this question will do the trick. Playing sports, whether currently or previously, is a great way to determine whether your finance candidates have a competitive nature.

10. What other industries are you looking into?

Are your candidates really interested in the finance industry, or are they just exploring their options? Passion for finance is essential to staying afloat in this industry.

11. What was the worst class you had in college?

What would that professor say about you? These two questions will allow you to dig deeper into the potential weaknesses and challenges of your finance candidates. You’ll also be able to take a closer look at how well they handled this situation. While they may have hated their creative writing class, would their professor say they put their best foot forward in spite of it all?

12. If you could only pick one, what stock would you pick and why?

This is one the few industry-specific questions that will give you a better sense of your candidate. Are they a risk-taker, or do they play it safe?

13. What do you know about our company, our competition, and our industry as a whole?

Asking your candidates to sum up your company and their industry knowledge will give you insight into how much homework they did prior to the interview. Candidates who “blank” on this question may be unfamiliar with your company and the finance industry as a whole, and applying to this role on a whim. You don’t want an employee who lacks the ability or desire to research.
Better interview questions are a key component in landing better finance hires. Carefully track their body language and reactions to the questions you present, as these are also effective indicators. Remember, you want a candidate who is truly passionate about the opportunity and not just trying to “win the job.” Always read between the lines.
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Common Finance Interview Questions (and Answers)

21:46:00
Before we get to accounting questions, here are some interview best practices to keep in mind when getting ready for the big day.
  1. Be prepared for technical questions. Many students erroneously believe that if they are not finance/business majors, then technical questions do not apply to them. On the contrary, interviewers want to be assured that students going into the field are committed to the work they’ll be doing for the next few years, especially as many finance firms will devote considerable resources to mentor and develop their new employees.
  2. One recruiter we’ve spoken to said “while we do not expect liberal arts majors to have a deep mastery of highly technical concepts, we do expect them to understand the basic accounting and finance concepts as they relate to investment banking. Someone who can’t answer basic questions like ‘walk me through a DCF’ has not sufficiently prepared for the interview, in my opinion”.
  3. Another added, “Once a knowledge gap is identified, it’s typically very difficult to reverse the direction of the interview.”
  4. Keep each of your answers limited to 2 minutes. Longer answers may lose an interviewer, while giving them additional ammunition to go after you with more complicated question on the same topic.
  5. It’s ok to say “I don’t know” a few times during the interview. If interviewers think that you’re making up answers, they’ll continue probing you further, which will lead to more creative answers, which will lead to more complicated questions and a slow realization by you that interviewer knows that you don’t really know. This will be followed by uncomfortable silence. And no job offer.

Now, on to Accounting Questions

Accounting is the language of business, so don’t underestimate the importance of accounting questions. Some are easy, some are more challenging, but of all of them allow interviewers to gauge your knowledge level without the need to ask more complex valuation/finance questions.Below we have selected most common accounting questions you should expect to see during the recruiting process.
Q: 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?
A: 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.
Q: Walk me through a cash flow statement.
A. 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.
Q: What is working capital?
A: 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.
Q: Is it possible for a company to show positive cash flows but be in grave trouble?
A: Absolutely. Two examples involve unsustainable improvements in working capital (a company is selling off inventory and delaying payables), and another example involves lack of revenues going forward.in the pipeline
Q: How is it possible for a company to show positive net income but go bankrupt?
A: Two examples include deterioration of working capital (i.e. increasing accounts receivable, lowering accounts payable), and financial shenanigans.
Q: I buy a piece of equipment, walk me through the impact on the 3 financial statements.
A: Initially, there is no impact (income statement); cash goes down, while PP&E goes up (balance sheet), and the purchase of PP&E is a cash outflow (cash flow statement)
Over the life of the asset: depreciation reduces net income (income statement); PP&E goes down by depreciation, while retained earnings go down (balance sheet); and depreciation is added back (because it is a non-cash expense that reduced net income) in the cash from operations section (cash flow statement).
Q: Why are increases in accounts receivable a cash reduction on the cash flow  statement?
A: Since our cash flow statement starts with net income, an increase in accounts receivable is an adjustment to net income to reflect the fact that the company never actually received those funds.
Q: How is the income statement linked to the balance sheet?
A:  Net income flows into retained earnings.
Q: What is goodwill?
A: Goodwill is an asset that captures excess of the purchase price over fair market value of an acquired business. Let’s walk through the following example: Acquirer buys Target for $500m in cash. Target has 1 asset: PPE with book value of $100, debt of $50m, and equity of $50m = book value (A-L) of $50m.
  • Acquirer records cash decline of $500 to finance acquisition
  • Acquirer’s PP&E increases by $100m
  • Acquirer’s debt increases by $50m
  •  Acquirer records goodwill of $450m
Q: What is a deferred tax liability and why might one be created?
A: Deferred tax liability is a tax expense amount reported on a company’s income statement that is not actually paid to the IRS in that time period, but is expected to be paid in the future. It arises because when a company actually pays less in taxes to the IRS than they show as an expense on their income statement in a reporting period.
Differences in depreciation expense between book reporting (GAAP) and IRS reporting can lead to differences in income between the two, which ultimately leads to differences in tax expense reported in the financial statements and taxes payable to the IRS.
Q: What is a deferred tax asset and why might one be created?
A: Deferred tax asset arises when a company actually pays more in taxes to the IRS than they show as an expense on their income statement in a reporting period.
  • Differences in revenue recognition, expense recognition (such as warranty expense), and net operating losses (NOLs) can create deferred tax assets.
I hope you enjoyed this article.  Please feel free to write me with any comments 
Best regards,
Arkady
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10 Most Common MBA Interview Questions

21:43:00


College_Clip_ArtSome people perceive it as “The Chance” to succeed and fulfil their dreams while others look at it like just another round of selection. While some feel confident having cleared the entrance exam as for them in their head that could be the end of their dreams, there are others for whom the written is a cake walk and they are dreading the Personal Interview.
The Personal Interview is indeed the last mile, the last stretch and the toughest round to clear in more than one ways. This is because despite months of preparation, no one can predict the questions you’ll have to face in your personal interview. But we can always guess right? And some guesses and estimates are accurate is why so many recruitment & selection processes & decisions have started to rely on your ability to come to accurate guesstimates. This is where interview questions and answers come into the picture and take your preparation to the next level. While you aren’t expected to know the answer to every question you will be asked in the personal interview, you are expected to make sense all the time. So, be thoughtful and honest while in an Interview. The round is also crucial as it gauges into your inter-personal & communicative skills & through it, the university/organization seeks to ascertain your vision as an MBA aspirant or a Potential employee.
So here are some popular personal interview questions especially for MBA Aspirants-
1. Do you know yourself? Tell us something about yourself.
This is perhaps the most commonly asked question & is a question that one should always be prepared to answer. Some of the things you can talk about here are-
a. Your educational and/or professional background that is, where you come from?
b. Your interests & hobbies, that is to do with your personality, who are you?
c. Your strengths, that is a glimpse for the recruiter into your profile and how that will benefit any organization that you work for?
Don’t repeat what’s already there on your Resume. The question is thrown at you, to test your communication skills, body language, confidence and how you make sure you are giving the most brilliant first impression.
2. Do you have a Resume with a 6-second impact? Can you walk me through your resume?
This is a very challenging question as it requires you to be aware of your strengths and key experiences. It basically tests your ability to present and talk about the highlights of your profile. Make sure your resume is making the 6 second impact for free at http://www.vmock.com/bp now!
3. Do you know where you’re headed? Where do you see yourself 5/10 years from now?
Another popular question that keeps recurring in the MBA personal interviews. You should try to be honest while answering this one. Don’t say “In your seat”! It’s outdated and long foregone. You should have a relevant and appropriate answer ready! For instance, if you have applied for an MBA in finance, you should see yourself in a managerial position handling responsibilities in the finance vertical of an organization. You can also substantiate your answer with the industry, field that you want to go into. You can also talk about a vision for your personal life or a self-actualization need here. Your ultimate career goal must be in line with your specialization and your choice to get an MBA.
4. Have you done your SWOT? What are your strengths & weaknesses?
A SWOT is a detailed analysis of your-self. It’s a cool feeling to analyze oneself like a subject. The most challenging aspect of a SWOT, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats, is the W. It’s really hard to come up with Weaknesses that you can share with the recruiter who is totally judging every word you utter. Also, need to simultaneously make sure that strengths and weaknesses are not contradicting each other. For instance, don’t say in one instant, that you are emotionally stable and then in another, point out your short-tempered nature. Also, stay away from the clichéd way of presenting “strength” as your weakness. For example: “My weakness is that I’m a perfectionist”. Come up with a genuine weakness and then quickly move on to talking about how you strive to tackle it and take it to your advantage. Interviewer is aware that no one is perfect so trying to outsmart the recruiter here is a bad idea. For example: “I can be disorganised at times & thus miss important events. I’ve started maintaining a planner & leave reminders on my phone to help me keep track of important deadlines, events etc.”
5. Do you know the purpose for your being there? Why MBA?
This answer would be tailor-made to where you’re coming from or your background. If you are a fresher, your answer could be that an MBA would be your ideal launch pad into the corporate world.
If you are someone with prior work-experience, you would have different reasons for pursuing an MBA. Answers as abstract as “To make more money”, “To gain more knowledge” should not be on your list.
6. Can you reason your willingness and potential to be where you’re applying for?Why do you want to join this B-school?
In an interview for B-school X, a person was asked to choose between X & Y while B-school Y is better than X. The candidate faced a dilemma wrt the perspective to answer such a question. Clearly, this is your chance to impress them! You should know about the institute’s history, its flag-ship programmes, ranking, placement records, faculty members etc. It would be good if you can get in touch with a few students of that institute before your PI. Apart from giving you an idea about the kind of panel you would have to face, they can give you valuable insight into the college’s academic & extra-curricular activities. Your answer should reflect that you’ve done your homework well & that you’re keen to pursue your management degree from that particular B-school.
7. Do you have a strong hold on your learning curve? Questions about the Course you are pursuing or pursued.
This is about knowing the fundamentals of your course material well. Don’t assume that there would be no experts from your field in the panel who can quiz you to selection/rejection. Be well prepared!
8. Are you well-read? Questions related to your Profession
You should go prepared knowing all about your job profile, your KRAs (key result areas), your organisation, its performance in the markets, your industry, your organisation’s competitors.
9. Are you a fun person? Questions about your Hobbies
Make sure your interests and hobbies also give you an edge and help you stand out! If you’ve mentioned gardening as a hobby, you are expected to know which fertiliser works best for rose flowers! So make sure that you have in-depth information about your interest. If you have mentioned hobbies that are genuine, this should not be a problem. But if you’ve mentioned “reading” as a hobby, just to impress the interview panel, then you better do some R&D!
10. Are you really aware or did you just get lucky? Questions from your GD
It’s quite possible that your Personal Interview panel could be the same as your Group Discussion. In such a scenario, be prepared to expect questions around your GD topic. They could probe you further about it or ask about a certain point you’d made in the GD. You should be able to defend or justify your point of view.
But, every personal interview is unique. You might or might not be asked one of these questions. At the end of the day, what matters is that you should be honest & thoughtful.
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Various Terms of Banking – Know Their Actual Meaning

19:02:00
Account Holder
An individual or entity which is authorized to perform transactions on behalf of an account, such as a bank account. Authorization isprovided through signatures placed on file with the bank or company managing the account.

Acquiring Bank

An acquiring bank (or acquirer) is the bank or financial institution that processes credit and or debit card payments for products orservices for a merchant. The term acquirer indicates that the bank accepts or acquires credit card payment from the card-issuing banks within an association.

Adjustable-Rate, Mortgages (ARMS)

A variable-rate mortgage, adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), or tracker mortgage is a mortgage loan with the interest rate on the note periodically adjusted based on an index which reflects the cost to the lender of borrowing on the credit markets. The loan may be offered atthe lender’s standard variable rate or base rate.

Adverse Action

An action that denies an individual or business credit, employment,insurance or other benefits. An adverse action is generally taken by abusiness or government based on a criminal past or information found in credit reports.
Alteration
Any change involving an erasure or rewriting in the date, amount, or payee of a check or other negotiable instrument.

Annual Percentage Rate

The cost of credit The term annual percentage rate (APR), also called nominal APR, and the term effective APR, also called EAPR, describes the interest rate for a whole year (annualized), rather than just amonthly fee/rate, as applied on a loan, mortgage loan, credit card, etc.on a yearly basis, expressed as a percentage.

Annual Percentage Yield

Annual percentage yield (APY) (also called Effective Annual Rate(EAR) in finance) is a normalized representation of an interest rate,based on a compounding period of one year. APY generally refers to the rate paid to a depositor by a financial institution.

Annuity

An Annuity is any continuing payment with a fixed total annual amount.

Automated Teller Machine

It is a computerized telecommunication device that enables the clients of a financial institution to perform financial transactions without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller.
Bad Debt
A bad debt is an amount owed to a business or individual that is written off by the creditor as a loss (and classified as an expense) because the debt cannot be collected and all reasonable efforts tocollect it have been exhausted. This usually occurs when the debtor has declared bankruptcy or the cost of pursuing further action in an attempt to collect the debt exceeds the debt itself.
Bank Statement
A bank statement or account statement is a summary of financial transactions which have occurred over a given period of time on abank account held by a person or business with a financial institution.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of a person or organization that can not repay the debts it owes to creditors.
Cease and Desist Letter
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity (cease)and not to take it up again later (desist) or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization.
Collateral
In lending agreements, collateral is a borrower’s pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan. The collateral serves as protection for a lender against a borrower’s default – that is,any borrower failing to pay the principal and interest under the termsof a loan obligation.

Credit Card

It is a payment card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows the cardholder to pay for goods and services based on the holder’s promise to pay for them.

Current Account

In economics, the current account is one of the two primary components of the balance of payments, the other being capital account. It is the sum of the balance of trade (i.e., net revenue on exports minus payments for imports), factor income (earnings on foreign investments minus payments made to foreign investors) and cash transfers.
Debit Card
A debit card (also known as a bank card or check card) is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account(s) at a financial institution.

Deferred Payment

A standard of deferred payment is the accepted way, in a given market, to settle a debt – a unit in which debts are denominated. It is one of the defining functions of money.
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly withholding assets for the purpose of conversion (theft) of such assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted, to be held and/or used for other purposes.
Escheat
Reversion of real or personal property to the State when a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or when the property(such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time.
Escrow Funds
Funds held in reserve by a mortgage company to pay taxes, insurance,and other mortgage-related items when due.
Estate Account
An account held in the name of a decedent that is administered by an executor or administrator of the estate.
Savings Bank Account
A savings account holder of a particular bank can carry out his or her banking transactions on daily basis. Mostly, these accounts areaccessed for non-commercial purposes

Repo Rate

The discount rate at which a central bank repurchases government securities from the commercial banks, depending on the level of money supply it decides to maintain in the country’s monetary system.
Reverse Repo
Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI)borrows money from banks.
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company (or part of acompany) is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to aswinding-up or dissolution.
Frozen Account
An account on which funds may not be withdrawn until a lien is satisfied and a court order or other legal process makes the account available for withdrawal.

Foreclosure
Foreclosure is a specific legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan
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