does it matter?

It is it huge deal if I miss one technical on a phone interview? It was an accounting question "how would this affect the 3 statements..."I got the jist of it and explained my reasoning and he walked me through it. he then proceeded to ask me two more which I got correct. The interview overall went well but I missed that one question. It was phone interview first round, said will get back to me by end of this week.

Let me know andthanks for the responses!

11 Comments
 

company buys PPE for 100 in cash. how does this affect the 3 statements at year 1? I know it's a basic question but I started off by saying that the income statement ifs affected when at the start of year 1, it isn't. so it messed me up as I went along. I kept my cool and attempted to answer it. He then guided me through it. I got the other 2 correct (DCF, WACC). Let me know what you think . I appreciate it!

 
abcbankercompany buys PPE for 100 in cash. how does this affect the 3 statements at year 1? I know it's a basic question but I started off by saying that the income statement ifs affected when at the start of year 1, it isn't. so it messed me up as I went along. I kept my cool and attempted to answer it. He then guided me through it. I got the other 2 correct (DCF, WACC). Let me know what you think . I appreciate it!

no offense, this isn't something you should miss. all 3 questions are softballs in my opinion, especially considering you went to a business program. it wouldn't be unfair to ask the same question with the ppe being financed with hy pik toggle notes and expect a correct answer.

that said, you might not be dinged, but i would brush up on my shit if i were you.

 

I've had friends miss easy ones and go on, but I've also had friends miss easy ones and not make it through.

It all depends on if they liked the rest of your interview and how you compare to the other kids they are screening. I don't think that you can call an interview from one question.

 
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Best Response

It depends on how well you conveyed your knowledge. I botched an interview earlier ($10 depreciation through 3 statements), was THOROUGHLY embarrassed (dunno why I thought 10*(1-.4) = 4). After he kept asking "are you sure?" I realized my error and corrected myself. He continued to ask some other technical and went pretty far in depth and I got through them all pretty well. I talked to that same interviewer a little while later in a more informal manner. He told me that he couldn't believe I somehow messed up the depreciation question even though I got all the other questions/way harder versions of the question right. We even laughed about it for awhile and he eventually told me that even though I made an error, he knew "you knew your shit, I could tell". Made it to next round...

 

I have spoken with candidates who missed interview questions and were still hired. Some of it depends on how you answer incorrectly. If you handle it with a self assured attitude, many times you can overcome the inability to answer a question perfectly. If you don't get asked for a next round of interviews, at least it will be a good learning experience and you can use your mistake as an opportunity to grow.

If it would help to get some pre-interview coaching so that you can learn how to better position yourself when asked a tough question, we have an excellent career coach at my firm which specializes in helping senior level executives position themselves for success in the job market.

Oh, and on Feb. 8th we are having a Free Resume Writing Webinar at 1 PM ET for financial professionals in conjunction with Job Search Digest. You may want to check that out too so you can hedge your bet by improving your resume effectiveness. Extreme Resume Makeover Edition is the title of the webinar. You can visit http://www,careersdonewrite.com/webinar for more detailed info.

 

I agree with @wscwartz since you answered to two questions after correctly, there si a good chance he will overlook it, perhaps write it off as first question jitters. We have all missed softballs before, no offense, i think what is more important is how you handled yourself after you realized your mistake.

 

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