Hey guys, I have an interview with a F50 company coming up for an unspecified (pre-mba) financial analyst position. The interview for the place I worked at now was relatively basic and asked simple questions regarding corp fin like differences between NPV and IRR. This would be a decently big move up for me. I'm expecting them to grill me more on technical than usual because of my non-business major (Minor in economics, recently passed CFA level I). Did a lot of hustling and work to get this opened for me.
I've tried searching for posts on finance interview questions but only found the basic questions (If you had one financial statement, what would it be and why, etc). Is there anything extra any of you did to prepare for the technical parts of interviews? Is the WSO technical interview guide worthwhile for CF jobs?
Thanks in advance.
could you post some stuff from the job description? is this FP&A, treasury, something else?
honestly i'm CF at a relatively well known firm (Fortune 1000, good brand) and the interview wasn't technical at all.
The company claims that they don't interview for particular roles within corporate finance. It's determined after one receives an offer from the hiring manager. The two people I am set to have phone interviews with, however, are with corporate planning and reporting and the other is in worldwide revenue (analysis?).
Additionally, they say "While a general understanding of accounting is important in order to be a successful analyst, purely accounting positions do not exist within operational finance." This scares me because I never had an accounting class before CFA level I material.
Didn't actually have a job description either... I've really been taking what I've been reading from WSO to heart and have been networking my ass off. My resume was submitted on my behalf by a longtime employee (not in CF) I met.
Thanks for the response. It's good to know that I may be overestimating the technical difficulty.
I'm at F200 and my interview wasn't technical at all. However, the technical aspect was a given after reading my resume. If your resume leads them to question technical ability you may get some questions, bit probably not too many. I'd expect more questions to understand your leadership, work ethic and fit than technical questions.
Anything technical you're asked will probably not be NPV or IRR and more general accounting. Understand the financial statement and basic debits and credits.
It sounds like I should be much more focused on a behavioral interview, then. I guess purchasing the WSO technical interview guide is overkill?
I really appreciate the feedback from you and Rula. Thank you very much.
from your description it sounds like this is a financial planning & analysis (FP&A) role that you will be interviewing for. it seems unlikely that it will be too technical, but at the very least know how a balance sheet and income statement work. it's unlikely that they will ask you for NPV/IRR, but my current coworker who is a senior analyst was asked that question during his interview so it is possible.
when i interviewed for my current position last year, it was almost entirely behavioral, but i also got a take-home excel analysis test that i turned in the next day.
best of luck.
You two are great. Thanks again for the solid advice. I'll let you know if I get a third round.
Hey guys,
Just received a verbal offer today with all the details tomorrow from this place. Thanks again for your help. Thought this day would never come.
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