11 Financial Analyst Interview Questions - Concepts to Practical Implications | Conceptual Interview -

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LwbQbWEj50

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(00:00) Hello Everybody, Welcome to a very interesting and important video on the topic Financial
Analyst Interview Questions and Answers from CareerRide. In today's video we'll see questions
based on 11 very important concepts that are frequently asked to aspiring Financial Analysts.

(00:21) More than providing the text book answers to these questions we will delve deeper and
dissect them to understand the real world implications. You'll find questions about Balance Sheet,
Income Statement, Negative Cash Flow, Accounts Receivable, Liquidity, Solvency, EBITDA, Ratios
etc. But more than anything else, we'll see what should different values of these Ratios indicate to
you as a Financial Analyst.

(00:46) This insightful understanding of things is what interviewers seek. Every single word of this
video will add value to you in terms of knowledge and practical insight. Take a notepad and pen so
that you can keep taking down the important things as we go along. Ready? Great! Let's start. Q1.

(01:16) How do the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement differ from each other? What does
each of them tell about a company's financial position? This is a very basic question which you must
expect at every interview. My suggestion to you is, Don't go after explaining the Balance Sheet or
the Income Statement in detail because that is not what the interviewer's are looking for.

(01:37) Just get to the point straight away and say, A Balance Sheet reports a company's financial
health based on its Assets, Liabilities and Equity at a given point of time. Here, Assets include
everything that the company owns like Cash, property, equipment, inventory etc.

(02:00) Liabilities include everything the company owes like debts, loans, outstanding payments
etc. And, Equity is the residual interest of its owners. On the other hand an Income Statement or a
P&L Statement which reports revenues and expenses, showcases the company's performance over
a specific period of time like a quarter or a year. So, while the Balance Sheet shows what the
company owns, the Income Statement Shows how it performed.

(02:30) Investors scrutinize the balance sheet to understand the management's competitiveness in
utilizing its resources and generating the revenue. It tells whether the company has sufficient
Assets to meet its Liabilities in short term and long term. P&L Statement tells about its ability to
generate profits and control operational expenses.

(02:53) While the Balance Sheet gives a static picture, P & L Statement shows the dynamic picture.
Ok. Now, the next important statement is the Cash Flow Statement. You must expect at least one
question on this too. And, so, our Q2 is based on Cash Flow Statement. Let's see what it is: Q2.

(03:21) What is a Cash Flow Statement? Why is it important for assessing a company's liquidity and
cash management? To answer this question you can say, Well, as the name implies, Cash Flow
Statement shows a detailed account of inward and outward movement of Cash in a company. By
tracking the sources and uses of Cash, the company gets to understand how it manages its
liquidity.

(03:45) The cash movements are categorized into Operations, Investing and Financing. The
Operating Cash Flow section of the statement indicates if the company is generating sufficient cash
from its operations to maintain and expand the business. A positive cash flow indicates that the
company is generating sufficient money to sustain and expand the business without needing to
borrow it from external sources.

(04:10) Now, an essential term that can add more value to your answer is Free Cash Flow. Let's see
what it is, The Free Cash Flow shows how much money the company has with it after it has paid off
all the dividends, debt etc. This is the money that can be directed towards expansion, debt
reduction and other strategic moves. And, that is the reason it is so important.

(04:36) The next thing that I want to tell you here is, as I always say in all my videos, it is very
important to provide complete answers if you want to stand out. And, for that you have to provide
more than all other candidates would do. T

(04:57) he extra information that you can add in your answer is this....pay attention, The ideal Cash
Flow to Net Income Ratio any business aims for is 1:1 but it is often difficult to achieve because of
various reasons including the time difference between sales and cash collection. So, as we
discussed earlier, the liquidity assessment gives an idea if the company has sufficient cash to meet
its obligations or not.

(05:21) It also tells, how well the company manages - its cash inflow and outflow, - any cash
shortages and - the reasons behind them In addition to all this, it also allows you to plan your future
expenses. 3. In which case is Negative Cash flow not bad news? Negative Cash flow is not always
bad news, as we otherwise believe.

(06:09) Sometimes, it can be a result of your strategic moves rather than being an indicator of
financial trouble. For e.g. You may purposely decide to invest more in long term assets with a plan
to achieve better returns in future. This investment can cause the negative cash flow temporarily,
it is a positive sign in the strategy.

(06:30) Basically, its important to see the things in a right perspective rather than just running after
the numbers and that is where the role of a financial analyst comes in. With this, let's move on to
our next question, 4. What would you deduce from soaring Accounts Receivable? Now, the first
thing to understand here is, Any amount that the customers owe to you on account of the
purchases they have made from you on credit reflect in Accounts Receivable. So, it is unpaid
invoices that we are talking about.

(07:06) It is a current asset account on the Balance Sheet because the customers are legally bound
to pay this debt. A good measure to understand how effectively a company collects its money
converting credit sales into actual cash is Accounts Receivable Turnover ratio. The higher the ratio,
the better is the company at collecting the payments.
(07:29) Now there are two ways to look at Accounts Receivable: i.) Positive View - Ok, the company
is expecting so much cash soon. ii.) Negative View - If the receivables are too high in comparison to
cash on hand, it shows company's inefficiency in collecting its payments which can bring it into
liquidity challenges which can impact its operations also.

(07:56) A very high value of accounts receivable might mean that the company is making a lot of
sales to riskier customers who may never pay back or pay partially. So, as a Financial Analyst it
becomes very important for you to delve deeper into the reasons for high accounts receivable -
check the Doubtful accounts, the market conditions, credit policy, type of customers the sales are
being made to etc.

(08:24) Ok. So now, as soon as you talk about Accounts Receivable, another important term that
comes into picture is AR Factoring. And, your next question could be: 5. What is AR Factoring? To
answer this question you can say, When a company comes to believe that it is difficult for it to
collect its outstanding money from the customers itself and it is putting pressure on its
operations, it may decide to sell these outstanding invoices at a discounted rate to a third party.

(08:56) This third party is called a Factor. The Factor pays some advance cash from the outstanding
amount to the company and after it has recovered the remaining money, it deducts its fees and
pays the remaining amount to the company. This whole process of selling Accounts Receivables at
discounted rates is called AR Factoring.

(09:19) The advantages of AR Factoring are : i.) Immediate access to Cash - The company gets
immediate access to Cash which it may need for its operations, expansion and other growth
opportunities. ii.) Improves Focus - As the company can now focus on its core operations rather
than the collections. iii.) It specially helps the companies observing seasonal increase in sales or a
quick growth.

(09:46) In such cases, they may find it difficult to manage everything alone. However, the companies
have to make a very careful decision here because: i.) Reputation - If the Factor uses any unfair or
illegal methods to collect the money from the customers, the company's brand name gets a hit. ii.)
Loss of money - Discounted invoices means you lose up on your own money.

(10:12) 6. What is the difference between Liquidity & Solvency? These are two concepts which
indicate a company's financial health. Liquidity means a company's ability to meet its short term
obligations like paying off its bills, short term debts, operating cost and any unforeseen expenses
within the next one year.

(10:46) Solvency on the other hand means its ability to meet its obligations in the long term and
remain financially stable. Ok. Great! Now let's move on to one of the most important questions
asked at almost all the Financial Analyst Interviews. 7.

(11:11) Why is EBITDA important? What does a positive EBITDA but a negative net income indicate?
First of all, let us see what is EBITDA? EBITDA means Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation
and Amortization. It is a widely used financial metric in asset intensive industries that have a lot of
property and equipment and corresponding high non-cash depreciation. Early stage technology
companies also like to capitalize on EBITDA to discuss their performance.
(11:38) This is because they can Amortize their expenses on research and development and other
IPR. This shows their performance in a good light. It may be used to take the attention of the
investors off the challenges that a company might be facing on account of heavy borrowing, rising
capital expenses and development costs etc.

(12:01) A positive EBITDA but a negative net income may sound puzzling but if you just recollect
what do ITDA mean in EBITDA, you would realize that this condition indicates four important
things: i.) High Interest expenses on loans or bonds ii.) High Taxes iii.) Significantly high non-cash
expenses, iv.

(12:35) ) Loss in investments and other non-core activities v.) Unusual Expenses (which may be one
time) Ok. If you try to think like this , answering the questions become much more easier and you
are able to see the practical side of things. 8. What does a very high current ratio suggest to you
about a company? And, what does a Quick Ratio of value greater than 1 suggest to you? Now see,
these are two liquidity ratios that reflect a company's ability to meet its short term obligations.
Basically, how quickly can it convert its assets into cash to pay its liabilities off.

(13:24) Current Ratio = (Current Assets / Current Liabilities) Current Assets include cash, account
receivables, inventory etc. Current Liabilities include short term debt, accounts payable, other
short term obligations etc. As you can see from the equation, a value of Current Ratio higher than 1
suggests that the value of current assets is higher than that of the current liabilities which means
that the company has enough assets to pay its liabilities off.

(14:01) However, if this value is too high, it suggests that the company is not using its current
assets effectively to generate the revenue. Probably it is missing out on potential growth
opportunities. Now, coming to Quick Ratio,which is also called Acid-Test Ratio. Quick Ratio = (Quick
Assets/ Current Liabilities) Quick Assets = Current Assets - Inventory.

(14:32) This ratio is important because some times it becomes difficult to liquidate the inventory.
And, the value of this ratio indicates how easily a company can pay its liabilities off without
having to liquidate its inventory. A value greater than 1 suggests that the company can swiftly settle
its current liabilities off without getting into the hassle of liquidating the inventory.

(14:57) 9. Is a very high ROE of a company a good sign? What would you suggest as a Financial
Analyst in this case? ROE which stands for Return on Equity is a metric that measures how
efficiently a company generates profits with respect to its shareholder's equity. The formula to
calculate ROE = (Net Income / Shareholder's Equity) If the ROE of the company is above the
industry average, it makes the company lucrative for potential investors because it indicates that
the management of the company is adept at using

(15:46) the shareholder's equity effectively to run the business and generate handsome profits.
However, a very high ROE should immediately caution you because it might have been caused by
manipulations and must raise red flags for the Financial Analysts. It is important to delve deeper
into the details in such cases.

(16:11) We know that Equity = Assets - Liabilities. So, if a company increases its Liabilities by taking a
lot of debt financing, it can artificially boost the ROE without having to increase the net income and
profit. If it uses this borrowed finance to buy its shares back, it can further inflate the ROE .
(16:35) So, the basic suggestion is, if something looks too good to be true, investigate. Don't just
jump at it. Now, after this question on ROE, the next much expected question you might face could
be, 10. What do you know about DuPont analysis? To answer this question you can say, DuPont
Analysis is also called the DuPont Model or DuPont Identity.

(17:01) It is a powerful tool in financial analysis that breaks down the ROE into three components
allowing a more in depth study. These three components are i.) Profitability, ii.) Efficiency and iii.)
Financial Leverage. Let's see them one by one, i.) Profitability or Net Profit Margin = Net Income /
Total Revenue.

(17:26) It indicates how much profit a company makes for each unit of revenue. A higher
Profitability indicates better cost management and efficient operations management, pushing its
profitability higher. Such companies often have competitive advantages in Pricing or controlling the
cost. ii.

(17:57) ) Efficiency (Total Asset Turnover) = Total Revenue/ Average Total Assets Measures the sales
generated for each dollar of Assets. Basically, how efficiently a company utilizes its assets to
generate revenue. Higher efficiency suggests effective inventory and operations management. iii.)
Financial Leverage (Equity Multiplier) : This metric measures the proportion of Assets of a company
financed by debt compared to equity.

(18:26) A higher Equity Multiplier shows that the company relies more on debt finance. This may
increase its ROE but increases financial risk due to higher interest payments and potential volatility.
ROE (using DuPont Formula) = Profitability * Efficiency * Equity Multiplier DuPont Analysis basically
allows you to pinpoint the reason for high or low ROE.

(19:03) 11. What does a high P/E ratio indicate to you as a Financial Anlyst? Well, P/E ratio is
another vital ratio used by the investors to decide if they want to invest in a particular company on
not, depending upon their strategy. First of all, let us see what is P/E Ratio. P/E Ratio is also called
as Price to Earning Ratio.

(19:30) Mathematically, it can be shown as: P/E Ratio = Market price per share/ Earnings per share
Basically, how much are the investors willing to pay for each unit the company earns. A high P/E is
definitely something every company would aim for as it shows that investors are willing to pay
well for every dollar or rupee the company earns.

(19:58) It shows that the market has high expectations from this company but the financial analysts
need to probe it deeper because it can also mean overvaluation of a particular stock, where the
market expectations may not align with the actual performance. Digging deeper, we may come
across more reasons for this temporarily elevated P/E Ratio.

(20:24) For e.g. One time surge in sales due to some market conditions can elevate the P/E Ratio.
Then, the Bullish market may also record a high P/E Ratio because the optimism is high in the
market. As a Financial Analyst, it is important to take into consideration the industry, historical P/E
Ratios and future growth prospects before jumping to a conclusion.

(20:51) With this we come to the end of this video. Very soon we'll get a video on some very
important situational questions also that you may face during the interview. To ensure that you
don't miss out on it, Subscribe the channel now. If you have found today's video useful, do give it a
thumbs up and share it with your friends too.

(21:08) I'll see you very soon with a new video. Till then bbye and take care.

Investment Banking Interview Questions - Valuation Methodologies | Freshers & Experienced

Candidates - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox0Yp0CKwes

Transcript:

(00:01) Hello Everybody, Welcome to the video on Investment Banking Interview Questions and
Answers. The four most important topics that interviewers usually like to touch upon during an
interview for investment banking positions are: 1. Basic Accounting & Financial Concepts 2.

(00:22) Valuation Methodologies 3. Financial Modelling 4. Mergers & Acquisitions The first topic
Basic Accounting & Financial Concepts are covered at length in these two videos that are currently
showing up on your screen. The links to both the videos are provided in the description box below.
You can watch them after finishing this video.

(00:44) In today's video, let us focus on some very basic and important questions from Valuation
Methodologies that are usually asked during the interviews & you must be prepared to answer
them. As for the remaining two topics, we'll cover them very soon in the upcoming videos. So, if you
are really serious about cracking your next interview, make sure that you watch not just today's
video but also this complete series in the playlist, without skipping any parts of it.

(01:14) Ok. Let's start with our questions now. 1. What is valuation? Very basic question with which
interviewers usually like to open up the discussion on this topic. To answer this question, you can
say, Valuation is the quantitative process of ascertaining the current or projected worth of a
company or asset asking for an investment of any form.

(01:41) The valuation of a company depends on various factors such as - It's sector, geography,
capital structure, management, prospects of future earnings, economic events, competitors etc.
Valuation serves various purposes, such as- i.) Getting the investors, ii.) Selling/ Purchasing a
company, iii.

(02:05) ) Selling off the assets or a portion of the business, iv.) When a partner is exiting the
business and v.) For inheritance. This valuation can be done using Absolute valuation models or
Relative valuation models. So, you see, I have provided a little detailed information about Valuation
in my answer which most of the candidates won't do. And, here lies my secret to standing out of
the crowd.
(02:32) Ok, now we just talked about, Absolute valuation model and Relative valuation models. The
follow up question for you could be: 2. What is the difference between Absolute Value and Relative
Value of company? See, the terms here are quite self-explanatory. Absolute value which is also
called intrinsic value is company's worth based on its own projected cash flow. There's no
comparison with any outside company here.

(03:02) This method helps the investors understand if a stock is currently overvalued or
undervalued. And, based on this understanding they make their buying or selling decisions.
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis is a primary method used for Absolute Valuation. Some
examples of methods used under DCF Model include: - Dividend Discount Method - Discounted
Asset Model - Discounted Residual Income Method - Discounted Free Cash Flow (FCF) Method.

(03:34) Some of the major challenges involved in working out an Absolute Value include difficulties
in forecasting - Cash Flows, - Accurate Growth Rates - Appropriate Discount Rates Now coming to
Relative Value. As the name suggests, this valuation is in relation to something.

(03:58) So, here you compare the similar assets or similar companies in the same industry to
determine their value. This comparison is based on certain multiples. For e.g. if you are interested
in investing in a retail chain, you would compare chains like Star Market, Reliance Mart, D-Mart
etc. Some of the common methods used for Relative valuation are: Comparable Company Analysis,
Peer Group Analysis, Transaction Multiples Analysis etc.

(04:26) The common multiples used for making the comparison are: P/E Ratio, P/B Ratio, EV to
EBITDA Ratio, EV to Sales Ratio, EV to EBIT Ratio etc. Now, an important question that arises many a
times here is, the factors you consider while selecting the comparable companies.

(04:53) It's a good idea to brush up your knowledge on them too: So, the important factors usually
considered while selecting the comparable companies are: i.) Industry & Sector - As your study
would only make sense if you are comparing the similar entities. ii.)Size & Scale are the next
important parameters. iii.) Business Model, Growth Prospects, Financial Performance also matter.

(05:18) 3. What is the difference between Valuation and Pricing? Ok. An important question,
Valuation refers to the process of determining the intrinsic worth of an asset or company based on
factors like - Financial performance, - Future cash flows, - Market conditions. The aim here is to
estimate the fair value of the asset or company.

(05:49) While, Pricing refers to the actual market value at which an asset or company is bought or
sold in the market. The factors that influence pricing are: - The dynamics between supply and
demand - Investor sentiment, - Domestic & Global market factors. So, basically, valuation focuses on
the fundamental analysis to determine the true worth of an asset, while pricing is a reflection of
the perception and willingness of the market to pay for that asset.

(06:23) 4. Tell us something about DCF model. Discounted Cash Flow or DCF is a method of
valuation using which you determine the value of an investment based on the returns or cash flows
you expect in the future. If you see that the discounted cash flow is higher than the current cost of
the investment, you term it as a good investment opportunity else it is not.
(06:51) The investors usually do this calculation to understand if they should invest in a particular
company or project or not. DCF is calculated using this formula The biggest disadvantage of the DCF
method is it uses estimates of discount rate and cash flows rather than actual figures. If your
estimates go wrong, your calculations go wrong.

(07:15) This means that if you are very conservative as an analyst, you might miss upon a good
investment opportunity while if you are too liberal and ambitious, you might just pick up a loss
making deal. Moreover, future cash flows depend on a lot of external factors also, such as -
Domestic & Global Economy - Policies & Regulations, - Technology - Competition and a lot of
unforeseen things.

(07:40) While all these things have a heavy impact, they can't be quantified exactly, making DCF
vulnerable. You see, when you give this type of detailed answers, the interviewer is able to trust
your understanding of the subject and your ability to think from various angles, which is very
important for this profession. 5.

(08:04) What do you know about WACC? WACC stands for Weighted Average Cost of Capital. In the
simplest terms, it is the average rate a company expects to pay to finance its business. It expresses
the return shareholders and bondholders expect in return for the capital they provide to the
company. If the stock of a company is volatile or if its debt looks risky, its WACC will be higher as its
investors expect better returns for the risk they take with this investment.

(08:37) WACC is also used as discount rate in future cash flows during DCF Analysis. The formula to
calculate WACC is The first term in the formula represents the weighted value of equity capital,
while the latter represents the weighted value of debt capital. WACC is used as the Hurdle Rate also,
many a times .

(09:05) A hurdle rate is the lowest rate of return required on a project or investment. Higher the
risk, higher is the Hurdle Rate. Next comes a question that demands a practical application of your
subject knowledge. 6. Life Insurance has a very high IRR initially. Explain. IRR here means Internal
Rate of Return. It is said that IRR of a life insurance policy is very high in the initial months because
if you pay just one or two premiums and you die, your beneficiaries are still entitiled to the lump
sum benefit, which is a huge cost to the company.

(09:42) 7. What is Comparable Company Analysis (CCA)? Comparable Company Analysis (CCA) is the
process where you compare the companies on similar metric and try to determine their
enterprise value. The valuation ratios help you understand if the company is overvalued or
undervalued. CCA works in the assumption that the similar companies have similar valuation
multiples like EV, EBITDA The most commonly used measures for valuation are: i.

(10:19) ) Enterprise value to Sales (EV/S), ii.) Price to Earnings (P/E), iii.) Price to Book (P/B), iv.)
Price to Sales (P/S) v.) EBITDA If a companies valuation ratio is higher than the average of the
peers, the company is overvalued & vice-versa. 8. How are Transaction Metrics used for
Comparable Company Analysis? See. Transactions here refer to the acquisitions that have
happened in the industry recently.
(10:45) You compare the multiples based on the purchase price rather than the stock here. If you
notice that all the companies in the same space are being sold out at an avergae of 1.8 times the
market value or 12 times the earnings, you can use them as the benchmarks. 9.

(11:09) How do analysts identify relevant precedent transactions that can serve as benchmarks for
valuation purpose? Now see, this is again a little practical question which tries to understand your
logical thinking ability. You must be prepared to field some such questions also from the
interviewers. To answer this particular question talk about the step by step procedure you would
use, for example i.

(11:38) ) Conducting industry research to understand what are the recent trends & activities
happening in the market. Who are the key players in the industry relevant to your target company.
ii.) Screening Criteria: Define and set up specific screening criteria - For e.g. industry, sector, size of
the deal, geographic location, and transaction type, This helps you narrow down to the most
relevant deals.

(12:02) iii.) Search: Utilize financial databases, transaction databases, and industry reports to find
the transactions that meet your criteria. iv.) Analyse your choices for their relevance. v.) Select the
relevant ones. vi.) Carry out due diligence to ensure accuracy and reliability of the data of selected
choices.

(12:29) 10. Tell us a bit about Asset-based Valuation. See, as the term is self-explanatory, the focus
of Asset based valuation approach is on the Net Asset Value of the company In simplest terms, it
means Total Assets - Total Liabilities, i.e. the Book Value of the company. But, most of the times,
you would notice that the actual valuation of the company is usually different from the book value.

(13:19) The two prime reasons behind this are: i.) While trying to execute a deal, we consider a lot
of intangible assets that are missing in the book value ii.) You try to identify the market value of the
assets in current environment. Balance sheet valuation takes depreciated value into consideration
which may be different from the market value.

(13:41) iii.) The same applies to the market value of the liabilities also. When you make all these
adjustments, the ultimate value that you get is called as Adjusted Net Assets. A follow up question
to this can be: 11. In which cases do you use Asset-based calculation approach? Now, as we have
seen earlier, two most commonly used approaches for valuation are Enterprise value and Equity
Value. Both these approaches use the value of equity in the calculations.

(14:19) For a company that doesn't have equity, Asset-based valuation approach is used as an
alternative. Many a times, to carry out due diligence also, in case of private companies, this
approach is used. Many stkeholders also use it for valuation comparisons. And finally, when a
company wants to liquidate, this approach helps it in finding the fair market value of its assets.

(14:47) 12. What do you know about Real Options Valuation? It just signifies that these options
represent tangible, strategic choices and opportunities that a company has in the real world,
beyond the financial options that are traded in markets. These options can be related to investment
decisions, strategic expansions, or project management.
(15:14) In financial options, the right to buy or sell financial assets at predetermined prices is
involved while in real options the flexibility to make decisions that can impact a company's future
cash flows or value is involved. These decisions could be about i.) expanding into new markets, ii.)
delaying investment projects, iii.

(15:38) ) abandoning certain projects, iv.) or altering production levels as per the market conditions.
Real options differ thus from financial options contracts since they involve real (i.e. physical)
"underlying" assets and are not exchangeable as securities. 13.

(16:07) What is SOTP Valuation? How is it different from DCF Analysis? SOTP stands for Sum-of-the-
parts Valuation. It is also called as Breakup Value Analysis It is the process of determining what
would be the worth of individual divisions of a company if they were bought by a different
company. Each segment or asset is valued based on its specific characteristics, financial
performance, and market conditions.

(16:34) Now, pay attention -This valuation is used when a company is a conglomerate with
business in different industries. For e.g. SOTP can work for companies like TATA & Reliance that
have businesses in various sectors. The value of each business is separately derived and then put
together.

(16:59) It is different from DCF analysis in the sense that DCF Analysis can be used as a way to
value each business of the conglomerate. SOTP works because these big companies are then able
to harness the advantage of synergies. Another big advantage of SOTP is it helps in highlighting the
hidden value within a conglomerate structure - which can help in potential re-rating of the
company's stock by the market as investors recognize the true worth of its individual business
segments.

(17:32) On the other hand if the market conditions and dynamics change, SOTP may get effected.
14. What does a negative Terminal Value mean? In simplest words, Terminal Value of any asset or
company is its estimated value at the end of its useful life. It is an important part of DCF Analysis.

(17:56) It is important to consider the assumptions you make while calculating the Terminal Value
because they can have a significant impact on the overall valuation of a business. Now, coming to
negative terminal value. If you see practically, a negative terminal value of an asset can't exist for a
longer time. The equity value of a company can fall to zero at the lowest. Any remaining liabilities
will have to be sorted in bankruptcy proceeding.

(18:16) So, if it ever happens that you as an investor come across a negative terminal value, it is a
good idea to look at other fundamental valuation tools. 15. How is Sensitivity Analysis used in
making the investments? Ok. First of all, let us see what sensitive analysis is. See, we conduct any
analysis to understand how certain input variables affect the target variables.

(18:49) Sensitivity Analysis allows you to estimate how a range of changes in input variables impact
the target variables or the outcome. The complexities increase with the increase in number of
variables, market conditions, formula etc. Now coming to, how is sensitivity analysis used: i.) It helps
with making predictions about the share prices of public companies.
(19:12) ii.) Effect of change in interest rates on bond prices So basically it lets the management
understand the factors that have a potential impact on the outcomes reducing uncertainties and
surprises. This allows you to plan better for the future. So, these were 15 very basic but important
questions that every investment baking candidate must be prepared to answer.

(19:48) Do watch these videos on Accounting and Financial Analysis also to prepare for your
interview. You'll most certainly have some questions asked from them also during the interview.
Soon, I'll get to you the videos on Financial Modelling and Mergers & Acquisitions also. To make
sure that you don't miss them and other such videos out, subscribe to the channel now.

(20:09) If you have found today's video useful, do give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends
too. I'll be back to you very soon with the next video. Till then - bye and take care.

Investment Banking Interview Questions - Financial Modeling | Financial Analyst Interview - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYWPGh1UQqM

Transcript:

(00:00) Hello Everybody, Welcome to the Part 2 of the video on Investment Banking Interview
Questions. In today's video we'll see some very basic and important questions on Financial
Modeling usually asked at the interviews. In Part 1 we covered questions on Valuation
Methodologies.

(00:21) The link is available in the description box below for you. Other than this, these videos on
Basic Accounting and Financial Analysis will also be very useful to you. The links are again available
in the description box below. You can watch these videos one by one after you have finished
watching the current one. These videos have already helped thousands of candidates.

(00:39) They'll surely be useful to you too in cracking your next interview. Ready to begin?
Fantastic. Let's start. 1. What is Financial Modeling? See, if Financial Modeling is a part of your job
profile, this is one of the basic questions you should be prepared to answer. So, to answer this
question, you can say, Financial Modeling is a quantitative representation of company's expenses,
earnings and other business aspects in the form of a spreadsheet and in a way that it can be used
to forecast the company's financial future, based on the assumptions and past performances.

(01:21) You can further go on to add, Financial Models are used for various purposes. For e.g. i.) To
decide on budgets ii.) Valuation of a business iii.) Compare the business to peers iv.) To raise capital
v.) Grow business organically vi.) Corporate planning and allocation of resources vii.) Strategic
planning to test various scenarios viii.

(01:45) ) Sell or divest business units ix.) To carry out the due diligence x.) To explain or anticipate
the impact of various events on a company's stock based on its internal or external factors. xi.)
Equity research/ Portfolio management xii.) Calculate cost of new project Adding a bit of this extra
information about the purpose of Financial Modeling starts setting the tone for your interview. It
also helps you stand out from the crowd.

(02:26) Most of the candidates will answer only what's asked but it is these small pieces of extra
information that gets the interviewers interested in you. Ok, moving on to the next basic question
that you must be prepared to answer, 2. What are the most important components of a Financial
Model? Like any other thing in the world, it is the components of a financial model that decide
how successful or effective it will be.

(03:04) Some of the most important components of a Financial Model that you should talk about
are: i.) Assumptions - about revenue, expenses, discount rates, capital expenditure form the basis
of a financial. More accurate are your assumptions, more effective will be the model you build. ii.

(03:30) ) Historical Data: Since you are trying to predict the future based on the past, your data has
to be accurate. iii.) The 3 statements - i.e. your Income Statement, Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
Statement. iv.) Supporting Schedules to your main statements, such as, depreciation schedules,
debt schedules, and working capital schedules. v.) Valuation Technique - DCF, CCA, Precedent
Transactions Analysis, depending on the case.

(04:07) vi.) Sensitivity Analysis - As it analyses the impact of changes in the key assumptions on the
output. If you take care of these 6 components, your chances of creating an effective financial
model increase manyfold. Moving on to Question number three. 3.

(04:37) If you were to create a Financial Model, how would you go about it? See, the question is
basically asking you, what steps would you take to create a Financial Model? A very basic and
important question that has high chances of being asked at any interview. Following are the
important steps that you should discuss to answer it. i.

(05:03) ) Gaining Business Knowledge - About the company, its business, financial factors, domestic
and global factors, competition, key drivers etc. ii.) Understanding the objective of the model - Why
are you creating that model? Are you trying to determine the financial future of a company,
impact of market events on the stocks, valuation for selling or buying or anything else.

(05:26) iii.) Data gathering - Historical data that exists in various departments, financial data, data
from market research or anything that you would require. What can be the sources of this data?
iv.) Create the Model Structure - Where you actually start setting up the Excel sheets. v.

(05:57) ) Calculate Ratios and set assumptions- P/E Ratio, P/B Ratio, EBIT Margin, Debtor and
Creditor Ratios etc. Basically, all the ratios and assumptions you are going to use in your model,
that'll help you predict the future. vi.) Prepare your Financial statements P&L Statement, Balance
Sheet, Cash Flow Statements and Supporting schedules like depreciation schedules, debt
schedules, working capital schedules, fixed asset schedule that provide additional details and
validate the financial statements.

(06:29) vii.) Link all these documents and make the predictions. viii.) Perform Sensitivity Analysis -
to understand the impact of change in the key assumptions on the output of model. ix.) Check for
any mistakes - conceptual, mathematical etc. Correct them and perform your sensitivity analysis
again. x.) Validate the model and results.

(07:04) 4. How would you go about sourcing the data? Basically, which resources would you use to
get this data for your financial model. Some of these are the resources that you would definitely
required while others can be as per the objective of the model. They can be: i.

(08:06) ) Company's financial reports - Quarterly, Annual, Stakeholders, Investors etc. ii.)
Presentations and Press Releases by the company, iii.) Private Market Research Reports - that can
tell you about the competitors, market growth, any factors impacting the global or domestic
market etc. iv.) Government Databases and Reports, v.) Reports by Industry Associations vi.)
Reports by Independent Research bodies etc.

(08:45) 5. What are the qualities of a good Financial Model? Ok. Now, someone who is aware of
what a good Financial Model looks like is always more likely to build one. So, another important
question. If I were to answer this question, I would say, My mantra of a good Financial Model is
"FAST" i.

(09:15) ) Flexibility — and this flexibility means flexibility in the structure and style of the model,
both. You would need it for immediate and the long term use, both. ii.) Appropriate — to the
purpose. It should use key business assumptions without being cluttered with unnecessary
elements and details.

(09:43) These unnecessary, extra elements just make the model clumsy, complicated and difficult
to use. A really good model is simple and user- friendly iii.) Structured — this means consistency in
layout, presentation and organisation. It ensures that the model is easy to understand and usable
even when its author changes. iv.

(10:14) ) Transparent — With simple, clear formulas that can be easily understood by other
modellers and non-modellers. using the FAST approach keeps things clean and auditable in the
spreadsheet. In addition to all this, the model should be Scalable, which means if you want to build
on it, it should allow you to do that. Ok.

(10:39) Now in question number three we just talked about Schedules. Your next question can
come from here and it could be: 6. What do you mean by a Schedule? A schedule is actually a
supporting report or document which constitutes detailed information, about the elements of the
main financial report.

(11:00) So, you can say, it's a supplementary document, worksheet, or table used by accountants
and bookkeepers to organize, summarize, and analyze financial data. For e.g. Your Debt schedule
will have a list of all outstanding debt obligations, like, loans, bonds, and lines of credit, with
detailed information about the principal amount, interest rate, maturity date, repayment
schedule, and any terms and conditions associated with each debt instrument.

(11:33) 7.What are key drivers in a financial model? Key drivers are the specific factors or variables
that have a significant impact on how a company or business performs. These factors may differ
from business to business and company to company. For example, if you consider two different
retail chains, number of outlets could be a key driver for one while number of exclusive products
or premium pricing could be the key driver for another.

(12:04) These drivers also depend on the purpose of the model. The deeper and clearer is your
understanding about these key drivers, the better your model would come out to be. Some of the
common key drivers usually taken into consideration while building a Financial Model are:
revenue, price, operating cost, tax rates, capital expenditures etc.

(12:26) 8. How would you forecast the "cost"? Financial modeling is all about forecasting. So, a very
important question again. And see, it's not just about the cost. Whichever element you may want to
forecast, the most important thing is identifying the key drivers that drive it.

(12:49) Also useful is analyzing the past trends & making informed decisions about the future
assumptions. So, this one answer can help you answer many other questions also. For example, If
you are trying to forecast the cost: i.) Analyze the past trends - See, if there's a pattern. How has
the seasonality impacted the cost in the past? Is there anything worth noticing about the
expenses - operating and capital both & other such things.

(13:21) ii.) Identify the drivers - this may comprise factors such as production volume, labor costs,
material prices, overhead expenses, inflation rates, regulatory changes, technology advancements
etc. iii.) Make informed assumptions about the future - conduct your own research using the
various resources we discussed above in Q4.

(13:48) So, these are the certain things which determine how effectively you forecast the cost and
other elements. 9. What is the impact of depreciation on a company's Operating Cash Flow? Now,
depreciation is a non-cash expense as it does not involve an outflow of cash.

(14:18) It just reduces net income on the income statement but it is added back to net income
when calculating operating cash flow. So, what this adjustment does is - while it reduces reported
profitability on the income statement, it does not affect the company's cash position or its ability
to generate cash from operating activities. Rather, it increases operating cash flow.

(14:41) So, friends these were some basic and frequently asked questions related to Financial
Modeling. You must be prepared to answer questions on Basic Accounting, Financial Analysis,
Valuation Methodologies , Mergers & Acquisitions also. The links to these videos are available in
the description box below.

(15:02) If you are really serious about cracking your next interview, make sure that you watch each
one of them. If you have found today's video useful, do give it a thumbs up and share it with your
friends too. To stay updated with more such videos, subscribe the channel now. I'll be back with a
new video soon. Till then, bbye and take care.

28 Basic Accounting Interview Questions | Accountant Interview Questions | Freshers & Experienced
- YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn0gxkK_qD0

Transcript:

(00:00) Hello Everybody, Welcome to the video on Basic Interview Questions commonly asked to
the Accountants. In today's video, you'll find some important conceptual and practical questions
on Financial Record Keeping, Journal, Ledger, Subsidiary books, Bank Reconciliation Statement,
Rectification of Errors, Final Accounts etc.

(00:23) These questions will be useful to you whether you are a fresh graduate trying to get your
first job or an experienced professional looking for growth. Every moment of this video is very
carefully curated and packed with knowledge. So, if you are really serious about cracking your next
interview, make sure you don't skip any parts of the video.

(00:44) Ready to embark on the journey? Fantastic. Get yourself a notepad and a pen & let's begin.
1. What is the difference between Accrual Accounting and Cash Accounting? Which one of the two
methods would you recommend? The main difference between two methods is in the timing when
the revenue and expenses are recognized.

(01:08) Accrual method focuses on the anticipated revenue and expenses while the Cash method
recognizes the immediate revenue and expenses. For e.g. If a company makes a sale in Q1 but the
revenue is expected in Q2, Accrual method would use Accounts Receivable and recognize the
revenue in Q1 itself however the Cash method will recognize the revenue only when it is received
in Q2. The same applies to the expenses also.

(01:37) Similarly, if any expenses are made, Accrual method would get Accounts Payable into the
picture and record it immediately. On the other hand the Cash method will recognize it only when
the actual money is paid. Since the two methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, it
is difficult to recommend one.

(02:03) The choice of method depends on various factors like: i.) The size and the nature of the
business ii.) Reporting needs iii.) Legal requirements etc. The small businesses, proprietorships,
businesses that don't rely on credit transactions etc. usually use Cash Accounting method for its
simplicity and ease of implementation, as their primary focus most often is tracking the cash flow.

(02:28) However, for the large companies that have long-term contracts, different business
streams, complex transactions, accrual accounting is more appropriate because it provides a clear
picture of profitability. This clarity also helps in tax planning & gaining the trust of the investors and
creditors.

(02:49) 2. What is a Voucher? A voucher is a document supporting a payment made by a business.

It is a legal evidence that a certain payment has been made to a specific person/party. Now see,
what's going to happen is most of the candidates who appear for the interview will provide this
much answer only.

(03:17) If you want to stand out, try to provide some extra information about these Vouchers. And,
what's the extra information you can provide? You can say, There are two types of Voucher:
Internal & External. 1. Internal Vouchers are prepared by the organization and signed by the payee.
When you can't receive the receipt of some payment, you make a voucher. For e.g. Taxi fare, Auto
fare etc.

(03:40) 2. External Vouchers are generated from outside the business i.e. the other agency
generates it. For E.g. Debit note, Credit note, Cash memo, Electricity bill payment receipt etc. You
may have Cash Voucher, Travel bills. Wages bills, etc. So, you see, when you provide this extra
information, you stand out of the crowd.

(04:08) And, you can provide this extra information only and only if you are well prepared. 3. What
is a Tax invoice? It is a document that a seller prepares when he makes a sale and supplies the
goods. Through this document, he informs the buyer of the quantity of goods sold to him, rates,
terms of payments, trade discount, CGST, SGST & total amount payable.

(04:37) For the seller, it is a "sales invoice" or outward invoice. For the buyer, it is a "purchase
invoice" or inward invoice. When goods are sold on Credit basis, we make a Credit Memo. Now, one
of the very basic questions that's asked to the candidates appearing for the role of an Accountant
at the junior level is: 4.

(05:04) Which are the different parties to a cheque? Looks very simple but trust me, many
candidates at a junior level are not able to answer it. Ensure that you are able to. There are three
parties to a cheque: i.) The Drawer: The person who draws the cheque i.e. the one writing the
cheque. ii.) The Drawee: The bank on whom the cheque is drawn. This is always a bank.

(05:33) iii.) The Payee: The person in whose favour the cheque is issued. 5. What do you know about
Combined Journal Entry? While making a Journal Entry if more than one account is debited or
credited, it is called Combined or Compound Journal Entry. It is also possible here that many
accounts have to be debited and credited for just one journal entry.

(06:02) For e.g. if someone starts a shop with Goods worth Rs 80,000 /-, a laptop worth Rs 35,000/-
and Cash Rs 30,000/-, a combined journal entry will look like this - 6. What is a Ledger? A ledger is
called as the Main Book of Accounts or Principal Book of Accounts. Many a times it is also called as
Book of Final/ Secondary Entry.

(06:39) Through the entries made in Journal you can't tell what amount you spent on a particular
type of expense or what is the amount payable to a certain party, so you make a ledger which
contains proper accounts for everything. It is a summarised record that contains all the accounts
like Assets A/c, Capital A/c. Expenses A/c. Revenue A/c etc.

(07:01) 7. What do you know about credit balance and debit balance in a Ledger? What do they tell
about various accounts? If the total of debit side of the account is higher than the total of credit
side, the account has Debit balance. If it is opposite, the account has credit balance. - A Personal
A/c with debit balance signifies a debtor & if there's a credit balance, it signifies a creditor.

(07:38) - Real Accounts are the accounts related to assets, properties etc. Accounts like Furniture
A/c, Cash A/c etc. are real accounts. They always show a debit balance. - Nominal Accounts may
have a debit or credit balance. These are the accounts related to income, expenses, gains and
losses. 8.
(08:16) What is a Trial Balance? Why do you prepare it? A Trial Balance is an abstract of all the
ledger accounts as on a given date, showing credit and debit balances of all Ledger Accounts.
Depending on the need of the business, it can be prepared annually or more often periodically. A
trial balance : i.) Shows balances of different Ledger Accounts. ii.) Proves that your Books are
arithmetically correct. iii.) Helps you prepare the Final Accounts.

(08:41) 9. How is Gross Trial Balance different from Net Trial Balance? In Gross Trial Balance, total
of debit side of an account is shown in the debit column of Trial Balance and the total of credit
balance is shown in the credit column. This approach doesn't disclose the balance of each account,
so it is not commonly used.

(09:13) In Net Trial Balance, only the balances of each ledger account are shown against its name.
If an account shows credit balance, its balance is recorded in the credit column and vice versa. This
type of trial balance is more in practice. 10.

(09:44) What are Subsidiary Books? For big businesses, it is not possible to record all the entries in a
single journal so you need to sub-divide the Journal. The special journals that get created based on
the nature of transaction are called Subsidiary Books/ Books of Original Entries Some of the
important subsidiary books in a business are: i.) Cash Book ii.) Petty Cash Book iii.

(10:04) ) Purchase Book iv.) Sales Book v.) Purchase Returns Book vi.) Sales Returns Book vii.)
Journal Proper etc. Now, go on to talk a bit about the advantage of having these books in place.
These books let the business save time and make the operations more economic by having
specialised teams and taking up related work at one time.

(10:26) They also provide for better internal checks and quick references, when needed. 11. Why is
Cash Book both a Journal and a Ledger? A Cash Book records all the cash and bank transactions. It
has two sides, a Debit side (Receipt side) and a Credit Side (Payment Side) Since the original entries
are made to it, it is a Journal and since it contains classified records of all the cash transactions, it
is a Ledger.

(10:59) 12. Which of the following can a Bank Account have? i.) Credit Balance ii.) Debit Balance iv.)
Both the above. A bank account is a personal account, so it can have both - Credit Balance as well
as Debit Balance. Credit Balance of Bank means "Bank Overdraft".

(11:23) This overdraft is a short term loan given by the bank to current account holders. It is
recorded on the payment side of the cash book in bank column. 13. How will you treat the
following in your Cash Book? i.) Cheque Received Dishonoured ii.) Cheque Issued Dishonoured Ok.
Let's answer the question for Double Entry Cash Books that are more common.

(11:47) i.) Suppose you received a cheque worth Rs 5000/- from a customer, you would: Debit
(Increase) your Bank Account by Rs 5000/- to record the receipt of the cheque. In your cash book,
you would record it as - If this cheque is dishonoured, you need to reverse the initial entry and
Credit (Decrease) the Bank Account by Rs 5000/- The Cash Book Entry would look like - Now, let's
see the second case where, ii.

(12:30) ) You issued this cheque and it was dishonoured. - You would credit (decrease) the Bank
A/c by Rs 5000/- to record the payment. The Journal entry would look like - Now, if this cheque is
dishonoured, you'll have to reverse this entry, to debit (increase) the Bank A/c by Rs 5000/- to
nullify the effect of previous entry. The Journal entry would now look like - 14.

(13:15) What do you know about Contra Entries? Certain transactions affect the Cash Account &
Bank Account simultaneously but with opposite effect. The entries recorded on both the sides of
the Cash Book are called Contra Entries. Some situations in which contra entries are recorded are:
i.) When cash is deposited in the bank. ii.

(13:35) ) When cash is withdrawn from the bank for office use. iii.) Bearer cheque received on
previous date and deposited into the Bank. 15. What is a Purchase Book? A Purchase Book is also
called a Purchase Journal or Purchase Day Book. It is a specialized accounting record that
systematically records all purchases of goods or services made on credit for manufacturing or
resale.

(14:08) Consumable items can't be recorded in the Purchase Book. They are considered to be
operational expenses. It helps to keep a track of all the expenses related to procurement. Each entry
in the purchase book should be supported by invoices, purchase orders or other relevant
documents. A purchase

(14:36) book works on accrual basis i.e. the purchases are recorded when they are incurred. All the
entries are chronologically sequential i.e. they are recorded as they occur. 16. Which book comes
into action when you want to return the goods? When you want to return the goods you
purchased, Purchase Return Book comes into action. It is also called as Purchase Return Journal or
Returns Outward Book.

(15:31) For every return, a debit note needs to be prepared. The original copy of this note is sent to
the supplier so that he can make necessary entries in his books. The supplier also prepares a note.
It is called as credit note. 17. What is a Sales Book? A Sales Book, also called as a Sales Journal, is a
book that records all the sales of goods made on credit. Cash sales are not recorded here.

(16:00) If you sell any Assets or things on credit, they are not recorded here. If the buyer returns the
goods you sold to him on credit for any reason, the entry is to be made in Sales Return Book which
is also called as Sales Inward Book. When you receive the returned goods from the customer, you
need to prepare a credit note which indicates that the account of the person who returned the
goods is credited.

(16:33) 18. What is the basic difference between a Credit note and a Debit Note? The basic
difference between the two is that a Credit Note is prepared by the Seller while the Debit Note is
prepared by the Buyer. 19. What type of entries are made in Journal Proper? Miscellaneous or
Infrequent transactions that do not have a dedicated Journal for themselves are recorded in
Journal Proper or General Journal.

(17:10) For e.g. Adjustment, Correction, Transfer, Opening type of entries are made in Journal
Proper. 20. What is a bank reconciliation statement? What are some common reasons for
discrepancies between the company and the bank statement? Reconciliation means comparing two
records. Bank reconciliation statement is an internal tool used by the companies to compare the
balance in its own accounting records with its actual bank account balance.
(17:48) The difference between the two suggests that there are some discrepancies, these may be
procedural, accidental or intentional. Accountants are expected to reconcile the statements
periodically and in case of bank reconciliation, they usually do it monthly at least. The most
common reasons for the discrepancies are: i.) Bank charges & fees that have not been taken into
consideration.

(18:16) ii.) Errors in recording a transaction iii.) Lost and Outstanding cheques where the cheque
either didn't reach the bank or hasn't been cleared yet. iv.) Deposits on the way - Funds deposited
but not recorded by the bank yet. v.) Transactions that appear in Pass Book but not in the Cash
Book. For e.g.

(18:45) Interest credited by Bank, Direct collection of Income or payment of expenses on behalf of
customer, Dishonour of cheque, Amount directly deposited in Bank etc. vi.) Difference in the date
of recording - can cause a temporary difference between the two. vii.) Any reversal, adjustment or
correction made by either of the two parties. viii.

(19:23) ) Potential Fraud A periodical reconciliation can rule out all these problems. 21. What do you
know about IMPS and NEFT? IMPS - Immediate Payment Service. It is an instant payment interbank
electronic funds transfer system available in India. The service is available 24X7, even on bank
holidays. NEFT - National Electronic Funds Transfer. Suitable for small money transfers.

(19:56) RTGS - Real Time Gross Settlement Suitable for larger value of transfers. 22. What is
Depreciation? If you never use a certain asset, will you still need to depreciate it? Depreciation
means shrinkage in the value of an asset due to wear and tear, passage of time, obsolete etc.

(20:26) Unless you charge depreciation to the revenue, it is difficult to determine the actual value
of a business and you can't make a provision for their replacement. If you don't use an asset, it still
gets depreciated. Land is one asset that never depreciates. In fact, it appreciates. Depreciation is
charged to P&L A/c as it is an element of cost. It is a non-cash expenditure. It is a Nominal Account.

(20:51) 23. If the Trial Balance agrees, can there still be errors in the accounting records? Agreeing
of Trial Balance suggests arithmetic accuracy. There can still be errors in the books of accounts that
do not reflect on the Trial Balance. These can be: i.) Errors of Omission ii.

(21:32) ) Errors of Commission iii.) Errors of Principle iv.) Compensating Errors 24. Can you elaborate
this? The 4 errors we listed above, do not reflect on the Trial Balance but your Books of Accounts
stay incorrect. Let's try to understand them: i.) Errors of Omission: When a transaction is partially or
completely omitted to be recorded in the books of accounts.

(21:51) For e.g. If you fail to record credit purchases altogether, these errors occur. In such a case,
neither the creditor's account is credited nor is the purchase account debited. The Trial Balance is
not able to disclose it since it is not reflected there. ii.

(22:12) ) Errors of Principle - These errors occur due to incorrect classification of expenditure or
receipt between capital and revenue. They do not affect the Trial Balance as the amounts are
placed on the correct side but in a wrong account. iii.) Compensating Errors - When two errors are
made in such a way that they nullify each other. They do not affect the Trial Balance. For e.g.
(22:36) If on one day I pay a sum of 5000 Rs/- to Ram and post it as 500 Rs/- to the debit of his
account and on another day in the month, I pay a sum of Rs 500 /- to Shyam but post it as Rs
5000/- to the debit of his account, their net effect will be Zero and they'll not affect the Trial
Balance. Q 25.

(23:01) What are One Sided and Two Sided Errors? One Side Errors affect only one account and
they affect the agreement of Trial Balance. If one sided errors are located before the preparation of
Trial Balance, they are rectified by giving a note to debit or credit the account. However, if they are
located after the preparation of Trial Balance, they are rectified with the help of Suspense
Account.

(23:23) Two Sided Errors affect two or more accounts. The do not affect the agreement of Trial
Balance. These errors are rectified with the help of Journal entries. Q26. What do you know about P
& L Account? - P&L Account is the main account of Final Accounts - It is prepared on the basis of
indirect incomes and expenditures of a business.

(23:48) - The credit side includes indirect incomes. - When the credit side is greater than the debit
side, it is called Net Profit. - Net Profit/ Loss is transferred to Capital Account. - P&L is a Nominal
Account. Q27. Discuss Balance Sheet. - Balance Sheet is a statement that shows the financial
position of a concern. - It is not an account. Rather, it is a statement.

(24:21) - It has no credit or debit side. - It shows Assets and Liabilities of a business. - All Debit
Balances are shown on the Asset side. - All Credit Balances are shown on the Liabilities Side. - No
Nominal Accounts appear on the Balance Sheet.

Situational Interview Questions for Financial Analysts - Based on Practical Real-life Scenario -
YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m145ZGlqCo

Transcript:

(00:00) hello everybody Welcome to the video on situational interview questions and answers for
financial analysts from careerline.com now see for these type of questions the interviewers are not
interested in just your subject knowledge they are also interested in your problem solving ability and
your analytical ability which tells them about your overall approach which is very very important for
such type of roles so in today's video let us see some real world scenarios and how to find thoughtful
solutions to them ready

(00:34) fantastic let's start okay so our first question is if you have the option to receive fifteen
thousand dollars today or twenty thousand dollars after four years which one would you choose
now see pretty interesting question because as all of us know it is a human being's instinct to receive
that money immediately but this particular question is based on the concept of time value of money
right what is going to happen to this particular amount four years down the time five years down the
time 10 years

(01:11) down the time and based on those calculations you decide whether you want the money
today or after some years okay so if the present value of these twenty thousand dollars is more than
is more than fifteen thousand dollars which means if you are going to receive more money after four
years it makes more sense to receive this money four years down the time right but if the present
value of these twenty thousand dollars is less than fifteen thousand dollars which means you are
going to receive the value of money

(01:51) will be less in that case it makes more sense to receive the money today itself now how do
we find that to find that we have this formula finding the present value of money okay so PV that is
present value of money is equal to future value of money FV divided by 1 plus I to the power n what
is I here I here is the rate of interest I here is the rate of interest and N is what n is the number of
years okay so uh based on present situation I have taken the rate of interest look at this right top
corner I have assumed the rate of

(02:32) interest to be six percent and when I place these values in this formula what do I get the
future value of money I have to find out or the present value so at the future value is 20 000 right so
20 000 divided by 1 plus 0.06 to the power 4 because 4 is the number of years here okay and now
I'm trying to find out the present value of this money okay and when I did my calculations I found
this value to be 15 842 dollars which is greater than fifteen thousand dollars right so now look here
so until you plan to use your fifteen thousand dollars

(03:16) in such a way that you will be able to generate an income of more than 15 842. in four years
it is better to take the money four years later and receive twenty thousand dollars if you cannot
make increase your money yourself it is always better to take that money later on okay with these
calculations so the choice depends on the potential for investment where you are going to invest it
look at this box very very important so this Choice depends upon the potential for investment where
are you going to invest your money how much are

(03:52) the returns going to be okay what are your personal financial circumstances you might be in
a position a situation where you require the money immediately right so in that case you might
decide to take the money immediately and the rate of interest also so taking all these things into
consideration you decide whether you want to take the money today or down the time right but the
present value of money is very very important and this is how you are expected to answer this
particular question okay maybe if required you can

(04:26) replay this much part of the video and try to take a closer look at everything that I have
explained here okay let's move on to the next question okay and our question number two is a
technology startup invested heavily in r d and got a breakthrough product in the market it reported
a very strong performance in ebitda but the net income it posted is negative what could be the
reason another very interesting question asked many times in the interviews how would you
investigate it as a financial analyst just try to think

(05:02) it is this concept of ebitda that is very important here so as we know ebitda means earnings
before interest taxes depreciation and amortization now since this is a startup and it has invested
heavily in r d there is a possibility that it has got height depreciation and amortization expenses
which will impact the net income while they will not impact the ebitda but they will heavily impact
the net income so this can be the first possibility the second possibility could be that the company
the startup has funded its r d

(05:44) with the help of some debt and in that case it would have some interest payments to be
made that would also impact the net income although it will not impact a better so this could be the
second reason the third reason could be these startups then they start they invest a lot in their
growth while they are not worried about their short-term profitability so in that case if you look at it
from the another perspective it is a positive thing because that is preparing the company for a very
high future growth and that is what the company's aim is

(06:23) and in that case it would be high operating cost that the company would face which will
impact its net income so this could be the third reason so you see basically the difference if you look
at this box the differences between the operational performance and financial reporting which is
causing this so as I said don't get disappointed if you see a negative net income of a startup because
you have to find out the reasons behind it which a non-financial person will never be able to
understand so as a financial analyst it is your job to make

(07:00) the stakeholders understand the reasons behind what is actually happening okay let's move
on to question number three now okay and our question number three is imagine you are given the
file of a retail business that has a high current ratio of 3.5 what does this suggest you as a financial
analyst another very interesting question another very important question because these are the
type of things that you face in the real world when you do the real job when you do the real work
these are the type of things that you have to face and that is

(07:33) why the interviewers are very interested in these type of questions okay now all of us know
that current ratio is a liquidity ratio it tells us about the ability of a company to meet its short-term
obligations with the help of it short-term effects now a liquidity ratio of 3.5 does tell us that the
company has a lot of liquidity it has a lot of money with it right now in the form of cash okay and it
can easily meet its short-term obligations very easily but such a high current ratio if you try to
investigate it more can

(08:15) tell you an altogether different story okay that is why it is very very important to dwell
deeper into the things okay and the possible reasons for such a high current ratio could be that the
company is probably taking a very conservative approach when it comes to Investments and
expansion okay it may have its own reasons for that to do it may have some other plans because of
which it is keeping that money with it but it definitely suggests that at the moment the company is
very conservative about investment and expansion

(08:50) okay the second reason could be that it has a lot of Inventory management may be problem
this is a suggestion this is what the ratio suggests because there is a possibility that a lot of high
value assets are stuck in the inventory so this is something that you have to check this is the
direction in which you should investigate if you look at the quick ratio it will easily tell you about the
position of inventory because the current ratio includes inventory but the quick ratio doesn't so take
a look at the quick ratio the third
(09:30) thing to look at is the cash flow statement because it tells that a lot of underutilized cash is
lying with the company now as I said the reasons for this to happen can be many maybe the
company is planning for some investment big investment in coming future maybe it is planning to
acquire maybe another company right so all of these can be the reasons but it definitely suggests
that these are the type of things that are happening so if you look at the cash flow statement it will
tell you about the inflow and the outflow of cash which

(10:05) will give you quite a good picture about what is happening there but as I have been saying
throughout don't jump at the conclusions don't jump at the conclusions because finding the reasons
making comparisons with the industry Benchmark and then deciding what is actually happening is
very important the people from non-financial background may not understand this but as a financial
analyst it is your duty to find out the things in all these directions to look at the to dig the things
deeper and to investigate the

(10:41) things in all these directions and then suggest your stakeholders what is actually happening
they are looking actually out for your expertise and that is your job to provide them this expertise
and that is why as I said the interviewers are interested in these type of questions the real world
situations okay now on this screen I've got two practice questions also for you if you know how to
approach these questions try to answer them in the comments box below it will help all of us and uh
see it is not that these

(11:12) questions will be asked you as it is but these questions definitely give you an idea about how
to prepare for these interviews and what type of questions you can expect to be faced with because
if you go absolutely unprepared you might be left for a surprise which none of us wants in the
interview okay if required you can pause the video here take a good look at these questions and try
to answer them in the comments box below and if you have got more questions that were asked to
you in the interviews definitely feel free to share them in

(11:43) the comments box below it'll be helpful for all of us if you found today's video useful do give
it a thumbs up and share it with your friends also and if you want to be updated with more such
videos that we keep releasing subscribe the channel today because very soon I'm going to get you a
video on conceptual interview questions also that will be very helpful for the financial analyst so if
you want to be updated when that video is released make sure that you subscribe to the channel
now okay I'll

(12:10) see you very soon with a new one till then bye bye and take care

Investment Banking Interview Questions - Mergers & Acquisitions Interview| M&A Interview
Questions - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhmA_OOph1k

Transcript:
(00:00) Hello Everybody, Welcome to the video on Mergers and Acquitions Interview Questions as
Part 3 to our Investment Banking Series. In part one and part two of this series we saw interview
questions on Valuation Methodologies and Financial Modeling respectively.

(00:20) Both of these domains provide opportunities to a large number of professionals. The links
to both these videos are available in the description box below. We also saw important interview
questions on Financial Analysis and Basic Accounting in these two separate videos. These videos
have already helped thousands of candidates.

(00:40) I'm sure they'll be helpful to you too. The links to these videos are also available in the
description box. You can watch them after you are done with the current video. In today's video on
M&A let's see some very important conceptual and situational questions that are usually asked to
the candidates during the interview.

(01:02) If you are really serious about cracking your next interview, watch every single second of
this video, without skipping any parts of it. Ready? Great! Let's start: 1. What is the difference
between Mergers & Acquisitions? One of the most basic questions. And, important because these
two terms are usually misunderstood and used interchangeably.

(01:25) A merger occurs when two separate entities combine to create a new, joint entity.. No cash
is required to complete a merger. The individual power of each constituent company gets diluted
and a new management structure is created. You would notice that the Mergers are usually
voluntary in nature. The companies involved are roughly the same size and scope.

(01:51) The purpose is to reduce the operational cost, expand into new markets, boost revenue,
profits and market share. Now if you see in case of Acquisition, the bigger company acquires the
smaller one. The smaller company ceases to exist. It's assets become the part of the larger
company. A lot of cash is involved here and the buyer holds all the power.

(02:18) Acquisitions are driven by a desire to acquire the technology, suppliers, outlets and other
such resources of the target company. This saves the buyer years of research and development,
capital investment and efforts while increasing its share value. The acquisitions could be friendly or
hostile. 2.

(02:45) What do you know about Horizontal and Vertical Merger? Horizontal mergers take place
when two companies operating in the same industry combine. Usually they are direct competitors
offering same product or service. The purpose is to increase the market share and economies of
scale while reducing the competition. Such mergers usually happen in industries with fewer firms.

(03:07) For e.g. The merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. When two companies that produce
parts or services for same product merge, the union is referred to as a vertical merger. Such
mergers are done to increase the efficiencies and synergies. They also help in reducing the supply
chain cost improving the operational efficiency.

(03:33) These vertical mergers are common in industries where integrating the supply chain can
provide significant cost advantages and operational efficiencies. For e.g. When TATA acquires stakes
in its supplier companies, it is an example of vertical merger 3.
(04:25) Name the different types of Merger & Acquisition Firms that operate in the market? Now
see, the process of Merger & Acquisition can get quite intimidating for the companies and
management. To facilitate the whole process, different types of firms operate in the market. For
e.g. i.) Investment Banks ii.) Law Firms iii.) Audit & Accounting Firms iv.) Consulting & Advisory
Firms.

(04:45) Be prepared to discuss about them also during the interview. 4. What do you know about
Acquisition Adjustment? Acquisition adjustment refers to the difference between the purchase
price paid by the acquirer and the book value of the target company. This difference in the amount
is because of the premium the acquirer pays to the target company its goodwill and other
intangible assets that add value to it.

(05:23) This may also include any patents, customer relations, R & D work etc. 5. What role do
Investment Banks play in the M & A process? The role of Investment Banks in M & A process
includes: i.) Target Identification - Developing a list of prospective targets ii.) Collecting vital market
intelligence iii.

(06:12) ) Client consultation: Passing on all this information to the Client & finding out their
interest. iv.) Current Valuation Analysis & finding price expectations of the target, v.) Carrying out
all the negotiation & documentation work, vi.) Closing the deal : Conducting management
meetings, preparing the closing documents & finally closing the deal.

(06:47) There is also a a possibility of investment bank representing the selling side. In this case,
they may conduct an auction to determine the buyer. Some of the famous investment banks in the
world are: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, Deutsche, Credit Suisse etc.
6.

(07:25) What are some of the most common reasons for Acquisitions to fail? Many acquisitions that
look very promising on paper, fail miserably during implementation. The practical difficulties are
referred to as Acquisition indigestion Some of the most common reasons of this acquisition failure
are: i.) Insufficient due diligence - and being over- positive about the acquisition.

(08:02) ii.) Overpayment - Where you miscalculate the value and land up buying a company that is
not as attractive in reality as it looked on papers. iii.) Cultural clash - this specially happens in case
of international mergers and acquisitions. The management style, corporate culture, work
environment in the two companies may be very different.

(08:28) iv.) Poor Execution - that may lead to the loss of key customers, employees, shareholders
and even some of the most competitive products. v.) Regulatory hurdles - Compliance issues may
delay or absolutely block the process. vi.) Changing market conditions may make impact the viability
of the deal. Careful planning, performing your due diligence and analysis, hiring some independent
consultants can help you mitigate these risks.

(09:12) 7. What are some common strategies used by the target firms to resist the Acquisition? If
the management of a target company is opposed to a takeover, they may use various tactics to
make themselves less attractive to the acquiring company. These strategies are referred to as
"Poison pill defenses" Here are two common strategies used: i.
(10:08) ) Crown jewel defense: In this strategy, the target firm sells its most valuable assets, called
as its crown jewel, to a friendly individual or company, more favorable to the target. This friendly
partner is referred to as "White Knight". Once the Crown Jewel is sold, the target becomes less
appealing to the Acquirer, who may then lose interest and withdraw its bid.

(10:32) The target company may even later re-purchase its assets when the threat of acquisition
gets neutralized. The White Knight here is seen as a saviour as it prevents the hostile takeover and
is more favorable to the target company's interest. ii.) Stock Buy Back - Under this strategy, the
target company gives its shareholders the lucrative option to buy back its shares at a premium
price.

(11:03) If successful, the number of target company's shares available in the market to buy are
reduced. Its stock price goes up and the acquisition becomes costlier for the acquirer. 8. What do
you know about Golden Handshake? Now, this is another important thing that you must know. To
make the acquisition process sail through smoothly what the buyer does is - it provides the key
executives of the target company significant severance package if they lose their job due to firing,
restructuring, negligence, or retirement after the acquisition. And, this is mentioned in their
contract. The

(11:55) amount paid out is usually negotiated before the contract is signed. This payment can be
made as cash or stock options or anything else that has been mutually agreed upon. This
understanding and ultimately the clause in the contract is referred to as Golden Handshake. 9.

(12:19) What do you know about Merger Arbitrage? Merger Arbitrage is a strategy where the
merger arbitrageur simultaneously purchases and sells the stocks of two companies involved in a
merger. This is done to earn a "Riskless" profit from the price discrepancies. Now see, what typically
happens is the discussion for such mergers start but most of the times, these deals either get
delayed or never get closed.

(12:47) A merger arbitrageur reviews this possibility and purchases the stocks before the
acquisition to make the profits. You can see, these type of investments are event driven to take the
advantage of the inefficiencies of the market. 10.

(13:15) Why are Mergers & Acquisitions so common in technology & retail companies? See, in this
age of technology, a lot of young people have innovative ideas and start their companies. But, they
lack the funds to grow and sustain. In such cases, the big companies usually, acquire these smaller
companies, helping them survive and scale up. The product is perfected and brought to a bigger
market, making it a win-win situation for everyone.

(13:45) Now, if you look at retail business, you would notice that it is a cash intensive business with
a lot of cyclicity involved in it. A retail business may face challenges because of the cash crunch,
stuck inventory, unpaid invoices and other such things.

(14:10) M&A provide these companies an opportunity to sustain and grow. 11. Why do the
acquiring company's stock prices fall during an acquisition? The acquiring company usually pays a
premium to the target company, to close the deal. The money for this deal comes from its existing
cash reserves or it has to take a debt, which is viewed negatively by the market.
(14:45) So, here are some reasons for the acquiring company's stock prices fall: i.) Financial load -
due to the payment they have to make out. ii.) The merger gets delayed due to regulatory issues.
iii.) Perceived Overpayment - The market and investors may believe that the premium paid for the
target company is too high. iii.

(15:14) ) Integration Hiccups - Acquisition brings with itself a lot of unforeseen expenses, the work
culture of the two companies may not integrate well and other such things. However, for right type
of deals, this initial fall is temporary. The stock prices rise again after sometime as the acquisition
process completes and the company stabilizes.

(15:53) 12. What is the effect of acquisition on the stock of the target company? The news of
acquisition means that the acquiring company has seen some value in the target. The acquisition is
usually done at a premium pushing the stock of the target company up. Howev

(16:16) er, the opposite may also happen i.e. the shares of the target company may even fall on
acquisition news. This would happen if the market perceives that the target company was facing
some financial troubles and that is why it was bought at a discounted price. 13. What is a De-
Merger? When a company splits-off its divisions to operate independently or to be sold-off, it is a
De-Merger.

(16:49) The large companies usually do it to focus on their core operations. These smaller units
hence created are spun-off, sold or liquidated. Sometimes, even the government may intervene to
beak up a monopoly, which may lead to de-merger. The three most common types of de-mergers
are: i.

(17:12) ) Spin-off : Here the parent company receives an equity stake in the new company that is
equal to the loss of their equity in the parent company. ii.) Split : Similar to Spin-off but here
multiple units are created from the parent company. iii.) Liquidation : Here, the assets are divided
among the new companies, usually due to the conflicts between the management, board members
and shareholders.

(17:39) A follow up question to this could be, 14. Can these de-mergers add any value to the
shareholders? Now see, this may vary from case to case. The share value may fall in the short run
after the de-merger but , as the parent company and the new unit start doing better with more
focussed business, the share value often sees an upturn.

(18:04) In case the stock of the parent company falls, the performance of the newly formed unit
can compensate it. The conglomerates make thorough predictions and analyses before
undertaking any such significant steps. So friends, this is all in today's video. I sincerely hope it was
useful to you. If you have found it useful, do give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends too.

(18:28) For more such video, Subscribe the channel now! I'll see you very soon with a new video. Till
then bbye and take care.

HR Interview Question and Answers for Freshers - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=715jNDMGm7I
Transcript:

(00:00) welcome to the video on HR interview questions and answers I'm shias Singh from career
right.com we help students prepare practice and find a placement for themselves specially
developed for the fresh graduates this video covers the most important questions that you will find
at every interview and if you can pull these off properly you stand High chances of getting through to
begin with here's a glimpse of what you are going to learn with me and by the end of this video you
will be ready to face any HR interview

(00:36) effectively so stay tuned till the end and make sure that you listen to everything I say very
carefully okay so before trying to score the brownie points let me show you how not to lose them
out yes let's talk about those seven deadly mistakes that can cost you the opportunity mistake
number one going unprepared when you fail to prepare you prepare to fail please do not ever go to
an interview without preparation because this is the single biggest mistake that can throw you out of
the race thousands and thousands of candidates apply for

(01:16) every single position so yes the competition is fierce do not disservice Yourself by being
unprepared so here are the three most important things you should do before an interview
interview number one study the job requirements the employer and the industry will number two
anticipate the questions and write down your model answers number three rehearse now this is an
extremely useful tip that I'm going to reveal before you so please pay attention 80% of the serious
candidates would prepare their model answers but

(01:59) they will also not rehearse them so here lies your opportunity rehearse your answers in front
of a mirror you will see your words coming out more smoothly your body language will be much
more supportive and your confidence level will be much more higher believe me if you go prepared
your eyes and Body Language will reflect it and there's no recruiter in this word who would want to
lose out on a good candidate mistake number two dressing shaby yes I have had candidates coming
to the interview just out of their bed

(02:35) it is really really repulsive even before you have uttered your first word the interviewer has
already made up his mind even if he asks you some questions it is just out of politeness with this
mistake you would shoot yourself in the foot mistake number three being late this is the most basic
etiquette which I should not even need to talk about but over the years I have seen candidates
turning up for the interview even half an hour late anticipate the weather conditions the traffic
conditions or anything else that might delay you but make sure that

(03:18) you reach the interview venue at least 20 minutes in advance give yourself the time to calm
down and breathe this waiting time will also give you an opportunity to get your thoughts together
and perform better when you are called leave out everything except your resume pen and a notepad
outside yes even your mobile phone put it on silent mode and leave it in the bag outside carrying too
many things makes it difficult to manage them and looks messy mistake number four trying to hijack
trying to hijack the interview is

(04:00) another characteristic that no interviewer appreciates it's good to be confident but you need
to understand that the interview is the interviewer's show give him the opportunity to speak listen
to his questions carefully without interrupting let your answers be crisp and relevant candidates who
keep blabbering about themselves leave the interviewers irritated and are usually rejected mistake
number five telling lies don't tell lies to get hired because it is very easy to find them out a bit of
cross questioning can land you

(04:41) in trouble do not fake your resume certificates experience or any other detail even if you get
selected somehow you will always be under the threat what if it is discovered in addition to the Coe
skills an interviewer tries to see three important qualities in the candidate number one genuinity
number two is trustworthiness number three his dependability when I am an interviewer the most
important thing I try to see is the trustworthiness of the candidate I would rather hire a candidate
with a little less skill set

(05:24) if I'm able to trust him than someone who has all the skills but doesn't look trustworthy
mistake number six approaching as a job beggar going with the right mindset can phenomenally
boost your chances of getting hired you need to understand that if someone is spending time to
conduct an interview it means he genuinely has a problem to which he needs a solution and his
solution comes in the form of a skillful candidate approach him as a solution to his problem and you
will see see that your chances of getting hired increase

(06:03) highly if you go with the mindset of a needy person your performance will be bad they are
not in business to solve your problems they want solution to their own problems approaching with a
positive frame of mind is good but be careful that you do not become arrogant or overconfident and
here comes the last deadly mistake mistake number seven asking about money now this is again a
thing of basic eates that I'm going to talk about some days back we went to a recruitment drive to
hire some candidates before we could begin the

(06:44) process a candidate approached me to check out the salary we would offer for that position
maybe the candidate was curious but the point I'm trying to arrive here is do not talk about money
at the wrong time rather try not to be the first one to talk about money I'm not at all advising you to
work for a remuneration that is too low but don't sound money-minded it sends out wrong signals
and with this we are ready to move on to our questions question number one tell me something
about yourself this is one question which

(07:28) you're going to face at almost every interview it will hit you almost immediately after you
have taken a seat this question is a great opportunity for you to build a solid foundation and steer
the interview in the direction you want but if you go unprepared one of the following two things
would happen number one either you would not have sufficient things to say after 2030 seconds or
you would land up reciting your life history both of these are a big big waste of this precious
opportunity but before I teach you to

(08:06) draft a model answer here are three important tips which you must remember number one
do not reiterate your resume they have already seen it the interviewer is not interested in your life
history an interviewer tries to see four five important qualities in a candidate and especially the
fresh graduates and they are his ability to learn quickly logic proactiveness seriousness and energy
and enthusiasm make sure that not just this but all your answers reflect these okay so now moving
on to developing the model answer being a fresher you would not
(08:54) have too much to talk in terms of your professional experience but the interviewer is already
aware of of that so to answer this question you can talk about your skill set projects achievements
and any other extra quality or skill that you possess which others do not this extra quality could even
be a hobby or a sport that you pursue if I were to answer this question I would say something like uh
I'm shias Singh pursuing my final year of Computer Engineering with this college I like to learn new
technologies during my

(09:32) internship with XYZ I got an opportunity to develop an e-learning app it was the first time I
was working on an application which would be used by the real users so I was a bit excited and
nervous both but with the guidance of my technical manager I was able to finish it very successfully
this project gave me a great insight into how the corporate word works the expectations they have
from us as employees and how to conduct ourselves in the work atmosphere also I love to play
badminton and have even won the trophies in

(10:09) women's singles and doubles for my club so you see how easily your love for badminton
separates you from the remaining crowd okay coming on to the next question why should we hire
you guys I must tell you this question is like a goose which which can lay golden eggs so make sure
that you have thought about it you have prepared it well before you go to the interview and
employer will want to hire you only if you can add value to it so Focus your answer to this question
on your skills and how they can be helpful to the

(10:47) employer tell them about your ability to grasp new things quickly adjust well into a new
team and your flexible attitude remember I told you in my video on HR interview mistakes the right
mindset can do wonders approach as a problem solver rather than being a job begger but ensure
that in the process of doing this do not become or sound arrogant at any point in time a model
answer to this question can be something like I see that you are looking out for a sales executive to
work with your channel Partners in the

(11:25) Interiors of this state with an MBA degree and an ability to quickly understand the
requirements of the customers I think I will be a good fit for this position I'm very welled with this
area and my fluency with the local language would be a great advantage in dealing effectively with
your customers who are mostly based in the rural area of the state and here comes the next
common question why do you want to work for us this is quite a straight question if it is a big
company that you are being interviewed at you can say

(12:00) something like Y is a big company which leads the market in this domain every candidate has
a dream to work for this company and having this opportunity I would like to work for the best and
become one of the best if the company is not too big and you're considering it for the learning
experience it offers be honest and say something like I have a degree in PR and communication and
when I saw that yours is an established company servicing quite a few clients in this industry I
thought I should try to explore this opportunity more question

(12:35) number four what are your strengths this is again a very commonly asked question at any
interview the interview here is actually trying to find out what are your strengths relevant to this
role and your answer to this question demonstrates your preparation for the interview here you
have to understand that you cannot keep keep offering the same set of strengths at every interview
it has to keep changing with the requirements of the role it is a bit difficult to provide a model
answer here so I'm going to tell

(13:12) you a small exercise which will help you in finding the answer to this question first of all
analyze the requirements of the role carefully the job notification will specify certain things but in
addition to this try to find out the unspecified requirements now based on this analysis make a list of
the qualities required to perform that role and on the other side make a list of all the qualities you
possess match the two lists the things that match are your strengths for this role when I'm hiring the
fresh graduates in addition

(13:52) to their Coe skills the most important qualities I seek are logic learnability and dependability
here I must tell you that it is extremely important that you do not just make claims ensure that you
have at least two examples for each of these qualities these examples can be from your personal or
professional life question number five what are your weaknesses now this is one question that
increases the heartbe of every candidate so listen to me very carefully here you need to understand
that every human being has got

(14:31) weaknesses and it is absolutely okay if you also have some weaknesses the way I look at it
the interviewer is actually not even interested in your answers unless you talk about a weakness
which will directly affect the work he's more interested in finding out two things number one the
way you deal with this question and number two what do you do once you have recognized your
weakness but don't take it lightly if you go unprepared you would land up saying something that you
don't really mean as a fresher you won't possess any

(15:12) industry experience so no professional weaknesses most of your weaknesses would come
from your personal and academic life so you can offer any weakness that will not directly affect your
chances of being hired and then go on to tell the steps you are taking to improve improve upon
them for example you can say something like I did not know how to work effectively on Ms XEL and
PowerPoint but I was always interested so recently I have started exploring both of them I'm happy
that I'm able to deal with the linking of the

(15:46) Excel sheets well my PowerPoint slides are also coming out to be more interesting now so
you see how easily you can tell the interviewer that yes I do have my weaknesses but I believe in
taking actions to improve them question number six what is your greatest achievement with this
question the interviewer is trying to understand what do you find valuable in yourself if you say
something like I stood first in class 10th it means that you haven't achieved anything that big after
that so try to find out an answer

(16:22) to this question from your near past if you're not able to find an answer to this question from
your academic life it is absolutely fine to find an answer from your social life it is okay to say
something like some days back I took an accident victim to the hospital on time and donated a bottle
of blood for him which saved his life this example demonstrates that you are a responsible person
the next one where do you see yourself in 5 years from now this question is usually asked to check
the ambition and vision of the

(17:00) candidate it is extremely difficult for a fresh graduate to foresee how his career would Shape
Up in next 5 years so all that you can expect to do is do your best in whatever you take up you can
answer this question by saying something like it is too early for me to foresee how the things would
unravel in future I want to take up a position that would allow me to do my best and become the
best question number eight you do not have all the experience we seek for this position yes as a
fresher you would not have all the required experience so

(17:39) let's go back to the exercise we did to find out the strengths make a list of all the skills and
qualities required to perform the role make a list of skills and qualities you possess not tally the two
and see where the difference is now you are ready to answer this question you you can say
something like yes I did think about this when I made a list of the skills and qualities required for this
position and Ted with what I possess I saw that I possess the major 80% qualities but I do like the
remaining 20% I'm a quick learner and given an

(18:19) opportunity I can pick them up very fast the interviewer also understands that it is difficult to
find a 100% match to the requirement ments your answer will tell him that you are a serious
candidate and you are aware of your shortcomings for this role this coupled with your ability to learn
quickly will definitely help you get through this question the next question what is your salary
expectation now that you're a fresher you would be appearing for placements through your campus
recruitment activity or maybe you will be applying directly

(18:57) the companies that you interview at would be at different levels the big companies would
have a fixed salary for each level usually and rather than asking this question they would just make
an offer if they like you a little smaller companies may have it either ways they may have a fixed
salary for each level or they may have a range so rather than mentioning a figure yourself you can
ask the interviewer about the package they offer to the fresh graduates and if it suits you you you
can say that you are happy to go

(19:30) ahead as for the company standards different people actually have a different opinion on
this and I feel that if you are required to spell out a figure offer a range like mid 20s rather than an
exact amount but to do this you need to research the market well in advance and know the range in
which you fall just Ure that the range is not too broad and never be the first one to Talk About The
Money Matters the last question do you want to ask us anything given an opportunity you can
definitely ask them interesting

(20:09) questions however there are certain things that I would like to alert you about number one
don't ask obvious questions number two do not start interrogating the interviewer and number
three you must know when to put the full stop so you can ask about the opportunities for you to
grow in the company you can ask about when can I expect to hear back from you I also feel that this
question is a great opportunity for you to find out about any reservations that the interviewer might
have about your candidacy so yes if your interview has

(20:48) gone well take this question as an opportunity to deal with any conss they may have about
you you can ask them something like do you have any concerns about my cand candidacy this
question will give you quite a good idea about what the interviewer is thinking about you with this
we come to the end if you would like to read these and more such questions please visit career
write.
(21:14) com it has the largest collection of material for placements do like and share the video if you
find it useful thank you and see you in the next video

HR Interview Questions and Answers for Experienced candidates - Many new generation questions! -
YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhlzxLBLe7E

Transcript:

(00:00) welcome to the video on HR interview question and answer for experienced candidates I am
ship wrapping from carrier right calm we provide all the type of resources you would require to
prepare for a technical or non-technical interviews we also helps candidates find the right place for
themselves in the corporate world now every interview has an element of some common and some
surprise questions which can baffle you badly if you go unprepared if you are a working professional
looking out for a job switch this video is what you

(00:35) require to crack your interview okay so before we start with the questions it is very
important for you to understand what does a potential employers try to see in the prospective
employee interviewers are also human beings like you and me so apart from how your core skills
have grown they try to judge some very common human elements like common sense management
skills communication skills and dependability to name a few so the biggest mantra to succeed at any
interview is come across as a human being who is competent and pleasant to

(01:28) work with okay so let's begin with the questions now question number one tell me
something about yourself this is the most frequently asked first question at interviews and if you
hear it at your interview to field list because this is a truly magical question the single question has a
tremendous power to let you steer the interview in the direction you want the only requirement is
good preparation and the trick is put the full-stop at the right place but I must alert you if you show
up unprepared you will struggle to say anything relevant

(02:09) after 20 to 30 seconds and you would land up waste that's called an opportunity so you
would ask me what are the things you should include in your one-minute 292nd speech for this
question number one talk a bit about your current role this could be the major responsibilities you
shoulder talked a bit about your some professional achievements a bit about your background and
lastly why are you here today's a sample answer - this could be something like I possess uh 10 years
of industry experience since last

(02:46) four years I am working in the world of Education and career helping the fresh graduates and
experienced professionals develop their core and soft skills prior to that I worked in the field of PR in
communication dealing with the national and international media for various technical publishers I
possess an mba in marketing and have been a columnist in major dailies for last two years being
associated with the publishing industry since a long time I know what learners want so I can play a
very active role in
(03:19) the development and promotion of innovative training modules as you require for this
position so you see how comfortably you have put across yourself as a strong contender for the role
with this introduction the next question why do you want to leave your present job the reason for
switching that job could be numerous maybe you don't like your profile or you do not get well along
with your boss but the best answer to offer for this question is to just say for better prospects these
better prospects can be

(03:55) in terms of growth experience exposure or environment make sure that you never
badmouth your current or past employer in an intern question number three what makes you
interested in this job during the various interviews I have conducted for my own company and our
clients I have heard candidates talking about the exposure and the challenges this role would offer
to them but I could tell you here all that the employer is interested in right now is your skills because
that is the only thing which is going to get him

(04:32) results so I would suggest keep the challenges and everything that you would get aside for
some time just talk about his interests focus your answer on how your skills experience and personal
qualities fit into the requirements of this particular position and trust me you are done the next
question why should we hire you through our after section we receive a lot of interview related
queries every day from our reader and this is the most frequently asked one so I decided to include
it in the video and here is the solution there

(05:12) are various ways to ask a question interpret this - what are your relevant strengths for this
role the employer at the moment is ready to buy all the relevant skills and qualities you have to offer
the only requirement is you should know then yourself to be able to sell them so I'll teach you a
small exercise here which you must perform before going to any interview number one analyze the
requirements of the job number two make a list of specified and unspecified skills required to
perform the job number three make a list of the

(05:51) skills and qualities you possess now compare the two lists everything that matches is the
reason for the employer to hire you you might see a difference in what is expected and what you
possess but that is always going to be the case don't worry about that we are going to learn how to
deal with these differences in the video ahead question number five if you were recruiting someone
for this role what qualities would you look for in their interview experiences some of our radios
reported this question also

(06:27) being asked to them so I must tell you that this is another way of taking your understanding
of the role after you answer the previous question in the way I suggested the interview would not
ask you this question but yes there is the probability of him skipping the last one and asking this so
all that you need to answer this one correctly is the homework you did for the last question where
we learnt the exercise to find your strengths analyze the requirements of the row carefully and make
a list of all the major skills

(07:00) required to deliver them now show him how you fit into those requirements if there's any
doubt you can go to the previous question and learn the exercise carefully again the next one you
seem to be working with the same company since a long time why this question is asked to those
candidates who haven't switched the job since many years staying with the same company for too
long may be considered as a lack of ambition in the candidate so the best way to put this negative
thought to rest is by showing

(07:36) the employer how you were adding value to yourself being with the same company discuss
the different kinds of assignments you handled their importance to the company and how they
helped you grow a model answer to this question could be something like yes you are right I have
stayed with my current employer for eight years now but during this period I have worked on
different kinds of assignments being an old employee I know the business pretty well which
empowers me to take up a new task quite easily in the last six years the

(08:11) company has grown many folds kneading various new things to be done and I am my
managers go-to guide to streamline their execution but now I think it is the time for me to move on
as I have achieved whatever I could have said in question number seven you do not have all the
experience you are seeking for this position okay I promise you in question number five that I will
teach you how to deal with the difference in the expectations of the employer and your position so
here it comes first of all you must know it is difficult to

(08:48) find someone who has all the required experience whenever you job you would definitely be
doing something new so tell yourself that this question is not a red flag and now you are better
prepared to answer it tell the interviewer yes I did notice the difference while studying the job
requirements and skills required to deliver them I see that I possess the major 75 to 80 percent of
the skills but for the remaining 20 25% I can quickly pick them up as I have done in my earlier roles
now offer them an example from your past role where you were

(09:29) required to perform something absolutely new and how you learnt and delivered it
successfully the next one how did you manage to attend this interview during your workers trust me
this question will come to you as a big surprise if you are not prepared and you would land up saying
something that you don't really mean so let me tell you some of the interviewers do ask this
question especially to the junior level employees and the sales professionals and all that they want
to see is how you deal with it the interviewer knows that you must not

(10:08) have asked for a permission from the current employer to attend this interview so what do
you do did you come to the interview faking it to their customer call or do you take a leave or
anything else this question is a check of your integrity level as well question number nine would you
like to work in a team or on your own the agenda behind this question is to assess if you are a team
player or a follow performer in any role that you take up there can be times then you will be
required to work in a team while at other you will be required

(10:46) to work independently and you should be prepared to work in both the situations a good
answer to this question can be something like I can add this very well in a team but if required to
work alone with more responsibilities on some project I can handle that also very effectively
question number 10 if your last boss was present here what do you think he would tell us about you
not many but some of our readers have shared this question also in their interview experiences
submitted to the website so here I am getting it to you

(11:23) because if you are unprepared this again can come as a surprise to you and you might not be
able to immediately understand how to answer it a good way to answer this question is to pick up
some formal appraisal your boss gave you and say that I think he would repeat it here the next
question did you face any problems in your last role if you possess years of work experience and say
that you have never faced any problem in your last row you would be lying but at the same time you
would be scared to share your experience as you may feel

(12:00) that it is cost you the opportunity now if you try to look at it from the other side of the table
you would see that this question the interviewer is actually trying to understand the role you played
in that problem while you the one who caused it or were you the one who solved it so pick an
incident from one of her last roles and should I employer how you solve the problem for example
you can say something like last year all of a sudden we noticed that there was a rise in the time that
our customer service exactas for spending on

(12:38) solving the delivery related issues however product from a particular area being the delivery
lead it reflected badly on my and my team's performance while trying to establish the reason we
realized that the delivery status on our website was getting wrongly updated on further investigation
we realized that a batch of newly appointed delivery agents in an area but not following the protocol
as they had not understood it well once we got to the root of the problem we immediately
coordinated with the cleaning department and organized a

(13:15) training session for this patch the result was an immediate fall in the customer service called
both your work ever criticized what did you do the two very important qualities in a successful
professional are self awareness and acceptance it is your self-awareness that tells you what you did
was right or wrong if someone is criticizing my work does it really need an improvement and if it
does then am I ready to take the required action the purpose of this question is to see how do you
handle criticism if you have been

(13:56) in such a situation you can tell a bit about it and then focus your answer on how you handled
it if you have never been in such a situation you can say that though you have not been in such a
situation you know that it is important to not lose your cool when someone criticizes you and
improve your work you don't seem to have lead in your past role how would you be able to do it
here this question will arise when you are trying to move into a little senior role no one leads the
team from day one but there do occur incidences in your

(14:33) professional life where you play the lead role in some or the other activity if you know how
to do the work a well-organized possess some common sense and leadership qualities you can lead a
team to answer this question you can say that yes formally I do not have a leadership designation
but I know the nitty-gritties of this role way I am quite well organized and have led small projects for
my team given an opportunity I would be able to discharge my duties effectively now going further
you can quote some examples from your

(15:09) professional life to back up your claims the next question what would you do if one of your
team members ceases to perform this question is actually a check of your managerial skills the key
here is the Volt ceases which means that this team member was performing are here so you can say
something like if a member ceases to perform there has to be a reason I try to find that out and
address it the very next question after this could be if you face a problem with your own
performance what would you do through this question the
(15:52) interviewer tries to find out if you can see problems with your own performance or not this
is again a situation where self-awareness plays a key role if I am performing bad am I able to realize
that am I able to establish the causes and I am I able to take the corrective actions everybody has the
ability to find out the mistakes with other people's performance but what's more important to grow
in professional life is to realize your own shortcomings and take the required actions so to answer a
question

(16:26) like this you can say something like if I face a problem with my own performance I will try to
establish the reasons and sort them out now there can be some small questions as well for example
how would you classify your style of management one style of management would not suit all the
situations so you can say that your style of management is situational the next one could be how
would you describe your work style ultimately what is important to survive in the corporate world is
a good performance so you can say that your

(17:05) works tire is performance oriented most of the interviewers will find it convincing question
number 18 have you ever worked under pressure pressure is an inseparable part of business
however it can take different forms at times it will be the pressure of improving your own
performance violate others it could be the pressure of meeting the deadlines the purpose of this
question is to see how do you handle that pressure so mainly talk about what do you do to not fall a
victim to the pressure and let your focus get diluted so you can talk a

(17:43) bit about things like drawing a proper plan to meet the expectations but heisting the right
activities starting and finishing them til n and stay dedicated to the final outcome if you think a
particular task should be done in a particular way and the other person thinks that it should be done
in another way what would you do to resolve the conflict this is not a very frequently asked question
but yes with the changing trend the interviewers these days are asking more situation based
questions you would see that some of our readers

(18:17) have reported this question also in their interview experiences shared on our site the
purpose of this question is actually to check your level of acceptance and adamancy you would agree
that there can be different approaches to do a particular work and at times the solution suggested
by someone else might actually be better than you all and in such a situation it is more important
that you evaluate each of them and pick the better one so if you have tasted this question you can
say something like I understand that there could be more

(18:53) than one approaches to do a particular work and if I am faced with a situation as quoted by
you I will evaluate both the solutions and take up the one which is right and will get the results faster
the next question what are your weaknesses if you are watching this video it means you already
have some practical experience of life and work and you know quite well that every human being
has got some weaknesses and it is absolutely ok for you to also have some what is more important is
the actions you are taking to improve upon those

(19:29) weaknesses remember I said at the beginning of this video the interviewers are also human
beings they are trying to take some human element in you during the interview so until unless you
give out some weakness that is a direct impact on the performance the interviewer won't be much
bothered so here is a small exercise that will help you prepare a good answer to this question
number one sit and think for some time and make a list of all your weaknesses now see which of
them has a direct impact on the performance cross this one

(20:06) out now select two or three weaknesses out of the once you are left with these are the ones
you would nation if this question comes up as you talk about a weakness also explain what actions
you are taking to get over it for example if peeling stress is your weakness you can say something
like when the deadlines are approaching and a lot of work is still pending I start feeling overwhelmed
this increases my stress levels but over the last some projects I have been practicing some good time
management and planning exercises which

(20:44) has mean keeping much more relaxed I divide the tasks into smaller sub tasks Clara ties them
and deal with one thing at a time this helps me stay in focus and deliver better apart from this I have
also learned some stress management tricks which I am trying to practice although it is a work in
progress but has helped to be phenomenally question number 21 what is your expected salary now
that we are dealing with this topic of HR interview it means you are talking to the HR people with the
prospective employer already while answering this

(21:21) question don't jump at a figure immediately try to turn the ball back into the interviewers
code and ask him the type of salary this company offers for a position like this maybe you can get
some hint of what they have on mind and take it ahead from there but yes there can be times when
you have to be the first one to spell out a figure and for that to happen you have to be really
prepared you must know the industry trend and what does that particular company offer from my
experience as seen that when you can't avoid the question

(21:57) offer a range based on your research and expectation but just don't keep the range too
broad otherwise you will be offered something towards the lower end for example if you are looking
at something around 55 K probably you can say based on my work experience expertise and current
market rent I am looking at something in the range of mid fifties the last question do you want to ask
us anything conducting an interview is a time consuming job and trust me then the interviewers find
the right candidate even they feel elated many candidates

(22:37) believe that asking the questions is a sign of being impolite but no it is not asking the right
questions in fact is a strong sign of being the right candidate just ensure that you do not start
interrogating the interviewer or land up asking too many questions there has to be a right balance
depending on the situation the questions would actually depend on the level of position you are
interviewing for if you are interviewing for middle level positions you can ask things like what are the
growth prospects for me to grow in the company

(23:12) do you have any concerns about my candidacy or something related to the team in that
department and still simple then can I expect to hear back however if you are interviewing for higher
level positions you need to research their operations very well so that you can actually ask
something intelligent enough if the company or the industry has been in noodles that lasts some
days that can give you a good stat find out why they were in news what is the impact of that news
on the company or the industry as a whole and traffic into a

(23:49) question so we have come to the end of this video if it benefited you do give us a thumbs up
and share it with your friends to stay updated with the latest interview happening do subscribe to
our channel if you have any questions send them in the comment box below and we'll definitely
answer them for you thank you see you in the next video

10 Common Interview Questions Answers for Freshers - Govt., IT, Software, Banking, Finance, BPO
etc. - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-E0JhRKuNM

Transcript:

(00:01) hello and welcome to career right i'm nishant and today i'm gonna discuss common
interview questions and answers for fresh graduates so let's get started now for any individual the
first job is very important and as you transition from a student to a working professional you might
be finding a job interview very intimidating as a fresher you might be thinking what questions could
we ask in the interview since the outcome of the final selection process is determined on how well
you perform an interview

(00:36) so let's see a few common interview questions asked to fresh graduates all right so let's get
started with the first one tell me about yourself this appears to be a clear and common interview
question you may believe that everything is included in your resume however you must inform the
interviewer of any information that is not included in your resume the interviewer would also want
to see how well you communicate and don't forget to use a few examples to highlight your skills and
abilities you can also talk about your

(01:14) accomplishment and interest but be very careful not to reveal too much and make sure you
keep it short alright so let's have a sample answer i thank you for the opportunity i'm from bangalore
and come from nuclear family my parents are both professors at abc college and my younger sister is
about to take her 12th grade exam in college i was an active speaker serving as the head of our
campus speakers forum the previous year during the speakers forum i realized the importance of
excellent communication

(01:54) skills as well as the importance of listening skills i also enjoy playing chess which has taught
me how to overcome challenges and now i'm looking for my next professional challenge and i
believe i have found it with your phone i also volunteer with an ngo that cleans beaches on
weekends so that was an example coming to the next question what makes you the best candidate
for this position the hiring manager is interested in what you can bring to the job so never put
yourself in the same category as other candidates

(02:40) don't compare yourself with others as a newcomer you may think this is a difficult question
but you can use it to highlight your strong points in a positive way okay so let's have an example i
have the necessary qualifications for this position and my academic records will back it up i interned
with avc advertising company last year as a member of client management team and i was able to
understand the various aspects of client management which helped me maintain good client
relationships this role would also require the
(03:19) presence of someone who is capable of managing relationships i understand the importance
of communication and make sure i keep my communication clear and effective coming to the next
question why do you want to work here the hiring manager wants to know how interested you are
in joining the organization by asking this question with this question he or she wants to know if you
have done your research or you have just arrived for the interview you must plan ahead of time to
answer this question you need to conduct research on the

(03:57) company's website learn about their mission and vision keep an eye on their social media
pages for upcoming events and initiatives examine their policies this will also help you determine if
you fit in with the company's culture alright so let's have an example this company founded in 2013
and is one of the fastest growing advertising and marketing firms in such a short period of time you
have already partnered with several well-known brands i am also following you on social media and
have read about your new green clean

(04:36) initiative your csr activities and environmentally friendly practices have inspired many young
people including myself also i read that you provide complete learning and development support
through in-house training programs which is very motivating to perform better alright so let's move
on to the next question what do you do in your free time or tell us about your hobbies you may think
this question is unimportant by asking about your hobbies the hiring manager may attempt to
understand your personality traits

(05:16) the hiring manager is trying to ascertain whether you would be a good fit for the company
even if your interests are in hobbies have nothing to do with your job they can be beneficial make
sure you do not lie for example you say you enjoy traveling but have never left your estate and the
hiring manager has the same interest he would quick to notice that you haven't been out in a few
years also make sure you talk about one or two hobbies and elaborate about it okay so let's see an
example i have been interested in learning new

(05:58) languages as i have been studying literature i have signed up for an online spanish language
course i have completed the second label and can now write in spanish as well learning spanish
enabled me to connect with new people i also enjoy playing badminton in my free time moving on
what motivates you to come to work every day the hiring manager is interested in knowing if you
will be happy and satisfied with your new job to answer this question you must explain to the
interviewer what you are looking for in a job

(06:39) as a newcomer you can discuss your internships or any volunteer work you have done all
right so let's have a sample answer during my internship with abc company i had the opportunity to
present my ideas and thoughts on upcoming projects i used to look forward to our brainstorming
sessions because they helped me think about an idea from different perspective i took a very
proactive approach to my job i used to feel energized and happy knowing that i had given my all to
the task at hand it could be anything from

(07:18) ordering stacks for our clients to scheduling meetings or preparing the presentation pitch all
right so let's take a next question what is your salary expectation you may not be able to quote any
figures as a newcomer with no experience but you can look at the wage skills for various positions it
is always best to give some room for negotiation rather than stating a definite amount one method
to react to this question is to say that you will accept the most recent industry standards all right so
let's see an example as i

(07:58) am still in my early stages of my career i am unable to provide a specific figure for my take-
home pay but i am looking forward to working for this company because it will allow me to hone my
skills and advance my career i would go with business market package at this point could you please
tell me how much i can expect from your company okay so let's take a next question how long do
you intend to stay with us you could also be asked where you see yourself in next five years the
hiring manager wants to know how

(08:34) long you intend to work for them with this question employers avoid hiring people who are
not going to stay long because they invest a lot of money in training and onboarding new employees
so it is best to express your pleasure at being considered for the position in such a prestigious
company as well as your eagerness to continue working in a positive work environment okay so let's
see a sample answer as i begin my career i want to lay a solid foundation and there is no better
organization than yours i would like to stay with your company

(09:12) as long as i can have a fulfilling career this company also offers excellent training and the
mentors take a personalized approach to each of your recruits i intend to hone my skills and give my
all to any projects that is assigned to me okay so let's take a next one what are your strengths as a
fresher this is a very easy question to respond you could talk about the strengths that would help
you excel at work it could be your personal or unrelated skills but be truthful and avoid giving
flowery answer to this question

(09:54) okay so let me give you a sample answer i have an excellent communicator which has
enabled me to take on leadership roles in my college my communication is concise and to the point i
ask questions that help me perform better because i have a clear understanding of what the
outcome should be i also keep a to-do list and have a habit of prioritizing my task which helps me
finish my work in the allocated time coming to the next one what are your weaknesses the hiring
manager wants to know how well you know yourself with this

(10:33) question do not claim that you have no flaws that would be a lie and you might come across
as arrogant you could discuss your weaknesses and then tell them what you learned from it you also
have the opportunity to tell them how you turn your weaknesses into your strengths all right so let's
see an example during my internship i noticed that i had a difficult time managing my time my task
would be submitted too close to the deadline but now i am keeping a to-do list to get this sorted out
in addition i use a calendar to help me

(11:12) remember and complete my task on time to help me prioritize i began organizing my time
into daily and weekly tasks and this habit has greatly aided me in managing my time efficiently i can
now finish my task on time and if necessary rework them without missing deadline and the last
question could be do you have any questions you need to prepare for this question prior to the
interview in order to answer it properly the hiring manager would like to know if you are interested
in learning more about the company you can ask them about any policies you

(11:56) come across or if you want to learn more about your job role okay so let's see an example
thank you yes i do what are the daily job responsibilities for this position if hired so that was a brief
example and finally thank the interviewer for their time and inform them that you are awaiting their
decision all right so we have seen a few common questions remember whether you are new or
experienced professional you must prepare for an interview never show up for an interview
unprepared learn more about the company check out

(12:36) their social media pages to stay up to date on their latest events and initiatives and if you
have any friends who work in the same company you could speak with them to learn more about
companies culture and environment remember that being well prepared will make you more
confident which will boost your morale and help you perform well in the interview

Tough HR Interview Questions for Freshers - Useful for Campus & Off Campus Placements |Tips &
Sample - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUb9ZrWoNTY

Transcript:

(00:00) hello everybody Welcome once again to another interview questions and answers video
from career ride in today's video Let's see three questions that fresh graduates find tough to answer
in an interview and the only reason they find them difficult is because they do not anticipate these
questions and hence are not prepared to answer them what's the result the result is they get
surprised and land up saying something they don't really mean but if you're prepared to answer
these questions you can easily

(00:32) turn each of them into an opportunity to tell the interviewer about a new facet of your
personality so if you are a job aspirant I'm sure you understand how important this video is for you
make sure that you watch it till the end without skipping any parts of it question number one what
can you offer us that other candidates can't now see there can be various ways in which this
question may be put to you for example how are you unique or why should we consider you over
your batchmates Etc the first thing to understand here is

(01:09) why is this question important for the interviewer see all the students in a batch learn same
subjects and pass out with the same degree the interviewers want to see which candidate has got
something extra and relevant to offer them to answer this question like a professional following are
some important things to remember the first one 10 good things about yourself but don't demean
others in any way second think about skills qualities any past experiences personal or professional
that make you a better choice for

(01:46) example any personality traits extra courses Etc and then to identify these personality traits
think about the compliments you often receive from family friends and professors just ensure that
whatever you say is interesting and relevant weave everything into a story and present a sample
answer to this question can be something like I think I can be a better candidate for the social media
marketing position for two reasons number one I possess good public speaking skills which makes it
easier for me to communicate and

(02:26) instantly connect with the audience and number two my family and professors often say I'm
a very mature person as I'm able to understand a situation quickly and conduct accordingly this
quality can come useful at work also while working in the team and writing content that empathizes
with the audience see how I have put the two qualities in context with this position that even the
interviews would be looking for but I could do this only because I anticipated this question this self-
awareness and preparation will help you answer some

(03:02) other question if not this great let's move on to question number two tell us something that
you dislike to do another way to ask this question can be what tasks do you always find yourself
putting off before we begin let's see some tips to answer this question number one don't pretend
that there's nothing that you dislike all of us do and you are also a human being number two be
honest but not self-damaging anything that affects your work performance will go against you it's
better to improve such things silently

(03:42) and not talk about them number three if it is anything related to work focus on the actions
you are taking to improve it a better idea is to go into the past take something that you are not good
at and disliked and discuss the actions you took to improve it a sample answer to this question can
be something like when I came to the college I found myself never wanting to take the front stage
and I realized that the major reason behind this was most of the programs were conducted in English
and I was not fluent at it this always kept my

(04:20) confidence level low and I always prefer to take a back seat on realizing this I took some
extra efforts like improving my vocabulary and grammar recording my own voice while reading
loudly and playing it back to myself Etc things slowly improved and after an effort of approximately
one and a half year here I am in front of you fantastic let's move on to the third one now if you could
relive the last three four years of your life what would you do differently well another way of putting
up this question could be do you have any

(04:58) regrets this question is another way for the interviewer to dive deeper into your personality
to answer this question think of things like the way you used your time during these three four years
paid less attention to your Fitness and diet approach studies and life didn't enjoy sufficiently Etc now
think of any changes you have made to your habits to improve yourself as a person and weave
everything together into an answer if I were to answer this question I would say something like well
my biggest regret about my college

(05:36) days is that I was not very conscious of my fitness and diet them the basic reason for this was
that I was not sufficiently aware of its importance fortunately a young body supports itself well but
once I started working I saw that some of my colleagues were very conscious of their Fitness the
Advent of Internet further came as a bone but since the time I've understood this I exercised
regularly and my diet consists of healthy food choices only the change has posted up my energy
levels majorly so you see with every

(06:16) answer I'm trying to show the interviewer what did I do about that situation or what have I
learned these two things immediately make you an interesting candidate for the interview the trick
is back yourself up with examples and stories always sheer words won't impress anyone with this we
come to the end of this video and I sincerely hope that whatever we have learned today in this video
is going to be useful to you in your career if you are a fresh graduate preparing for your HR interview
make sure that you

(06:50) watch this video also it carries a lot of HR interview questions that are usually asked to the
fresh graduates during their interview it also carries a lot of sample answers and some tips that will
come useful to you if you have found today's video useful do give it a thumbs up and share it with
your friends also and if you want to stay updated with more such interesting and important things
you know what you have to do you have to subscribe to this channel thank you and see you very
soon till then bye bye and take care

Tough HR Interview Questions for Freshers - Useful for Campus & Off Campus Placements |Tips &
Sample - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUb9ZrWoNTY

Transcript:

(00:00) hello everybody Welcome once again to another interview questions and answers video
from career ride in today's video Let's see three questions that fresh graduates find tough to answer
in an interview and the only reason they find them difficult is because they do not anticipate these
questions and hence are not prepared to answer them what's the result the result is they get
surprised and land up saying something they don't really mean but if you're prepared to answer
these questions you can easily

(00:32) turn each of them into an opportunity to tell the interviewer about a new facet of your
personality so if you are a job aspirant I'm sure you understand how important this video is for you
make sure that you watch it till the end without skipping any parts of it question number one what
can you offer us that other candidates can't now see there can be various ways in which this
question may be put to you for example how are you unique or why should we consider you over
your batchmates Etc the first thing to understand here is

(01:09) why is this question important for the interviewer see all the students in a batch learn same
subjects and pass out with the same degree the interviewers want to see which candidate has got
something extra and relevant to offer them to answer this question like a professional following are
some important things to remember the first one 10 good things about yourself but don't demean
others in any way second think about skills qualities any past experiences personal or professional
that make you a better choice for

(01:46) example any personality traits extra courses Etc and then to identify these personality traits
think about the compliments you often receive from family friends and professors just ensure that
whatever you say is interesting and relevant weave everything into a story and present a sample
answer to this question can be something like I think I can be a better candidate for the social media
marketing position for two reasons number one I possess good public speaking skills which makes it
easier for me to communicate and

(02:26) instantly connect with the audience and number two my family and professors often say I'm
a very mature person as I'm able to understand a situation quickly and conduct accordingly this
quality can come useful at work also while working in the team and writing content that empathizes
with the audience see how I have put the two qualities in context with this position that even the
interviews would be looking for but I could do this only because I anticipated this question this self-
awareness and preparation will help you answer some

(03:02) other question if not this great let's move on to question number two tell us something that
you dislike to do another way to ask this question can be what tasks do you always find yourself
putting off before we begin let's see some tips to answer this question number one don't pretend
that there's nothing that you dislike all of us do and you are also a human being number two be
honest but not self-damaging anything that affects your work performance will go against you it's
better to improve such things silently

(03:42) and not talk about them number three if it is anything related to work focus on the actions
you are taking to improve it a better idea is to go into the past take something that you are not good
at and disliked and discuss the actions you took to improve it a sample answer to this question can
be something like when I came to the college I found myself never wanting to take the front stage
and I realized that the major reason behind this was most of the programs were conducted in English
and I was not fluent at it this always kept my

(04:20) confidence level low and I always prefer to take a back seat on realizing this I took some
extra efforts like improving my vocabulary and grammar recording my own voice while reading
loudly and playing it back to myself Etc things slowly improved and after an effort of approximately
one and a half year here I am in front of you fantastic let's move on to the third one now if you could
relive the last three four years of your life what would you do differently well another way of putting
up this question could be do you have any

(04:58) regrets this question is another way for the interviewer to dive deeper into your personality
to answer this question think of things like the way you used your time during these three four years
paid less attention to your Fitness and diet approach studies and life didn't enjoy sufficiently Etc now
think of any changes you have made to your habits to improve yourself as a person and weave
everything together into an answer if I were to answer this question I would say something like well
my biggest regret about my college

(05:36) days is that I was not very conscious of my fitness and diet them the basic reason for this was
that I was not sufficiently aware of its importance fortunately a young body supports itself well but
once I started working I saw that some of my colleagues were very conscious of their Fitness the
Advent of Internet further came as a bone but since the time I've understood this I exercised
regularly and my diet consists of healthy food choices only the change has posted up my energy
levels majorly so you see with every
(06:16) answer I'm trying to show the interviewer what did I do about that situation or what have I
learned these two things immediately make you an interesting candidate for the interview the trick
is back yourself up with examples and stories always sheer words won't impress anyone with this we
come to the end of this video and I sincerely hope that whatever we have learned today in this video
is going to be useful to you in your career if you are a fresh graduate preparing for your HR interview
make sure that you

(06:50) watch this video also it carries a lot of HR interview questions that are usually asked to the
fresh graduates during their interview it also carries a lot of sample answers and some tips that will
come useful to you if you have found today's video useful do give it a thumbs up and share it with
your friends also and if you want to stay updated with more such interesting and important things
you know what you have to do you have to subscribe to this channel thank you and see you very
soon till then bye bye and take care

FINANCIAL ANALYST Interview Questions & TOP-SCORING ANSWERS! - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VESSexbXHbA

Transcript:

(00:01) Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company
PassMyInterview.com. In this tutorial, I will teach you how to pass a Financial Analyst interview. So,
it does not matter which organization or company you are applying to join as a financial analyst,
please do watch this tutorial from beginning to end, because I'm going to give you a series of
interview questions that I believe will come up, tips for answering them and then also suggested
answers! Please do take notes. Now, before I get into those financial analyst

(00:34) interview questions and answers… a very warm welcome to this training tutorial. My name is
Richard McMunn. That is me there in the center. I've been helping people for 20 years now to pass
their interviews and I always do that by giving you top-scoring answers. Please do SUBSCRIBE to the
channel by clicking the red button below the video, then you won't miss out on any of the weekly
training videos I'm uploading.

(01:00) We have about 220,000 subscribers within our community and many of you from around the
world are passing your job interviews. Thankfully, after using these videos. Please also support my
channel by giving the video a LIKE (thanks!) I would very much appreciate that. That also tells me
that you enjoy the content and therefore I will create more for you. OK.

(01:23) Let's get into the first Financial Analyst interview question and top scoring answer. When you
go into your financial analyst interview, they're going to say to you, either: Tell me about yourself?
or: Introduce yourself and explain why you want to be a financial analyst? As you and I know, this is
a challenging role.

(01:47) It's a pressurized role and you need a unique set of skills to be competent in the position. We
want to get off on the right footing. We want to give them a positive answer that shows that you are
the best candidate! So here is my suggested answer to this first financial analyst interview question.
“I am a dedicated, intuitive and commercially driven Financial Analyst who possesses the necessary
qualities and traits to help you achieve your strategic objectives.

(02:14) I have plenty of experience within similar roles to prove my worth and, being someone who
can fit into an organization seamlessly and start contributing positively immediately, I would be a
solid asset to add to your already established team. I want to be a Financial Analyst because the core
skills and qualities I possess are a match for the person specification.

(02:38) These include, strong communication and interpersonal skills, solid financial analytical and
reporting capabilities, commercial awareness, strategic acumen and also a desire and capacity for
innovative methods of working.” So, you are showing there that you have the relevant skills. You are
explaining WHY you want to be a financial analyst.

(03:01) But what I particularly like about that response is you are discussing about how your role fits
in from a ‘commercial perspective’. You know why you're being hired as a financial analyst, and you
are explaining that you have the commercial awareness and strategic acumen, which I believe are
two really important qualities within the role of a financial analyst.

(03:24) You can either pause the video and write down these answers in full, or the areas of the
answers that you think are suitable to you. Or if you want to hold on, I will tell you at some stage
where you can download my full set of Financial Analyst interview questions and answers. The
second question that I want you to prepare for: What are the most important skills needed to be a
financial analyst? Now, you might sit there and think, well, that is easy. I can answer that without
any problem at all.

(03:48) However, my advice is to make sure you read the job description for the financial analyst role
that you are applying for and the person specification, and then list those skills and qualities in your
answer. Because even though there is a core set of skills needed to become a competent financial
analyst, all organizations require different skillsets.

(04:12) There may be some alternative, specific skillsets they are looking for. I've carried out a lot of
research and here is my suggested answer. “In my experience, there are 8 essential skills needed to
become a competent Financial Analyst. In no particular order of priority, these include an ability to
COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY with internal team members and departments; comprehensive
KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR SUBJECT MATTER; in-depth FINANCIAL ANALYTICAL skills, and also an
understanding of IT AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS. You also need CONFIDENT DESCISION MAKING
ABILITIES,

(04:47) the ABILITY TO ASSESS RISK within an organization from a financial perspective, an extreme
DETAIL-ORIENTATED APPROACH to all tasks and projects and also COMPETENT MATHEMATICAL
SKILLS.” What I like about that particular answer is, you are putting a NUMBER to the skills needed,
and in this particular situation, I demonstrated 8.

(05:10) That immediately tells the interviewer or the hiring manager that you already know the skills
that are needed. The majority of candidates will sit there and they will think off the top of their head
what the skills are needed for this role. But you've already prepared fully, so you are giving a SET
NUMBER. The third question of your financial analyst interview: Why do you want to work for our
organization as a Financial Analyst? I can pretty much guarantee this interview question will come up
during your interview, especially if you are an external candidate. Here is my suggested

(05:44) answer. “As you know, there are lots of Financial Analyst job vacancies advertised. However,
within this role I believe it is crucial to choose the company you work for very carefully. Being a
Financial Analyst is a challenging role and you can only succeed if your employer has ambitious,
strategic goals for the future and it is prepared to work closely with you to create and develop long-
term commercial and financial plans.

(06:13) Prior to seeing this vacancy advertised, I’d heard many positive stories from other colleagues
about how you operate as a business and also how you support your analysts. As soon as I saw the
position advertised, I knew I had to apply.” You are demonstrating that you understand the
importance of not just going for any organization, but one where you will be supported to do your
role properly.

(06:41) For example, you are saying the organization knows the VALUE of a financial analyst, and
what he or she can bring to the organization. Now, I still have quite a few questions to run through,
so please do stick around, but when you are ready, if you click the link in the top right hand corner of
the screen, it will take you through to my web site, which is called PassMyInterview.

(07:01) com, and you can download my full set of financial analyst interview questions and top
scoring answers! But before you do that, let's move on to the next question. How would you ensure
the data in a financial report is accurate? Here is my suggested answer. “One of the skills I possess
that has served me well in previous Financial Analyst positions is my ability to carry out my work
both quickly and accurately.

(07:30) I would go as far to say I am renowned for my accurate financial analysis and data reporting.
One of the first things I will do is to make sure the raw data I am using comes from a reliable source
– if I am presenting reports to other members of the organization, then I have to ensure it is reliable
as it will be open to questioning and could harm the organization commercially if it isn’t.

(07:50) Before submitting my report to its intended audience or department, I would ask someone
suitably qualified to check over my final report to confirm its authenticity.” So you're using three
methods there. You are saying that you have the natural skills to be accurate in your role. You make
sure that the information and data that you obtain is from a reliable source.

(08:14) And then also, you are on occasions when needed, using a ‘double check’ method. If there's
anyone else within the organization who you are working with, you are getting them to check it over
for you as well, just to confirm. Next question: If you have to choose one financial measure to assess
the health of a company.

(08:35) Which one would it be and why? This is assessing your understanding of financial reports and
how they demonstrate the financial health of an organization. So we have to say which one it is, and
then give the reasons why. This is my own response based on the measure that I think is really
important in an organization. “I would say, without doubt, I would choose the current and historical
NET CASH FLOW of a business when assessing its financial health and status.
(09:03) Net cash flow is essentially the amount of cash and cash-equivalents that come into a
business, and also out of it. The main reason why I would choose NET CASH FLOW as a reliable
financial measure, is because it is one of the prominent areas that investors and shareholders would
use when assessing a company’s ability to generate value.

(09:24) So, essentially, a healthy NET CASH FLOW demonstrates a business is being run successfully
and responsibly.” Next question of our Financial Analyst interview. What is EBIDTA? You know, this is
a difficult one to pronounce! You may pronounce it differently to myself, but the question is: What is
EBIDTA? And here is my answer to this question: “EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes,
Depreciation and Amortization.

(09:52) It is basically used by investors and financial analysts as a measure of company profitability.
EBITDA, in a nutshell, is the operating revenues minus the operating expenses. It’s particularly useful
for comparing one company against another for example, but it is only useful if the companies you
are comparing are in the same line of business.

(10:14) ” That does come up quite often during financial analyst interviews! Next question: what are
your strengths and weaknesses? This is obviously a non-technical question, but again, I believe
strongly it will come up either as one question… What are your strengths and also what are your
weakness? Or one question combined, with two of them in that. Here is my suggested answer.

(10:36) “My strengths are my positive and determined mindset, my ability to be keep working on
tasks and projects until they are completed to the high standards required, and also my
communication and interpersonal skills. I feel I am very good at explaining complex financial reports
and data and putting them across in a commercially friendly manner.

(10:56) My weakness is I am sometimes impatient. I like to get through my workload quickly and if I
am held up by an external organization for example, I find this a bit frustrating at times. However,
my strong communication and interpersonal skills mean I am able to put across in a polite manner
how important their work is to the completion of my own task.

(11:20) ” You will notice there with that response, I have ‘front-loaded’ it with a number of
STRENGTHS and only given one weakness. I believe that's important, but what I like about that
response as well, is you are essentially demonstrating that your ‘impatience’ is actually a strength
and an asset to the organization. Then you are also saying that your strength of being able to
communicate well, means that you can overcome that weakness.

(11:41) It's quite an intelligent response to that interview question! Next one: What are your salary
expectations as our financial analyst? The salary may be fixed, but more often than not, there will be
some discussion about the salary expectations. And this is a great way to answer this interview
question: “Based on my research, the average salary for a Financial Analyst within this sector is
$50,000 to $60,000.

(12:10) Whilst I personally feel I am worthy of the higher band of salary, I understand I have a
responsibility to prove to you my worth. You don’t know me, so I need to demonstrate the value I
can add to your organization. On that basis, I would be comfortable with a salary of $56,000 and at
that level, I feel you will see a positive return on your investment and be pleased with my worth
strong ethics and values.
(12:33) ” That is a good response. You are using a bit of negotiation skills there. You are going in
slightly higher than the average… and between $50,000 and $60,000, will be $55,000. You're going in
slightly higher and you are also demonstrating to them that you understand you need to prove your
worth.

(12:51) Some people will go in: “I want $60000!”, but you are giving a little bit of leeway there
straightaway. Next question: do you have any questions you would like to ask the interview panel?
Now, at some point you will have the opportunity to ask questions during your financial analyst
interview. A lot of people will say, “I don't have any questions. You've answered them all during the
interview.

(13:10) ” But this is your opportunity to show the interviewer that you want to be there for a long
period of time, and also you want to make a difference as soon as you get within the role! So here
are two questions I recommend you ask the interview panel. “Thank you. Yes, I have a couple of
questions I'd like to ask, please.

(13:32) First one is, what has frustrated you about financial analysts who have worked in this
position previously and what could I specifically do to help you achieve your financial and
commercial goals?” I like that question because you are really knuckling down to what issues they
have had in the past. They could say: “We haven't really had any.

(13:51) ” However, they might say: “High performing financial analysts have done xyz!” They might
say: “They really worked long, additional hours.” And you could say: “I'm in the position to offer that
as well. I can work additional hours as and when needed.” And also, you are seeing what you could
specifically do to help them achieve their financial and commercial goals.

(14:09) Question number two: “You are clearly an innovative and forward thinking company. What
are your plans for the next five to 10 years?” That tells me, subtly, that you want to stay with that
company long-term. You are already thinking… ‘I'd like to be here for a long period of time.’ Now, if
you’re good within your position, they will want you to stay! So as I say, if you would like to
download my full set of Financial Analyst Interview Questions and Answers, click the link above the
video or go to the website: PassMyInterview.com. Please do connect with

(14:38) me on LinkedIn.com. If you have a look in the video description below this video, you will see
my linked in connection link is there, so please do connect with me. I like connecting with
professional people and business owners. If you have any questions, please put them in the
comments section below. Please don't forget to SUBSCRIBE.

(14:59) I would very, very much appreciate your support and don’t forget to give the video a ‘LIKE’ as
well. Thank you very much for your time for watching this video and I look forward to hearing your
success stories when you pass your Financial Analyst interview. Have a brilliant day. Thank you!

FINANCIAL ANALYST Interview Questions & TOP-SCORING ANSWERS! - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VESSexbXHbA
Transcript:

(00:01) Hello there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company
PassMyInterview.com. In this tutorial, I will teach you how to pass a Financial Analyst interview. So,
it does not matter which organization or company you are applying to join as a financial analyst,
please do watch this tutorial from beginning to end, because I'm going to give you a series of
interview questions that I believe will come up, tips for answering them and then also suggested
answers! Please do take notes. Now, before I get into those financial analyst

(00:34) interview questions and answers… a very warm welcome to this training tutorial. My name is
Richard McMunn. That is me there in the center. I've been helping people for 20 years now to pass
their interviews and I always do that by giving you top-scoring answers. Please do SUBSCRIBE to the
channel by clicking the red button below the video, then you won't miss out on any of the weekly
training videos I'm uploading.

(01:00) We have about 220,000 subscribers within our community and many of you from around the
world are passing your job interviews. Thankfully, after using these videos. Please also support my
channel by giving the video a LIKE (thanks!) I would very much appreciate that. That also tells me
that you enjoy the content and therefore I will create more for you. OK.

(01:23) Let's get into the first Financial Analyst interview question and top scoring answer. When you
go into your financial analyst interview, they're going to say to you, either: Tell me about yourself?
or: Introduce yourself and explain why you want to be a financial analyst? As you and I know, this is
a challenging role.

(01:47) It's a pressurized role and you need a unique set of skills to be competent in the position. We
want to get off on the right footing. We want to give them a positive answer that shows that you are
the best candidate! So here is my suggested answer to this first financial analyst interview question.
“I am a dedicated, intuitive and commercially driven Financial Analyst who possesses the necessary
qualities and traits to help you achieve your strategic objectives.

(02:14) I have plenty of experience within similar roles to prove my worth and, being someone who
can fit into an organization seamlessly and start contributing positively immediately, I would be a
solid asset to add to your already established team. I want to be a Financial Analyst because the core
skills and qualities I possess are a match for the person specification.

(02:38) These include, strong communication and interpersonal skills, solid financial analytical and
reporting capabilities, commercial awareness, strategic acumen and also a desire and capacity for
innovative methods of working.” So, you are showing there that you have the relevant skills. You are
explaining WHY you want to be a financial analyst.

(03:01) But what I particularly like about that response is you are discussing about how your role fits
in from a ‘commercial perspective’. You know why you're being hired as a financial analyst, and you
are explaining that you have the commercial awareness and strategic acumen, which I believe are
two really important qualities within the role of a financial analyst.

(03:24) You can either pause the video and write down these answers in full, or the areas of the
answers that you think are suitable to you. Or if you want to hold on, I will tell you at some stage
where you can download my full set of Financial Analyst interview questions and answers. The
second question that I want you to prepare for: What are the most important skills needed to be a
financial analyst? Now, you might sit there and think, well, that is easy. I can answer that without
any problem at all.

(03:48) However, my advice is to make sure you read the job description for the financial analyst role
that you are applying for and the person specification, and then list those skills and qualities in your
answer. Because even though there is a core set of skills needed to become a competent financial
analyst, all organizations require different skillsets.

(04:12) There may be some alternative, specific skillsets they are looking for. I've carried out a lot of
research and here is my suggested answer. “In my experience, there are 8 essential skills needed to
become a competent Financial Analyst. In no particular order of priority, these include an ability to
COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY with internal team members and departments; comprehensive
KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR SUBJECT MATTER; in-depth FINANCIAL ANALYTICAL skills, and also an
understanding of IT AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS. You also need CONFIDENT DESCISION MAKING
ABILITIES,

(04:47) the ABILITY TO ASSESS RISK within an organization from a financial perspective, an extreme
DETAIL-ORIENTATED APPROACH to all tasks and projects and also COMPETENT MATHEMATICAL
SKILLS.” What I like about that particular answer is, you are putting a NUMBER to the skills needed,
and in this particular situation, I demonstrated 8.

(05:10) That immediately tells the interviewer or the hiring manager that you already know the skills
that are needed. The majority of candidates will sit there and they will think off the top of their head
what the skills are needed for this role. But you've already prepared fully, so you are giving a SET
NUMBER. The third question of your financial analyst interview: Why do you want to work for our
organization as a Financial Analyst? I can pretty much guarantee this interview question will come up
during your interview, especially if you are an external candidate. Here is my suggested

(05:44) answer. “As you know, there are lots of Financial Analyst job vacancies advertised. However,
within this role I believe it is crucial to choose the company you work for very carefully. Being a
Financial Analyst is a challenging role and you can only succeed if your employer has ambitious,
strategic goals for the future and it is prepared to work closely with you to create and develop long-
term commercial and financial plans.

(06:13) Prior to seeing this vacancy advertised, I’d heard many positive stories from other colleagues
about how you operate as a business and also how you support your analysts. As soon as I saw the
position advertised, I knew I had to apply.” You are demonstrating that you understand the
importance of not just going for any organization, but one where you will be supported to do your
role properly.

(06:41) For example, you are saying the organization knows the VALUE of a financial analyst, and
what he or she can bring to the organization. Now, I still have quite a few questions to run through,
so please do stick around, but when you are ready, if you click the link in the top right hand corner of
the screen, it will take you through to my web site, which is called PassMyInterview.
(07:01) com, and you can download my full set of financial analyst interview questions and top
scoring answers! But before you do that, let's move on to the next question. How would you ensure
the data in a financial report is accurate? Here is my suggested answer. “One of the skills I possess
that has served me well in previous Financial Analyst positions is my ability to carry out my work
both quickly and accurately.

(07:30) I would go as far to say I am renowned for my accurate financial analysis and data reporting.
One of the first things I will do is to make sure the raw data I am using comes from a reliable source
– if I am presenting reports to other members of the organization, then I have to ensure it is reliable
as it will be open to questioning and could harm the organization commercially if it isn’t.

(07:50) Before submitting my report to its intended audience or department, I would ask someone
suitably qualified to check over my final report to confirm its authenticity.” So you're using three
methods there. You are saying that you have the natural skills to be accurate in your role. You make
sure that the information and data that you obtain is from a reliable source.

(08:14) And then also, you are on occasions when needed, using a ‘double check’ method. If there's
anyone else within the organization who you are working with, you are getting them to check it over
for you as well, just to confirm. Next question: If you have to choose one financial measure to assess
the health of a company.

(08:35) Which one would it be and why? This is assessing your understanding of financial reports and
how they demonstrate the financial health of an organization. So we have to say which one it is, and
then give the reasons why. This is my own response based on the measure that I think is really
important in an organization. “I would say, without doubt, I would choose the current and historical
NET CASH FLOW of a business when assessing its financial health and status.

(09:03) Net cash flow is essentially the amount of cash and cash-equivalents that come into a
business, and also out of it. The main reason why I would choose NET CASH FLOW as a reliable
financial measure, is because it is one of the prominent areas that investors and shareholders would
use when assessing a company’s ability to generate value.

(09:24) So, essentially, a healthy NET CASH FLOW demonstrates a business is being run successfully
and responsibly.” Next question of our Financial Analyst interview. What is EBIDTA? You know, this is
a difficult one to pronounce! You may pronounce it differently to myself, but the question is: What is
EBIDTA? And here is my answer to this question: “EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes,
Depreciation and Amortization.

(09:52) It is basically used by investors and financial analysts as a measure of company profitability.
EBITDA, in a nutshell, is the operating revenues minus the operating expenses. It’s particularly useful
for comparing one company against another for example, but it is only useful if the companies you
are comparing are in the same line of business.

(10:14) ” That does come up quite often during financial analyst interviews! Next question: what are
your strengths and weaknesses? This is obviously a non-technical question, but again, I believe
strongly it will come up either as one question… What are your strengths and also what are your
weakness? Or one question combined, with two of them in that. Here is my suggested answer.
(10:36) “My strengths are my positive and determined mindset, my ability to be keep working on
tasks and projects until they are completed to the high standards required, and also my
communication and interpersonal skills. I feel I am very good at explaining complex financial reports
and data and putting them across in a commercially friendly manner.

(10:56) My weakness is I am sometimes impatient. I like to get through my workload quickly and if I
am held up by an external organization for example, I find this a bit frustrating at times. However,
my strong communication and interpersonal skills mean I am able to put across in a polite manner
how important their work is to the completion of my own task.

(11:20) ” You will notice there with that response, I have ‘front-loaded’ it with a number of
STRENGTHS and only given one weakness. I believe that's important, but what I like about that
response as well, is you are essentially demonstrating that your ‘impatience’ is actually a strength
and an asset to the organization. Then you are also saying that your strength of being able to
communicate well, means that you can overcome that weakness.

(11:41) It's quite an intelligent response to that interview question! Next one: What are your salary
expectations as our financial analyst? The salary may be fixed, but more often than not, there will be
some discussion about the salary expectations. And this is a great way to answer this interview
question: “Based on my research, the average salary for a Financial Analyst within this sector is
$50,000 to $60,000.

(12:10) Whilst I personally feel I am worthy of the higher band of salary, I understand I have a
responsibility to prove to you my worth. You don’t know me, so I need to demonstrate the value I
can add to your organization. On that basis, I would be comfortable with a salary of $56,000 and at
that level, I feel you will see a positive return on your investment and be pleased with my worth
strong ethics and values.

(12:33) ” That is a good response. You are using a bit of negotiation skills there. You are going in
slightly higher than the average… and between $50,000 and $60,000, will be $55,000. You're going in
slightly higher and you are also demonstrating to them that you understand you need to prove your
worth.

(12:51) Some people will go in: “I want $60000!”, but you are giving a little bit of leeway there
straightaway. Next question: do you have any questions you would like to ask the interview panel?
Now, at some point you will have the opportunity to ask questions during your financial analyst
interview. A lot of people will say, “I don't have any questions. You've answered them all during the
interview.

(13:10) ” But this is your opportunity to show the interviewer that you want to be there for a long
period of time, and also you want to make a difference as soon as you get within the role! So here
are two questions I recommend you ask the interview panel. “Thank you. Yes, I have a couple of
questions I'd like to ask, please.

(13:32) First one is, what has frustrated you about financial analysts who have worked in this
position previously and what could I specifically do to help you achieve your financial and
commercial goals?” I like that question because you are really knuckling down to what issues they
have had in the past. They could say: “We haven't really had any.
(13:51) ” However, they might say: “High performing financial analysts have done xyz!” They might
say: “They really worked long, additional hours.” And you could say: “I'm in the position to offer that
as well. I can work additional hours as and when needed.” And also, you are seeing what you could
specifically do to help them achieve their financial and commercial goals.

(14:09) Question number two: “You are clearly an innovative and forward thinking company. What
are your plans for the next five to 10 years?” That tells me, subtly, that you want to stay with that
company long-term. You are already thinking… ‘I'd like to be here for a long period of time.’ Now, if
you’re good within your position, they will want you to stay! So as I say, if you would like to
download my full set of Financial Analyst Interview Questions and Answers, click the link above the
video or go to the website: PassMyInterview.com. Please do connect with

(14:38) me on LinkedIn.com. If you have a look in the video description below this video, you will see
my linked in connection link is there, so please do connect with me. I like connecting with
professional people and business owners. If you have any questions, please put them in the
comments section below. Please don't forget to SUBSCRIBE.

(14:59) I would very, very much appreciate your support and don’t forget to give the video a ‘LIKE’ as
well. Thank you very much for your time for watching this video and I look forward to hearing your
success stories when you pass your Financial Analyst interview. Have a brilliant day. Thank you!

Top 5 Financial Analyst Interview Questions & Answers (Easy to Hard) - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQyd15BbXhI

Transcript:

(00:00) hey everyone my name is Michael and today we're going to cover common financial analyst
interview questions that my friends and I have encountered while interviewing at these companies
we'll be covering a total of five interview questions from easy to hard plus one bonus interview
question at the end of the video alright let's start with question number one which is an actual
interview question that I received in a first round interview with an investment Bank say you could
receive ten thousand dollars today or ten thousand dollars

(00:29) two years into the future at what discount rate would you choose to receive ten thousand
dollars two years into the future sort of a trick question because unless you somehow manage to get
a negative discount rate any positive discount rate would reduce the present value of your future
10K amount so you'd pretty much always end up going with ten thousand dollars today there's really
not much of a thinking process to show for this type of question as it's really just a quick test of the
fundamental Finance concept

(00:56) the time value of money simply put the time value of money basically means that a dollar
today is going to be worth more than a dollar tomorrow and this makes sense right because if you
receive ten thousand dollars today you can invest that money and get ten thousand one hundred
dollars maybe a year from now but if you receive ten thousand dollars a year from now you'd miss
out on that extra one hundred dollars all right now let's try question number two how can a
company with positive ebitda end up with negative net income

(01:25) so this question is basically going to test your understanding of ebitda and the flow of an
income statement first you need to understand that ebitda stands for earnings before interest taxes
depreciation and amortization with this in mind if you understand the flow structure of an income
statement and you know that the company has positive ebitda you can guess that net income can
only be negative from interest taxes depreciation and amortization from these options let's rule out
taxes and just assume that companies only pay tax on

(01:57) positive pre-tax income then we can explain to the interviewer that net income can then
only be negative from two things one the company has a lot of debt on its balance sheet and the
interest expense on its debt is sucking out a lot of cash from the company or two the company has a
lot of pp e so property plan and equipment or even some intellectual property and these assets are
on some kind of let's say accelerated depreciation schedule that's generating a lot of high
depreciation in amortization expense which is driving

(02:28) down earnings now let's try question number three what are some ratios that you would use
to measure the health and risk of a company so this question is designed to test your knowledge of
financial ratios and there are tons and tons of different ratios out there but as long as you can name
a few you should be okay here are some example ratios that you could cover you have the current
ratio which simply takes a company's current assets and divides it by its current liabilities with this
ratio you'll pretty much want

(02:56) to explain how a company with a low current ratio could be at risk of not being able to pay
their short-term liabilities with their short-term assets and if this goes on for too long the company
could be in danger of going bankrupt then you have the quick ratio which is very similar to the
current ratio except you exclude inventory and prepaid expenses from your current assets this
basically makes the ratio more accurate because in reality inventory might not be so easy to convert
back into Cash quickly to cover your

(03:24) short-term liabilities and with Prepaid expenses well who knows if you can actually convert
that back to cash operating margin can be interesting because you basically take the company's
operating income and divide it by the company's Revenue this can be a great way for you to evaluate
a company's core business model and its profitability because it allows you to see what a company is
able to keep after its operating expenses a strong operating margin can indicate a healthy business
and it's a bit more of an honest metric

(03:52) relative to net income where companies can do a lot of funny business when manipulating
things like interest taxes depreciation and amortization which can show some misleading net income
figures okay now question number four what are some different methods that you could use to
value a company if you get asked this question you'll probably want to mention the Three core
valuation methods which are the discounted cash flow analysis comparable companies analysis and
precedent transactions analysis the discounted
(04:23) cash flow analysis also known as a DCF is a form of intrinsic valuation where the main idea is
to basically forecast all of the company's future cash flows and then discount those cash flows to the
present value to find the current valuation of the company the DCF is considered a form of intrinsic
valuation because it mostly uses the company's internal Financial figures as opposed to any external
Market values or comparable figures then you have comps or the comparable companies analysis
which is an extrinsic valuation method that

(04:54) basically uses ratios or multiples to value a company the idea here is to basically gather a
pool of comparable or similar companies and then find the median valuation ratio for example EB to
ebitda and then apply that median valuation ratio to your target company since this method uses
extra General company Figures it's considered a extrinsic valuation method then you have the
precedent transactions analysis which is actually quite similar to the comparable companies analysis
except this method uses actual acquisition

(05:24) deals to value a company the idea here is that you basically want to look for similar
companies that have been acquired or bought out then assume that your target company would be
valued at a similar multiple if it were to be acquired or bought by some other company in today's
market okay now let's try question number five should the weighted average cost of capital be
higher for a company with a hundred million dollar market cap or a hundred billion dollar market
cap assuming all other things equal so this question is actually pretty

(05:57) simple as long as you understand that the weighted average cost of capital or whack really
represents the risk of a company so in other words a company with a low whack is less risky and a
company with a high whack is more risky given what we know about the two companies we can
assume that the 100 billion dollar company is much larger more consistent and more stable and so is
therefore less risky with this in mind we should say that the 100 million dollar company is a bit more
risky and should therefore have

(06:27) the higher weighted average cost of capital all right now we're ready for our bonus question
in these financial analyst interviews you'll sometimes encounter these brain teaser or Market sizing
questions designed to test your thinking process as well as how you can handle these complex and
creative scenarios in this bonus question we'll cover this real example which is how many cups of
coffee do you think Starbucks sells in the US each day when you first hear this type of question it'll
be good for you to ask

(06:59) the interviewer some more follow-up questions to help refine your calculation so for
example with this copy question you could ask are you talking about just in-store coffee sales or are
you also including those pre-made coffee cups that they sell online or in grocery stores for those at
home coffee machines in this example let's say that they're happy with just the in-store coffee sales
now to break this down we're going to have to use a few assumptions first let's assume that the U.S
population is around 300 million

(07:28) people next let's assume that only adults drink coffee and so let's say that about 75 percent
of the population is above 18 and that gives us about 225 million people then following that we
know that not all adults drink coffee so let's just say that from personal experience maybe three out
of every four friends drink coffee or about 75 so that leaves us with roughly 160 million people and
then we have to make another assumption because not everyone actually goes out to buy coffee
let's say that

(08:00) some Americans or 50 of Americans will stay home and make their coffee at home and then
another 25 will go to work and use the office machines so that leaves us about 25 percent who will
actually go out to a store to buy coffee and that gives us around 40 million people then let's assume
that the coffee competition is really tough with McDonald's Duncan and all these other smaller mom
and pop Brands so let's say that Starbucks is able to hold about 10 percent of that market which is
roughly 4 million people

(08:29) then finally we know that some people drink multiple cups of coffee each day While others
might only drink it on the weekend so let's assume that that averages out to about one cup of coffee
per person per day and so if we multiply 4 million people buy one cup of coffee per person we get
four million cups of Starbucks coffee being sold in the U.

(08:49) S each day okay so this answer might not be correct or even really close to the correct
answer but at least it showed how we could structure our thought process to come up with an
answer so that's our video on common financial analyst interview questions if you're still currently
preparing for your financial analyst applications consider checking out this video here and as always
if you found this video useful please give us a like And subscribe and stay tuned for more videos

5 Frequently Asked Financial Analyst Interview Questions and Answers! - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwUoVnnaM_w

Transcript:

(00:00) five frequently asked financial analyst interview questions hey guys welcome to another
video my name is Bill Hannah and this is the Financial Controller channel where we talk about tips
and tricks for accounting and finance career based on my own knowledge and being in the game for
the last 15 years I've been a licensed CPA in the great state of New York for the last five years and
I've been a hiring manager and I've also been a job seeker and I know from both sides of the table
the most frequently asked

(00:26) questions in terms of accounting or finance career before diving into today's video I just
wanted to give a big thank you and a shout out to everybody who subscribed to our channel this is a
young channel we only started out a few months ago and we are now at about 800 subscribers so
thank you so much for that it's been a huge support and it encourages me to do more and give you
more in the next videos so today's video will go over the five most frequently asked financial analyst
questions we'll go over the questions
(00:52) and their answers and then at the end of the video I'm gonna give you what I think is the way
that you should handle these questions if you don't know the answer so if you have a deer-in-the-
headlight moment and you're asked the question you don't know the answer how did I see as a
hiring manager will be an acceptable behavior or what should you say in this kind of situation so
without further ado let's dive right in [Music] okay guys so the first question goes like what is a key
ratio to consider

(01:24) when evaluating a new business now the reason why I put this question at the beginning of
the video is because this is the most frequently asked question it comes up a lot and interview
questions for financial analyst and so the best answer of my opinion is ry which is return on
investment and your the way that you can explain this to the hiring manager is ry is a return on
investment calculated by taking net return dividing it by the initial investment and the example here
that I want to share with you is that if you are buying an uber

(01:55) car let's say you want to buy an uber car and put it to work for you and hiring a driver so they
can drive it and you can make money from it the ROI for this kind of business is that you'll take the
net return which is five thousand dollars in this case after deducting you know the wage for the
actual driver deducting all the expenses the maintenance the gas and all that you'll make annually
five thousand dollars you'll divide that by the investment or the cost of buying the car which is
twenty five thousand in this

(02:22) case and so your ROI is twenty percent and this covers our first question now for our second
question the question goes what KPI is most important for measuring profitability and now I think
there's a couple of different acceptable answers here but I think that the most relevant answer will
be gross margin gross margin is taking gross profit and dividing it by the amount of revenue the
reason why this is an important KPI for measuring profitability is that you can benchmark so you can
take you can look at two companies and evaluate them one

(02:53) makes a gross margin of 25 percent the other one makes a gross margin of thirty percent so
immediately you can tell which one would be a better investment for you so gross margin is one of
the best or the most looked at KPI when it comes to measuring profitability and if you're curious to
learn more about KPIs I have a full online course in kpi's I'm gonna leave a link to that down below in
the description if you're interested to take a look and now we're moving on to this third question

(03:19) now the third question goes like this what is eBay da and now in most cases and interviews
they'll ask you what is a beta and why do we care about it and the way to answer this question is
obviously to give the definition of a beta which is earnings B for interest tax depreciation and
amortization another way a browser - sometimes is operating profit and operating profit means that
this is the amount of profit that the company makes before taking into account non operating items
such as interest tax depreciation

(03:47) and amortization and obviously the reason why companies measure apero is that Ibarra is a
way to look at the company's operation and understand how much profit the company makes
before going into interest tax depreciation and amortization many companies when they acquire
other smaller firms don't really care about items such as interest tax and depreciation and
amortization because they think that they're gonna fold this operation into their business and it will
have a lot of savings and interest and tax and all these items and
(04:17) so that's why it is important because it looks at the company's profitability before non
operating expenses and that covers the third question now for question number four the question
goes like this where do you see dividends on the income statement and now this question is sort of
tricky because the interviewer is trying to gauge your understanding of the mechanics or the
financial statements dividends don't typically go on the income statement because dividends
dividend payout is not an expense dividend so the answer is

(04:48) that you don't you don't see it in the income statement you see it on the shareholders equity
statement because dividends they're not an expense what they are is a distribution of the company's
Prior profits so the company has been accumulating profits throughout the years and they are now
just distributing some of that profit to their shareholders and so it's a reduction to equity and it goes
in the shareholders equity statement and noting the income statement and so this is sort of a tricky
question but remember that

(05:15) dividends are not an expense they are not an expense they are a distribution of the equity or
distribution of the profits that the company has been accumulating and that is the answer to
question number four now for question number five the question goes if accounts receivable keeps
going up what could be the driver and in this question the interviewer is trying to gauge your
understanding of the hell accounts receivable works and the dynamics between accounts receivable
cash and sales and so if you imagine it

(05:45) raishin where accounts receivable keeps going up months over months what could be the
reason B what could be the driver B and so the two drivers in my view are either a collection
problem so if you're not collecting your accounts receivable on time obviously the balance of
accounts receivable will keep building up but there is another reason which is actually a good one is
when you have increased sales or sales growth so if your company keeps growing its sales obviously
the accounts receivable will also keep growing up in the same

(06:12) direction as sales and so the way in real life the way that we mitigate as accountants or
financial analysts the way we mitigate for this kind of problem is that we're always looking at the
aging schedule of accounts receivable and making sure that none of the accounts receivable is aging
out more than let's say 60 or 90 days so that we are making sure that we are collecting on time and
so like if the collection problem is solved all we're left with is that increase sales which is a good
thing to have if our accounts receivable

(06:41) balance keeps going up because of increased sales that's great and that's the answer to
question number five and as I promised you at the beginning of the video I'm gonna tell you what
you should be doing if you have a deer-in-the-headlight moment during the interview and you hear
one of these questions that you don't know the answer to the first thing you should be doing is that
you should slow down and ask for a pen and paper and just draw it out this is a sign of maturity that
you're taking your time you're not rushing into

(07:05) giving just any answer so the first thing you should do slow down ask for pen and paper and
draw it out now after all of this if you still don't know the answer what's very acceptable from my
view as a hiring manager is that you can tell me something like I'll follow up with the follow-up email
after this interview with the right answer I don't know the answer right now but I'll do my research
and I'll send you an email after with the right answer this is totally acceptable from my view as a
(07:29) hiring manager it's not as good as giving the right answer on the spot but it's second best
right the worst thing you can do is rush into given the wrong answer and so slow either slow down
and give the right answer or slow down and say that you'll send a follow-up email with the answer
and just don't rush into answering any of these questions so that's it for this video guys if you liked it
and you learn something new don't forget to give me a thumbs up down below and subscribe to the
channel if

(07:54) you haven't done so already and if you know someone who's going on a job interview soon
please share this you with them thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next video [Music]

5 Financial Analyst Behavioral Interview Questions & Answers! - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPIboJu6lpQ

Transcript:

(00:00) hey guys welcome to another video with the financial controller my name is bill hannah and
in today's video i'm gonna walk you through five financial analyst job interview questions that are
behavioral and what i mean by behavioral questions is that these are the questions that the hiring
manager would ask you to gauge your willingness and readiness to work within a team uh work well
under pressure uh navigate social situations at work and resolve conflict and if you've been following
this channel you'd know that i

(00:27) spent the last 15 years working in finance and that i set up both sides of the table both as the
job seeker and also as the hiring manager and in this video i want to give you the things and the
signals that i look for when i have a candidate for a financial analyst role the things that when i hear
as far as these behavioral questions uh immediately clicks and i realize that this is somebody who's
ready to work in this job so let's go through these behavioral questions again these are five
questions we'll go through each of these questions

(00:56) and the answers one by one so let's dive right in [Music] all right guys so question number
one the question goes what is the biggest mistake you've made in your job what the interviewer is
gauging by this question is your willingness to admit to a mistake that you've made because basically
we're all humans and if you're not willing to admit to a mistake this will give a bad signal to the
interviewer so what i want you to do before the interview is to think of an example of a mistake and
just remember this example so that

(01:32) you can say it during the interview because if you start saying that you didn't make any
mistakes and or you can't remember a mistake this might give a bad signal to the interviewer that
you're not someone who's willing to admit to a mistake because at the end of the day you would
want to work with someone who's willing to actually say that they made a mistake rather than
hiding their tracks and not admitting to the mistake so this is what the interviewer is trying to do and
your chance here is an
(01:59) opportunity so rather than this being a challenge or a curveball for you this should be an
opportunity for you to mention a mistake and then mention how you were able to correct it and
even avoid it in the future so the example i'm going to share with you is actually a mistake that i've
done early on in my career and this kind of mistake is the kind of thing that i would say as an answer
to this kind of question and basically what happened is that early on in my career i was in charge of
creating a financial model

(02:26) that was part of a presentation that was then given to an investor and basically on the
morning of the presentation i've discovered that one of my excel files had an error in it that was
producing the wrong number because i was linking uh to a cell rather than using an actual formula
like a vlookup formula i was linking to a cell and i shouldn't have done that but basically i discovered
the mistakes so i alerted my manager and even though it wasn't pleasant it wasn't great but the
manager was able to then avoid

(02:54) uh the mistake with the investor and corrected the number last minute and then what i
learned from it is that instead of linking to a cell i discovered that if i use a vlookup or an index match
formula in the excel file i would avoid this kind of situation so basically what i learned from my
mistake is that i'm using now a vlookup or an index match instead of linking to a cell in a different
tab in the file so you see what i've done here i basically was able to admit to a mistake which is what
the hiring manager wants

(03:22) he wants to hear somebody who's willing to admit to a mistake and i highlighted what i've
done to remedy my mistake is that i rush to my manager and let them know of the mistake and then
on top of that what i learned from this and that's why i write here the word opportunity because this
is an opportunity for you uh to shine and to show that you've learned from your mistake and you've
done other things to avoid falling in the same mistake in the future so this will be the first question
that

(03:48) comes to mind when it comes to behavioral questions all right so question number two and
the question goes describe a situation when you were under pressure and basically what the hiring
manager is doing here is that not only the gauging that you could work under pressure is that you
would thrive under pressure and to me the idea of thriving under pressure has to do with staying
focused and staying focused when you work under pressure has to do with being organized and
using checklists and creating milestones if you're

(04:17) managing a bigger project and also relying on other team members to work toward a bigger
goal so let me give you an example of the kind of answer that i would give to this kind of question
because basically for me one of the things that i have to do each year is deliver the financial
statements to the board of directors at the end of the audit engagement and it's usually a big project
of compiling all of the financial information going through the audit and then coming out with a
financial package that i would then deliver to the

(04:44) board of directors and this for me requires a lot of focus and there's a lot of pressure of
meeting a deadline and so the way to stay focused for me is to create a checklist of all the things
that need to happen to get to the final destination of having the financial package and then i manage
that by team member and work with each team member to accomplish their own deadline to finish
their piece of the project and then bring everything together at the end so basically the way for me
to stay focused is to create a checklist uh to stay

(05:13) organized on milestones of things that need to happen for me to get to the final goal and
then manage each team member's deadline to get to the final deadline of delivering the financial
statements so this would be the kind of answer that will be given to this kind of question so you
need to think for yourself what what will be the answer for yourself so come up with an example
before the interview don't come up with it on the fly during the interview so come up with this
before and then so you can be ready during the

(05:38) interview and this will be question number two [Music] all right so question number three
and the question goes describe a situation when you had a tight deadline and what the interviewer
is gauging here is your willingness to go above and beyond to meet a certain deadline and this
usually entails a few different things so usually that entails working overtime or putting in more time
to get the work done so they're trying to gauge your potential there as well as being organized
mentioning things like a schedule or a checklist would help and

(06:20) also your willingness to work within a team because most often when you have a deadline at
work or a tight deadline you're working within a team that is trying to accomplish and meet the
same deadline and so these are the things that the interviewer would typically be looking for so to
give you an example of the kind of answer that i'll be giving to this kind of question and in my answer
i try to incorporate all of the aspects so i'm going to incorporate being a team player and being
organized and working overtime

(06:45) is an example of fundraising for any of the companies that i worked for because basically
whenever there's a fundraising there's usually a very tight deadline with the external investors but
also there is an internal deadline usually a way ahead of the external deadline so that we can get the
work done and review it before we can submit it to outside investors so basically to meet the
deadline we usually divide the task among ourselves for the team so each team member we get a
set of tasks to accomplish

(07:13) so that we can work toward the bigger goal and basically we had to create a checklist of the
things that need to happen for each team member to get their work done and create milestones and
basically when we create checklists and milestones we're able to organize all of the things that need
to happen for the bigger project to get accomplished and so you see in my example i stress you
know working within a team and creating a checklist of milestones to be organized and these are the
things you need to be talking about so that you can give

(07:42) signals to the hiring manager that you're someone that they can rely on to meet uh
deadlines in the future if you or anyone you know is preparing for a job interview and accounting be
sure to download my accounting interview checklist it's 100 free and an amazing summary of the
most common accounting interview questions i'll leave a link in the description [Music] below
[Music] all right so question number four and the question goes what motivates you at work and if
we have to be honest here for a minute is that what motivates anyone to

(08:23) do any kind of work is usually money but in the interview it will be highly inappropriate for
you to talk about money so instead for me what i would talk about is the things that will lead to
making more money so instead of talking about the actual money you can talk about the things like
learning and growth and so what motivates me is to learn and to grow in my career because i know
that the more i learn the more i will earn so learning and growth motivates me to work more and to
get exposed to new things the other thing is creating a reputation

(08:56) or a personal brand because we've all seen these folks on linkedin who have like a
testimonial from a colleague or a former boss basically praising them for being highly efficient highly
organized and all of these good things and we all secretly wish that we we are one of those people
who have this kind of testimonials so basically this is something that pushes me to work harder and
make me want to do more is to create a personal brand and a reputation and also learning and
growth pushes me to work harder because i know

(09:26) that i can grow in my career when i know more things so you can talk about learning and
growth and creating a brand or reputation and this will be a good answer to what motivates you to
work [Music] all right guys so question number five and the question goes give me an example of a
time when you faced a conflict while working on a team and so the interviewer by just asking you
this question is gauging your social skills and also your maturity or wisdom and so basically because
this is a frequently asked questions and interviews in

(10:13) general you should be coming with the example of this the answer of this question before
the interview so you need to come up with the example play it in your head and even say it out loud
practice it because this is a very frequently asked questions and interviews in general not only
finance but in general this is a frequently asked question so come up with the answer before the
interview for this question so let me give you an example from my own career of an answer that i
would give to this kind of question

(10:37) and hopefully this answer will be an inspiration for you to think of a conflict or things that
happened in your own career early on in my career i worked as a manager of a team of three people
and one of them had little to no confidence in me or my ability to lead the team so she was highly
defiant she would she wouldn't do the things that i would ask her to do and basically just didn't want
to work with me at all so instead of escalating because i could have escalated the question to hr and
make it a big deal i took a

(11:06) different route which is i work with her in doing her own work so basically i would come to
work i would sit with her and take whatever she's doing that day and do her work for her because
for me that was part of it learning what she was doing so it's kind of hitting two birds with one stone
i was learning what she was doing so that i can be a more effective manager but at the same time i
showed her that i'm humble that i'm willing to to actually work for her and so basically at the end
that worked

(11:32) out so she then realized that it's some that i'm someone she can trust um and ultimately we
worked really well together so the this is a good example that you can give that i can give in my
situation and so by giving you this story i want to inspire you to think of a conflict of a thing that
happened in your past that you can bring here and show in a positive light show a good outcome of
it and show what you've done to get there and rise above the conflict and that's basically question
number five
(11:59) all right guys that's it for this video if you liked it and you learned something new from it
please smash that like button and if you haven't subscribed to the channel go ahead and subscribe
down below and let me know in the comment section below what do you think of the content of this
video and if there's any other content you want to see in the future i'd love to hear from you and i'll
see you in the next video [Music] you

Amazon Interview Questions | Financial Analyst Interview | Amazon Interview Process - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhJQ9bRvp_E

Transcript:

(00:00) hi so today we have Anam Rahman with us who is currently located at Bangalore and she's a
chartered accountant qualified chartered accountant and she's working with Amazon which is the
which is a dream company for most of us so today she'll be sharing her uh placement journey and
what is life after being qualified and placements so hi Anum I'm good how are you I'm great the one
question the big question that everybody may be curious to know is that how did you land up at this
job was it always your dream to get into Amazon or

(00:42) Amazon just happened to you um I would say a mix of both so uh during my industrial
training Amazon was uh one of my dream companies to work with because of the profile that they
were offering so um you know I am a person who's more like uh who enjoys automating processes
and working with data like data manipulation and uh you know working with data right and so
Amazon was offering that kind of a profile even in industrial training so uh but I didn't um like join
Amazon during my industrial training and now this happened through

(01:22) campus like uh and yeah and again Amazon came with a dream profile so uh that's how it
happened because I was more focused on the profile all along uh more than the company so I guess
obviously company was uh obviously one of the factors but uh the main I would say the Focus was
on the profile because I wanted to explore the budget side the costs uh um cost side I like the
subject costs uh a lot so and like anything related to that and that's what I got in Amazon so to
answer your question it happened

(02:02) through campus and yes it was sort of my dream company I love that you say that it was in
the company that attracted you that most of the people would go for the company but I like the way
that you're saying that one should focus primarily on the domain that they want to get into because
once you fix it on that then whichever company you go you're going to make great you're going
going to make good out of it particularly what was the uh process of uh getting selected what was
the interview process like can you just tell
(02:37) us how did it how many rounds and what it is about how it is about sure yeah um so um as
uh most of us are aware uh through campus placement there are like you know uh it starts with the
company first shortlisting you and then you have to select the company so uh I would say the very
first screening would uh be them reviewing your campus profile and then short uh listing you that is
the screening process suppose that uh the first round was uh sort of a person test like a language uh
testing your grammar and English communication skills correct

(03:15) so um that was uh you know uh my McQ uh sort of it was an energy and all of that your
grammar yes and it was not just an McQ like you had to rewrite some sentences or shorten uh a mail
and it was time bound um so it was it was a little different from what we normally see in foreign
[Music] CM monk has on its website was it on the side oh that's a good that's a good place to start I
would say yes uh like you know the mcqs are uh quite uh were quite similar like it it will help you
understand the pattern and uh but yeah

(04:09) there were certain things as far as I remember which were new like the different type of
questions like how are you going to frame the situation into an email uh uh things like that uh so
yeah uh yeah so you you have to be very fast also like you know because uh I think I finished yeah it
is time now you have it's not just clicking an option you have to write sentences right sentences um
yes uh so that was the first round um then again uh there was a first like you know round with the
Curve someone from their Communications team so uh uh

(04:48) I'm sorry I can't remember the name but um you know like they have Amazon has a uh soft
skill trainers at uh their company so of the first round is again you could say like oh one-on-one
communication skill round so yeah that shows like the company focuses a lot on it on uh your uh like
there were a lot of Behavioral questions asked and that's that's about Amazon which was also told to
us in cm of while uh you know we had this uh a program where like you know uh someone from
Amazon came and helped us uh

(05:27) with the preparation so it was mentioned to focus on the leadership principles so questions
relating to leadership principles were asked then um the third was uh after you qualify from the
communication skills round you go to the next round which is with a financial analyst uh of the same
team there it is a mix of uh you know uh behavioral questions and Technical questions and uh yeah
so that is like a proper interview round where intro and HR questions and behavior requests earlier
sorry uh technical questions all would

(06:04) ask so and the final was with the leadership team uh I mean that's uh the name of the team
that Amazon uses which is for a very senior or one of the senior levels um right so uh so there also
again in the leadership team there were no technical questions as such um I think one or two hardly
mostly it was behavioral questions leadership principles and the case study based questions were
also part of this round okay right sorry thanks to that yes yes so there were case study based
questions as well uh in both the cases

(06:41) so in uh so uh by both I mean the second last round with the financial analyst so and the last
round with the uh leadership team so uh in leadership team the case space questions were all
behavioral questions what will you do in such a situation and in um uh so you have to follow the star
method uh which was again uh introduced like to talk to us by Sir and uh so and in the technical
round also like there was a situation given or like cases given and then you have to answer based on
whatever you know yeah okay so uh to

(07:18) summarize I think we had five rounds that you had to go through to get into this place the
first one being your version test the second is the communication skills will be judged and your soft
skills which we check and third one is your uh technical round right and then the HR rounds follow
and all of that happens and then there's a leadership based uh round and there's finally the pi
Where You Are uh ultimately selected for your for being shortlisted as a so I would sorry but I would
say like there were five rounds

(07:52) around screening at campus so first is screening round which is through the campus
placement website second is the uh worsen test version test okay is communication uh like uh soft
skills yeah top skills around uh you can say and fourth is the pi one which is with the leadership sorry
with the financial which was with the financial analyst uh and the fifth uh fifth was the leadership
teams round yeah that's right okay so of uh we I know like a lot of people want to get into Amazon
because obviously there's a lot of noise about

(08:32) the brand name and of course they provide you with a real good package and everything uh
but while preparing for the interviews I think one of the key points one one should keep in mind is
their leadership principles right there are how many special principles that you need to like always
like be well versed with uh so the essence you are a fresher they also know that you are a fresher so
a lot of leadership principles um sort of apply more mainly to the ones who have some of them not a
lot some of them are you know about like for example

(09:06) higher and develop the best so this is not something which we might have experience in
unless you have worked in your family business or something or the other or maybe you were a you
know student coordinator in your school head girl or red boy and you might have had to select a
team but you know uh what I would advise there are uh the one the ones which they focus on is um
learn and be curious or um dive deep uh right so yes so we were again given a list of the leadership
principles that we should focus on but what I would suggest to

(09:43) anyone appearing for the interview is to it's easily available on their website the leadership
principles read the descriptions so pick up each and write a short uh you know two or three lines of
your experience starting from you know your childhood till uh till date like whatever you can relate
to that principle like if for example if it's um learn and be curious so you can quote incidents like how
throughout your life you have you know maybe taken part in my case like I have always tried to get
like an all-around development so I'm

(10:17) always trying to learn new things new talents and some curricular I'm always involved in
some of the other curricular actions so I wrote that down that okay this is um this is what I can speak
of if I am asked about learn and be curious or dive deep about how I am into the details and things
like that right so it's it's bad to keep yourself prepared with all of them and that will also help you in
the interview even if you're not directly asked about any one of the leadership principle you would
figure out okay this

(10:46) is the principle that this the person wants you to you know speak on when they ask you the
case studies so yeah so I can say that this is one point that uh took you an edge above the other
candidates because you were prepared not just for the principles that were to come to you not just
the leadership principles that they were supposed to ask but you tried to uh you know make it your
story like you told the interviewer that okay I've already been implementing these principles so this
is a very smart way to like you know uh give an

(11:18) interview that would come bring me to my next question uh apart from this thing that you
did that took you an edge above the other candidates that applied for the same role and the same
company what is that one skill or what is that one thing that you think that you do differently than
the other candidates that might have not gotten through this because we all know that Amazon is
not an easy company to crack so right please share them yeah so um I'm not generalizing here but
what I have mostly seen with CA students is

(11:52) that there is instead of making CA a part of their life they make it the entire life so that's all
that they do throughout their life they don't look at other sides they don't look at uh other uh
curricular activities so this is not just for Amazon I would say this is for every company I had my
industrial training student with Goldman Sachs so they're also the focus is on all round development
and specially communication skills in irrespective of whichever team you want to go to like
whichever field

(12:24) you want to join you are an engineer you could be like any like data scientist or anyone but
you need to have communication skills especially if you want to work for a brand like Amazon or
Goldman like mncs because we work with our stakeholders who are always agency Act so um and
they are from all around the world even the ones in Seattle yeah so some are from Germany some
from uh you know the Asian countries so the only way of communication is English and it's very
important that you frame it in a way that they get it in a short time

(13:00) because we don't get to interact with them for a very long time if you are working in an
empty you will be connecting with teams which are not based in India and you will not get the entire
day to connect with them so that you can you know take your time in framing the sentences or take
your time like you know stretch the conversation long you have to keep it precise you have to keep it
uh quick and to the point so to have proper communication skills is important to be able to figure
out their accent to you know these are

(13:25) like some language barriers that we have the semantic barriers and all so but uh one has to
be uh you know prepared with that to be able to get into any MNC okay yeah so I think I would say
the the thing which gave me an edge would be the fact that I I have been uh like you know focusing
on a lot of other things apart from CA like I was a part of Toastmasters Club which is a public
speaking Forum so that so instead of like you know going to the interview and saying that I have
good communication skills I had it in my CV

(14:00) that this is the proof of my communication skills so the person in front of me never had to
ask me do you have uh good like they can see it in my area that I am a trained like I have done some
trainings I am you know part of a club which is focused on public speaking or you know like um the
fact that I learned uh also I uh also do like ballet and uh something on the other Spanish play football
so they know that okay this is how so when I said about learn and be curious so I got code examples
from my CV itself let's see
(14:32) I've done all this so they have them yeah so I would say that focusing on all around
development specifically public uh speaking or communication skills is what gives you an edge in any
company so your confidence your Proficiency in English is very important when you are applying for
an MNC I would say and your own development just don't focus on academics but also focus on
other things so the interviewer can see that okay this person is in multitask can do a lot of things
apart from just focusing on

(15:05) the career team or just focusing on the person's life is not revolving around a particular
degree but he is well equipped to manage a lot of things correct so these things right yeah yes yeah
so just a couple of things I would like to add to that uh is uh one that Proficiency in English is
obviously good to have but uh you know a lot of people were hired who I wouldn't say like all their
sentences are grammatically correct but it's about how clear you are with your message okay so as
long as the person in front of you

(15:39) understands you don't have to worry because a lot of people I know they worry about when
speaking in English they worry about whether um my grammar is right or not um obviously you need
to work on that but even if you don't it's like the confidence with which you speak and the clear
Clarity of your message that is very important so you might have been like you know from uh like uh
like any uh bilingual uh medium school like any other like which is not English medium so you may
struggle with it but but try

(16:10) to like till the time like during the after your exams maybe like practice as much as you can
and even if you are grammatically incurate but if you get the message across that is very good so I
wouldn't uh like just to make others not feel so nervous about this this entire English uh thing so
yeah uh just saying that like there are people who have been hired who do not speak in proper like
you know Shakespeare level grammar exactly yeah but if you can just put your ideas into words yeah
yeah and and the second that I mentioned

(16:48) that you said about multitasking yes the focus is on multitasking because you know when
you get hired into if you are going for like you know smaller companies like if you're going for a firm
or something there the focus is usually on uh yes you will be focused on one thing which is the
finance part but once you join mnc's and all here the focus is also a lot on Automation and where
you would have to be adaptable to and ready like flexible to learn new tools so um like tools which
you know you cannot keep this mindset that okay

(17:23) this is an engineer's job right so with the way things are like you know going um in terms of
AI overall I'm saying like in general so okay one has to has to focus and be ready to learn as much
tools as we can and since we are freshers it is expected of us that we will be ready to learn so you
you need to like have that thing show them that yes you are ready to learn and that you can
multitask you can focus on your Finance profile and simultaneously pick up the tools and automate
the processes so you're talking about automation that

(17:58) is the like now it's the most uh buzzing thing right now and every company is looking for
somebody who can you know automate processes or knows about these tools what tools exactly are
you talking about what are these tools can you just brief us on that starting with like you know um
when I joined uh let me like give you a background on both my industrial training experience and uh
Amazon for this so uh before joining Amazon uh like before getting into Goldman my to the only tool
that I worked with and I'm

(18:34) sure most of us would have worked with would be Excel the word like you know Microsoft
Office so that is that is fine like a a even in your Arctic like for industrial training interviews articles of
interviews and even I would say to an extent for the ca fresher jobs okay so they're not asking a lot
from you but what have you done with Excel that matters if you have just been using the basic
formulas then that doesn't make you stand out right so you need to know more than just uh
vlookups and uh yeah

(19:03) so like the basic calculations yeah so so that's what I had so in my article shift time what I had
explored most um yes it was vlookup pivot tables but I did try to you know use macros I didn't do my
article shift from a very big company but still I was looking for opportunities to see how you know I
can automate this regular task so when when people say right you know things are monotonous but
my job so that's on like I would say a lot of it is on you also because you are not trying to automate

(19:33) it when you have the tools so you can the least you could do is work on Macros and see okay
how I can you know make it uh make the system do it yeah you reduce your redundant yes and just
make it a little bit easier right right exactly yeah so and do courses there's so many courses available
so I would say in the initial basis just focus on Excel um maybe then that will help you even later
even now like we've been asked like you know just get more trainings on Excel so a lot of companies
use that um so keep Excel as a priority that is

(20:05) going to that's a like on an overall level it will help you then once I join Goldman they had
their own two so a lot of companies have their own internal tools right so there is one tool called all
tricks which is there for everyone but uh Goldman have their own uh altered space DUI so so when
you join a company there's this one month of Honey honeymoon period you will get in every
company when you're trying to get the access when you're trying to tell everyone so that is a very
good time to figure out which tools

(20:34) your uh you know peers are using and uh to pick to do the trainings in that also every
company if they have their own tool they will also have their uh trainings on it so what I did in my
first month of honeymoon period was work on that like I I learned that correct and I wrote like
whatever sample programs that was there in the in the training that really helped me like you know
and the result of that was that within the first month like uh like within two months I would say now
uh within two months I was able to automate

(21:07) one process 10 months with Goldman I automated I think four processes so the more you
play with those tools the better it would be but obviously if you haven't done your uh article ship
from uh um you know a big company you've done it from a small company then focus on Excel that's
okay all you need but if you have joined any other company try to see which tools that they are
using and try to explore that even if like you do one automation or help out in some of the
automation one or two processes you

(21:49) can uh you know brag about it in your interview with the freshers when you're going for a c
pressure job that will give you an edge but this person had a minimum time but still was you know
look able to look into these things so keep Excel as a priority I would say word in general like um
sorry Office Microsoft Office uh uh and other tools as many as your company uses um as many as
you can learn yes so basically have a mindset where you are trying to create an impact at whatever
place you are like with whatever tools that you have in Man

(22:24) Hands you try to make the most of it so you put it in use you in such a way that it shows that
okay this person made an impact at this place and he used his creativity or he used his own brains to
you know brainstorm and bring the best possible solutions in the shortest time right that is
something I think most of us should be focusing on that doesn't matter what kind of tool you've
learned make sure you've done something different with that like you said you you used to use
macros so most of us

(22:54) were only stuck stuck at the basic formulas and pivot tables and this so macros is something
that the minute you speak about that okay I use micro so it makes the interviewer feel that okay this
candidate is already like you know uh different right so that is something that that's that's amazing
so coming to my next question why Financial Planning and Analysis once you qualify there are 10
other things that you could think about so why Financial Planning and Analysis is the domain that
you chose right so this is um also very subjective

(23:33) question so it depends on every person so honestly when I was done with Goldman I almost
offered a role in Goldman so um I did not like it uh so as I told you I was never behind the brand
name I was never behind that I was always behind uh the name of the uh like the profile basically so
and obviously if someone has done an industrial this is something which my seniors at Goldman told
me that like once you have a good name in your CV a good company try not to go for startups in the
beginning like you know try to keep that level so that is this

(24:08) point is where I said uh where you know uh I focused on the brand name this is the one thing
that okay if it's not Goldman it has to be of that level or you know yeah match up with my industrial
training so that's the only part where I focused on the brand name but mostly it was uh on uh the
profile so I was getting like a very uh I knew that profile that I was being offered at Goldman like I
had an open discussion and uh to like you know I asked a lot of questions you should ask a lot of as
much questions as you can to understand

(24:43) the profile yes because the words might look fancy in the job description but you might end
up doing something very monotonous so um in my case it was it did not involve a lot of analysis so
and the kind of profiles I needed required uh experience so so I made the call of you know keeping
that another option but let's Explore More and as I mentioned um so there were two things two
areas that I wanted to explore one was Investment Banking and the other was the cost side the the
you know budget and Analysis and

(25:18) all of that so I I did get an exposure in Investment Banking side with during my industrial
training and then when I saw what roles I'm getting and what I can get like if I have experience so I
decided not to go with it and uh to focus on uh the other side the cost side so in financial planning
and Analysis what I saw in Amazon's case was there was a lot of analysis involved it's not just that
I'm copy pasting and sending out the reports so um it wasn't going to be like that uh I will have to
analyze and find out like
(25:52) what's going wrong and uh so there's a lot of standard posting also involved in this profile
that I am doing so in terms of like uh figuring out the variances and not just like getting the numbers
but also understanding why it is happening and look diving deep into it as I said right so um so that is
the principle here and also uh so so this is the kind of role I wanted where I'm not just a report
generator but also like someone who's uh giving out uh like analyzing the entire situation and giving
some solutions to

(26:29) it so uh yeah so which is why like you know I went for this profile that's great I know that's
like that's a real good Insight on why what how what one's approach should be while choosing a
domain don't go for something that can easily be replaced tomorrow by machines that today exactly
to make yourself uh equipped enough for your you your skills are sharp enough that you can survive
if a process is automated or like you know tomorrow the thing that you are doing may be automated
but you create yourself like

(27:03) equipped enough or like skilled or sharp enough that you can be placed even uh if that is not
available if that profile is not available right exactly now coming to a little lighter note I think it
covered a lot of uh questions and a lot of uh important things that people's uh heads may wrap
around like what is this what is that okay come on the light or not tell me about what the uh work
life balance at Amazon is or how is life after qualifying since you two are a freshly qualified chartered
accountant

(27:39) what is the right what is it on the other side so um honestly I was not so obsessed with here
so once I qualified I wasn't living in that castle or like you know in that I had my head all wrapped
around it that oh I will see you now and I forgot about it like I was like I was on a trip with my friends
because after exam I needed a trip so I was going to go out and I had decided not to see my results I
was in Goldman like I went to meet my seniors I was in the office when the results and all came out
and they

(28:17) were like you have to see it and I was like I don't want to I don't want to ruin my trip what if
you know yeah it goes on the other way and I and I was done after I wrote my last uh word in my
answer paper I was done let's see like uh I didn't care about what the result would be yes I I was
done with it so so I don't want to look I told all my close friends not to tell me when the results are
coming out but some one friend called and that's how I got to know and I was taking my flight then
and I'm like

(28:46) uh yeah okay good for you that the results have come out you can go ahead and see it I am
not going to so wow so I took my time like I did not fuss about it so much I didn't see it on the first
day then the next day one of my friends advice a friend advised that you know the big companies
they they might close their interview process like the screening process and all of that so that's when
I saw and then then like totally forgot about it like I was involved with my trip and uh then when I
came back after that I started working

(29:17) on interviews and uh sitting for campus all of that okay so it is going to be very hectic uh
honestly after even after you have qualified I have seen people like I live in a PG so here so there are
people uh who just got a job like the results came in July right so there is uh one like I know this is
one life example that I'm sharing but I know in general also a lot of people are struggling to get the
job and it is mentally tormenting obviously because you have done so much you you qualified and
yet you you are because and it's

(29:52) also sad uh for Abad specifically because of the recession thing happening so absolutely
there are layoffs going on there's hiring fees so um so yeah it could be a little tormenting for some
people even after you have qualified CA so just be prepared and um foreign to to you know struggle
a lot after this even um once you have your results you have to still work a little hard to get like you
know make the most out of your results and uh you have to prepare a lot for your interview and
keep keep at it uh it could be like yes it could take a

(30:29) toll on you but uh but keep at it and then once you are once you have a job yes it's settled
like the fact that now when I go to well like you know have fun up to party or I'm hanging out at the
back of my mind I don't have this you don't have to worry about it yeah oh am I wasting my time
here like you know I should maybe I'm I'm you know taking it too like all of that okay so so yes it is
true that you cannot enjoy life very in early smoothly when you are preparing to see it you always
have this guilt you

(31:02) are always thinking about your exam so that burden is Off Your Shoulder so that is a very
good Plus and when you talk about work like Harmony so it is going to in Amazon so there is this
entire uh like you know there's this focus on work-life Harmony we have meetings on it there are a
lot of uh yeah so it's a there's a lot of focus on it so we have things like no meeting day once a month
where we don't have any no meetings will be scheduled or uh and they ask the suggestions like how
you want to have a work-life Harmony even we

(31:38) have a lot of games and all right now the sports thing is going on uh here right and uh we had
a Diwali celebration that is there for like you know most of the companies but yeah there is a good
yeah right and and for Amazon I would say like they don't have this track or timer like a lot of
companies have this that you know uh the timer goes on uh till the time you're logged in so you
don't have to sit in front of the screen throughout the day it is you finish your work in three years
that's it you can

(32:05) get get it get in there that's something you're done with your day but if you are if you're not
so well versed and you take 12 13 out that's on you like you know um absolutely yeah it's on your
efficiency and it's it's Stars based and I think this is I could say for Goldman also it was all taskbase as
soon as you can finish you have your day off so uh yeah so so it's better for you if you automate
things right you just have to click the button and then you can chill and the reports are generated so
things

(32:38) like that so so it's not uh like you have to be logged in for so long and all of that the work life
Harmony is good it's great um uh yeah like working on weekends is not something which uh is
common practice but uh what I have heard like I have been working on like obviously I've just
started but um from what I know from my peers and all is also that it if you get a combo you uh like
if you work on a holiday you get a combo that's fine oh that's that's great yes and honestly yeah
sorry yeah go ahead I would add one

(33:14) more thing to this being a fresher uh even if you know if you are a little heavier on the work
side and a little less from the light I'm not saying like you have to be in if it's a balance of uh you have
to keep 50 50 and I'm not saying yes even if it's 100 work and zero percent life that is okay or 90 and
10 that is also not okay but if it's 60 40 I think you should still be okay with it because this is the time
when you should uh you know work hard to um to get there if you have to like you know

(33:48) put in a lot uh because it's it's a very competitive environment that we are living in so if
you're okay with you know having just where you are like keeping a almost flatter growth curve or
something if you are okay with that keep a 50 50 balance or keep give 40 to work and 60 percent to
life that's up to you but if you want to make it as steep as possible so focus on work like yeah you
yeah I think as a fresher everyone should at least for in the beginning of their stint they should uh
throw

(34:22) themselves to work yeah so I know my last question to you is what should one's Focus be
primarily now as like a student as Australian qualified chartered accountant how should one
approach the whole work life thing work life have many things foreign sorry to that so my honest
opinion on work life Harmony and how they should approach work would be that they have to be
um adaptive and to the environment a lot of times it happens that you may have joined a team and
uh like you know you might be shifted to another team based

(35:08) on the business requirements you need to be okay with you know uh as long as the profile is
the same obviously if you don't like the profile switch but uh you have to be adaptive to learn new
things quickly to move around the company quickly and uh that will help you grow like to learn the
new tools and everything so you have to be open about that and the second thing is that you know
keep it's okay even if uh you are focusing more on work Less on life in the beginning I would say in
the initial stages of yesterday if you want a

(35:39) steeper curve uh growth curve then you have to give the so so you can get right so if you if
you feel that okay if I give like this 50 like uh just uh keep a balanced approach or maybe focus more
on life then then you're not gonna get that steeped growth curve you it might be flat honestly
because it's a very competitive environment that we are in and with all the recession thing going on
layoffs going on you have to be at the top of your game so some companies like the mbbs they have
uh move up or move out policy so you have to keep

(36:13) moving up or you are out of the company so so even if your company doesn't have that
policy keep that at the man uh at the back of your mind like yeah I have to move up because then
even for you it will not be challenging enough right if you are okay with whatever comes your way if
you're okay with getting promotion just based on you know the tenure that you have had and uh like
you know based on seniority rather than capability then uh that is uh that is like you know you uh
you're just being uh very less ambitious so yeah so that's

(36:46) what I would say is to work hard so you can literally party harder later yeah so it's not even
immediately after qualifying also you don't get a bed of roses there is a bed but it's not completely of
roses you still have your struggles you have to come across there are thorns in those rooms yes okay
so uh so keeping in mind the growth trajectory one has to focus right now on their uh like you know
on growing even after you qualify because then you have uh once people have qualified it's like now
you're competing against the even
(37:26) brighter Minds like even exactly uh like people are more focused now and they are working
towards their individual goals now so that's that's a good good point to take you know thanks thank
you so much thank you I'm sure this is going to work as a guiding my manual to anybody who wants
to get into Amazon or financial planning I hope so for that matter so thanks a lot it was great chatting
with you thank you thank you so much it was a great experience thank you

Financial Modeling Interview Questions - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XT0dClS4dc

Transcript:

(00:00) hello friends i'm himanshu jain i'm one of the co-founders of the wall street school we've
been teaching financial marketing and valuations for more than 12 years now of late we have been
getting lot of requests from the students asking us to make a detailed video on the most important
questions which are asked in a financial modeling job interview so what we did was we collated and
analyzed thousands of questions which have been asked to our students in the various investment
banking interviews when they have appeared for

(00:31) so in this video we are going to cover those questions with a brief answers in a structured
manner so let's get started [Music] hi everyone welcome back to our youtube channel so today we
will be addressing one of the most important and most interesting topics and that is about the most
favorite questions that are asked in financial modeling interviews so without any further ado let's get
started so first of all friends we must understand the various categories of interviews questions that
can happen

(01:15) so as far as financial modelling domain is concerned you can be tested on technical questions
as well as personal questions when it comes to the technical questions the idea behind the
interviewer's mind is basically to test your knowledge of the domain your understanding of financial
modeling skills and the personal questions are there to test your soft skills and your personality well
for this video we will be particularly focusing upon the technical questions so that we can address
the most important areas when it comes to

(01:52) the technical questions so let's get started on that so the first question that we have is what
is financial model and for what purpose it is used so first thing that we can answer here is what
exactly financial modeling is all about so friends as we know a financial model is primarily a structure
that we create on ms excel and that helps us make financial decisions so the agenda of creating a
financial model is always a decision that we want to address and in order to address that decision in
a proper structured manner
(02:37) we use the technique of financial modeling so what kind of decisions does financial
modelling support well any decision that needs to be made in the field of finance and investments
can be supported with the help of financial modeling like for example we talk about financial
planning that is planning your finances and this can be applicable for an individual as well as a
business for all these cases we can use financial modeling techniques to plan the finances better like
how to raise the funds what should be the

(03:15) sources of raising the fund and how those funds should be deployed into the various projects
of the company another area in which we can use financial modeling can be valuations and we do
valuations of all the assets be it the stocks or the bonds or real estate or any other business
everything has a value that we can determine with the help of various valuation techniques and for
that we can use financial modeling then comes project analysis let's say there is a business who's
thinking about pursuing a particular project for the

(03:56) further expansion and growth of the business well we can analyze that project look into its
best case worst case scenario and then decide whether investing our funds into that particular
project would be a good idea for the business or not then of course the merger and acquisition deals
are also supported with the help of financial modeling every m a deal has to be decided upon the
valuation of the business in concern and a deal has to be cracked from both the buying party and the
selling party side and for all these

(04:35) decision makings we again use financial modeling for that then comes debt raising and
capital allocation all these decisions can be backed up by the process of financial modeling so friends
let's move forward with our next question so the next question that can be asked in financial
modeling interviews is walk me through the process of financial modeling so the objective of
financial modelling should be first clear in our mind that is the purpose for which we are preparing
this financial model the particular decision that we are trying

(05:17) to address once that objective is clear well we can start working upon our financial model
and first thing first we need to get to the historical financial data of the company that is the income
statement the balance sheet and the cash flow statement of the company which will further help us
do the projections now as far as the projections are concerned how do we approach that first thing
that we do here is forecasting the revenues now revenues are the primary source of income the
primary source of income for the business

(06:02) right and therefore we must pay a lot of attention to get these forecasting with respect to
the revenues right so first thing that we do is get our future revenues moving forward we get the
forecasted income statement ready with us so revenues we already have we will use them in our
income statement and all the other costs and expenses we will be forecasting and some cost will be
relatable to revenues like the cost of goods sold etc that we can get with the help of a forecasted
revenues but some costs need some other workings like for example the

(06:46) depreciation expense would be linked to the fixed asset schedule the interest expense would
be linked to the debt schedule so in order to get such depreciation and interest related expenses we
need a different working to be prepared with respect to the fixed asset schedule and the debt
schedule where we will be forecasting the future numbers with respect to the assets and the
liabilities of the business and we will be using all this data to further get the depreciation and the
interest expense that will be filled in the

(07:23) income statement now once this data is ready with us we can move forward and prepare the
forecasted balance sheet so as part of the balance sheet the debt and the fixed asset will get from
the fixed asset and the debt schedule itself and the rest assets and liabilities need to be forecasted
and special attention need to be made with respect to the working capital forecasting part once the
forecasting is ready with respect to the balance sheet we can move forward and prepare the
forecasted cash flow statement and the cash balance that

(08:03) we'll get from the cash flow statement that will again travel back to the balance sheet so
friends all these forecasting are interconnected even the debt schedule is dependent upon the cash
flow statement so all these interlinked forecasted financial statements are prepared simultaneously
and once these financial statements for the future are ready we can further use them for decision
making as we had an objective in mind for preparing this financial model so in order to fulfill that
objective we must do some valuations or

(08:41) analysis and then finally look at various scenarios with respect to the results that we are
getting so that we can understand the best case possibility that can happen in the future and the
worst case possibility that can happen in the future and finally make a conclusion and present
everything in the form of proper decision that we made through this process right so that is how we
can build a financial model so let's move forward and address our next question so the next question
is what in your opinion makes a good financial model

(09:26) or what are the best practices that we can use in financial modeling so friends as we know
we are preparing the financial models on excel so the first thing that we should do is use the
microsoft excel properly by deploying the various shortcuts and formulas and have a comfort
working upon excel the second thing that we can do is have a proper proper logical flow of the
model when it comes to forecasting or analysis everything should flow with the proper logic then
comes the third point and that is about the formatting so the formatting

(10:14) of a model should be done in a very professional manner and everything should be
consistent throughout the model like for example the color coding can also be defined using very
professional colors like for example we can use the inputs as blue color we can have our formulas as
black colored and then we can have our assumptions in the red color and we can follow the industry
practices with respect to the most professional and consistent way of formatting our financial model
and last but not the least we should try and

(10:52) make the financial model as easy and simple to understand and it should be flexible as well
what do i mean by flexible well in that sense we should be able to change our inputs and get the
outputs in various scenarios that can help us do some scenario management and sensitivity analysis
towards the end so that we can look into the best case and worst case scenario and then make a call
on the decision that was in our hand so these can be a few best practices that we can deploy in
financial modeling so let's move forward with our next

(11:33) question so the next question is from where do you get the historical data of the company's
financials so friend as we know after laying down our objective this first thing that we require is to
get the historical data of the company so what all sources can be there the first source of data can
be the annual reports of the companies the second would be the corporate filings for for example
the annual reports that are issued in u.

(12:06) s are in the form of 10k and quarterly reports are issued in 10q then after the reporting part
we can also refer to the various aspects of the annual report for some insights like for example the
management discus discussion and analysis part of our annual reports the earnings conference call
reports that the company has to do every quarter after issuing the quarterly results the conference
that it holds with the analyst community it also gives us a lot of insights about how the company has
performed during the quarter and what is the outlook of the management for the

(12:46) coming quarters and years then we can also refer to some external party resources like other
equity research reports and some news articles as well but the prime importance should be given to
the internal sources that is the reports and the filings that the company has done so let's move
forward to that next question then so friends the next question is how do you forecast the revenues
of the company well friends we know that revenue is one of the most important items to be
forecasted because it is the prime

(13:29) source of income for the business so how do we do the forecasting of revenues let's see the
first thing that we must keep in mind is that the revenue has to be industry specific right it can be a
services based industry or manufacturing industry well revenue forecasting can differ from industry
to industry one simple approach that we can adopt here is to be able to see the overall historical
growth trend and on the basis of that we can go ahead and do the forecasting for the revenues but
that is going to be

(14:10) very very simple approach the more precise and the more comprehensive approach can be
that first we divide the business into the various segments of products that the business deal in this
is the various product line of geographies that the company is in relation to and then once we have
defined these various segments we can go ahead and do the projections with respect to the price
per unit and then the projections with respect to the volume growth that we are expecting within
the various segments and the price and the volume data will further

(14:49) help us get the revenues of the company for the future right guys so friends let's move
forward with our next question then the next question is that if you have to use one statement to
review the overall health of a company which statement would you use and why so here we have to
talk about the most important financial statement so one of the most underrated financial
statement yet one of the most important ones would be the cash flow statement that helps us
understand the cash movement what are the sources of cash for the

(15:36) business and what are the uses of cash for the business these are actually the most
important questions and every business should be able to track down these questions because at
the end of the day in order to grow and expand further every business needs cash and definitely a
cash rich company will have better prospects than a company who is on the verge of insolvency so in
order to keep a track and control and improve the cash flows of the company we must keep a track
of the cash flow statement so what all things are
(16:17) part of the cash flow statement when we divide our cash flow statement into three primary
areas the first is the cash flow from operations that help us understand what are the cash inflows
and outflows due to operations then comes our second area and that is about cash flow from
investing activities well this area primarily tells us about our cash inflows and outflows which are
happening due to the movement in the non-current asset let's say the company purchased some
building or furniture well that's a non-current asset that is going to

(17:09) provide long-term benefit to the business and therefore any inflow and outflow due to such
long-term asset that are going to provide long-term benefit to the business is concerned well all the
inflows and outflows related to such activities are classified under the cash flow from investing
activities then comes the third one that is cash flow from financing activities which particularly talks
about the cash inflows and outflows that are happening due to the financing activities of the
business that is particularly related to the

(17:51) capital structure of the business so any changes happening in the capital structure that is
debt and equity primarily any changes happening there any influent outflow due to these changes
will be reflected in the cash flow from financing activities so to sum it up cash flow from operations
particularly talks about the inflows and the outflows from operations investing activity particularly
talks about the changes in the non-current assets leading to inflows and outflows in the business and
the cash flow from financing activities

(18:28) particularly talks about the changes in the capital structure which further lead to influence
and outflows in the business so out of these three activities what do you think is the most important
one well yes the most important of these three activities would be our cash flow from operations
this has to be strong positive and growing because this is the source of inflows for us that we want
to sustain and grow in the long run because our operations should be good enough to take care of
any requirement that come

(19:08) because of maybe the non-current assets or maybe the capital structure in the form of debt
repayment we should be able to generate enough inflows from our operations to take care of all the
requirements of the business at least in the long run if not in case of a startup so this was about the
cash flow statement which is one of the most important statements when it comes to a business so
guys let's move forward and address the next question so the next question that we have is what are
free cash flows and how

(19:47) do we project them so first of all addressing the first question that is what are free cash flows
well free cash flow primarily means any cash flow which is free from all the commitments so any
cash flow that is free from all the commitments can be referred to as the free cash flow and it is
freely available for the capital providers of the business on the basis of the different capital providers
of the business we can further classify our free cash flow into two categories one would be the free
cash flow to form

(20:32) that is fcff and the other would be free cash flow to equity that is fcfe so when it comes to
fcff that is free cash flow to form it basically represents the cash flow which is available to all the
equity and the debt holders whereas when we talk about fcfe it represents the cash flow which is
available only to the equity holders so all the commitments that is the cost commitment and the
reinvestment commitment of the business has been taken care of by calculating the free cash flows
so reinvestment can be of two types one

(21:17) can be the short-term reinvestment that is into the working capital of the business that is
basically the current asset minus the current liabilities that is the net current assets the secondary
investment is for the long term which comprises of our capital expenditure into the non-current
assets of the business which can be the tangible assets and the intangible essence right so after we
have taken care of all the commitments be it in the form of the cost commitment or the
reinvestment commitment everything has been taken

(21:57) care of then we arrive at the free cash flow if it is available for both the equity and the debt
holder we will call it fcff that is free cash flow to form if it is available only to the equity holders we
will call it free cash flow to equity so friends now understand how we can calculate them so when it
comes to the fcff calculations we start from earnings before interest and tax and make them after
tax because we wanted to go before interest because nothing has been paid to the debt holders and
the equity holders yet

(22:38) because we are calculating free cash flow to form that is the cash which is free and available
for the debt and the equity holders so nothing yet has been paid to the debt holders and the equity
holders so we've subtracted all the cost except interest and we have also subtracted the tax
expenses by taking a bit that is earnings before interest in tax and then multiplying it with 1 minus
the tax rate that will give us the net operating profit after tax that we can call as no pat once we
have this net operating profit

(23:16) after tax we'll add back depreciation and amortization because one it is a non-cash expense
and second it is a provision that we are making for the investment into our assets in the future so we
are adding it back and then we are subtracting the current capital expenditures that we have done
and then any non-cash working capital investments that we have done and the working capital has
gone up that will also get decreased here and what we will be left with is fcff that is the free cash
flow which is available to the firm that

(24:01) includes both the debt holders and the equity holders and then comes the fcfe calculation so
when it comes to the fcfe calculation we can start with net profit because debt holders have been
paid we are just looking at the cash flow which is available to the equity holders so the interest has
already been paid so the interest adjustment that we did in the prior calculation would not be
required here we can simply start with the net profit in which we have already subtracted all our
cost including interest and taxes then we add back our

(24:44) depreciation and amortization just like we did in fcff case and then we'll subtract our capital
expenditures and we will subtract any working capital investment that we have done and last but
not the least we will add back the net debt borrowed in order to get the fcfa so friends this was
about the top seven questions that can be asked in financial modeling interview really hope that this
video was of help to you in case of any questions you can comment down below the video and we
would be happy to get in touch with you you can

(25:25) also get in touch with us over our website thewallstreet.com so see you in the next video
thanks for watching take care and bye
5 Rules for Communicating Effectively with Executives - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzi4T94QCjw

Transcript:

(00:00) if you've ever tried to communicate effectively with executives you'll notice that they are
sometimes speaking a different language definitely the way they approach communication and the
way they expect to be to be communicated too is a whole different landscape so in this video what i
want to share with you are the five rules when it comes to effectively communicating with
executives right and when it comes to you wanting to talk to executives keep in mind that essentially
the essence of what you're trying to achieve is to get

(00:30) into their inner circle how to be a member of that inner circle and it really is by invitation
only right so here are the five steps the five rules actually to effectively communicate with executives
and by the way if you enjoy this topic give me a thumbs up and remember to subscribe to my
channel ring that bell as well so you can receive notifications every time i release videos like this
every single week so the five rules for speaking with executives let's not waste time rule number one
is escape the minutiae

(01:00) here's what i mean by that executives aren't worried about the minutiae which means the
day-to-day routines right we are always worried about day-to-day routines in fact we've been
programmed to concentrate on our to-do list what we have to do every day all the single things
every single thing that we do every day and we've been programmed to want to try to impress
executives by showing them all the different things we do and then therefore whenever we speak
with someone and we try to become

(01:26) impressive we share how many things we've done how many projects we've achieved and all
the different programs that we've introduced all the different pro projects that we have completed
that is the new shay and that's not what they're interested in because when it comes to minutiae
that is for a certain group of people it's for the doers the implementers in the marketplace but you
don't want to stay at implementation you don't really you don't want to be the person who does the
thing and that's not

(01:55) where the executives are executives aren't in the implementation stage of their career so if
you want to move to the next level and demonstrate to your executives that you are worthy of
leadership this is where you have to escape the minutiae because this is where you got to start to
adopt the mindset of not operating from the implementers landscape anymore right so rule number
one escape the minutiae which leads us to rule number two and the second rule is to exude
unshakable confidence because let's face
(02:26) it when you're in front of executives and you're communicating with them sharing them with
your ideas trying to illustrate and communicate the value you have to bring they want to know that
you believe in what you're talking about because that gives them confidence in any conversation
that you're going to have with executives it is going to be a transference uncertainty they need to
feel your certainty so that they can have certainty in your competency and your ability to be in
dynamic relationship with them so this is

(02:53) important when it comes to having confidence that you are standing in front of the
executives and in no way at all do you feel that you are inferior to them this is extremely important
you cannot give or exude any energy or any or any body language or any language as well by word
choice that you are inferior to them that you are looking up to them because that is not exuding
confidence so when it comes to how do we do this exuding that unshakable confidence this is where
you are communicating exactly the value that you have to bring but you

(03:28) got to believe in that value yourself and you have to know exactly how the value you are
about to offer is certainly going to serve them to what they value in this organization right so that is
rule number two that is exude unshakable confidence which takes us to rule number three is to
execute rain making conversations when you are at the executive level this is where it's important
what are they focused on they want to be able to make the business money they want to be
profitable they want to stay relevant in

(03:58) that marketplace so it is very important that you execute rain making communications this is
about go speaking on them speaking towards them at their level not on the level that you've been
used to operating it requires a completely different set of communication skills some of the some of
the biggest mistakes that i see career professionals making when they are communicating with
executives are for example asking too many questions or irrelevant questions right another mistake
big mistake is going on for too long sharing the

(04:29) minutiae or stretching out their communications another mistake that i see is they are
making the executives explain the background to them when they should already know another
mistake that i see is refl relying too much on notes writing a script or slides when they need to refer
to it right which leads to the next biggest mistake that i see very often is not knowing their stuff real
cold right and finally the biggest mistake that i see also is trying to impress the executives because
when you are communicating with your executives it's

(05:00) about how do i get into their inner circle by invitation only so that's you and you are noticing
as i'm going through this list of biggest mistakes that you're noticing for yourself that yeah i really do
that i write a script oh yeah i'm really i'm reading from my notes i am asking a lot of questions i'm
not sure if i'm going on too long if you are finding and resonating with this then i invite you to get
some support right i have experience leading executives to land their most desired

(05:26) desired positions in their industry and also how they can communicate effectively with their
bosses and their bosses bosses as well so if you want that coaching and you're serious about taking
your career to executive levels then invite you to book a call with me there is a link in the description
below this video direct link where you can fill out an application and this is where either myself or
someone from my team is going to get on a call to speak directly with you to explore whether or not
we can definitely work together and
(05:55) it is the right fit for both of us so if you're serious about achieving these outcomes then book
a call and look forward to seeing you on the inside which takes us to rule number four elongate your
time frames right what do i mean by that everybody operates on certain time frames it's just what
we're used to our default mode right so let me give you an example how how many of you you know
when you're watching this video do you resonate with planning the year year by year what am i
going to do next

(06:25) year what are my next year's goals what do i hope to achieve by next year if that's you and
that resonates with you the most then chances are your time frame is year by year right however
there are some individuals and maybe this is you right maybe you make a five-year plan right you
and your your your partner or your spouse right and your and your teammates maybe you're used to
making the five-year plan and you review that plan and so if that's you and you resonate with that
then your time frame is five years right five year

(06:52) time frame everybody has a time frame that they're most comfortable with operating so this
is where you got to know what has been your time frame what has it been and you will find evidence
that's coming true in your life what your time frames have been and you will notice that as you
progress through your career you're an ambitious career professional you'll notice that when you
progress through your career from college from recent graduate from junior member mid-level
manager and now you're about to step

(07:21) into executive you will notice that necessarily in order to get to each subsequent level that
you needed to expand your time frames maybe when you got your first job out of college your time
frame was operating on a paid check to paycheck basis in other words month to month but now
you're operating year by year or five years by five years but executives operate from much elongated
time frames compared to you they operate from lifetimes they are free from time frames that are
lifetimes long or decades long so this

(07:53) is where it's important if you want to communicate effectively with your executives that you
operate and you communicate with them with their time frames as well and in that way you can
really truly demonstrate that you're thinking on their level that you are one of theirs a peer of theirs
when you're able to communicate with someone at their time frames it's inspiring it feels like
familiarity and they can trust you as well that you can think in alignment with the vision comment
below i want to hear from you

(08:21) which rule so far did you resonate with the most are there ones in particular that you never
thought of that are quite intriguing so comment below i want to hear from you and if you haven't
done so already remember to subscribe because every single week i release videos where i talk
about executive level positions interviews how to take your career to the next level and very
important skills when it comes to communication so remember to subscribe and i look forward to
hanging out with you in my next video

(08:48) and the fifth and final rule is to exercise business acumen because at the executive level they
want what is the next best thing for this organization they're looking for the next best thing right it's
important that you don't just focus on problems but you actually see the reason why this business
exists what exactly are they trying to achieve in terms of the big picture vision and chances are the
vision involves some sort of profit some sort of shift in market some sort of value that they add into
the marketplace so this is where

(09:23) you're going to wear your business owner hat right you are no longer operating from an
employee mindset you got to start to operate and think from their perspectives bring forth your
business acumen not necessarily focusing on problems but focusing on what are we trying to achieve
here and how is the value that i'm the skills that i've had as an implementer for the past few years
and therefore as a manager how am i going to use all of these experiences and real life work history
that i've had

(09:53) and how am i going to package it in such a way that i can demonstrate i understand why i
exist in this company and exactly how my skills my knowledge my expertise and my experience how
all of those things combine to help them achieve their business goals what is that right so these are
the five rules for talking to executives i look forward to hanging out with you in the next video
[Music] you