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
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.
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content and therefore I will create more for you. OK. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
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,
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. 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
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.
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. 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.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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.” 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.
“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.
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.” 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. 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. 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.” 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. 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.” 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. 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.” 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. 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
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. 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!