The interviewers ask the usual question can be categorized in following section (according to me):
1) About yourself
2) Reasons of interest in Bank Job
3) Bank related course question
About yourself
"tell me something about you” it’s a start… Instead of giving stereotyped answers, if you pack in a few punches by answering the same things in the required format a bit in your own way, without conflicting from the context, you can land quite a few nymph points by impressing the interview board.
Reasons of interest in Bank Job
You will be asked “why you have chosen as your profession this line of banking. You will be asked to elucidate upon your previous experiences, if any”. You will have to honestly tell the interview board the causes for leaving your previous job.
And then of course, you will have to tell the interview board the reasons for wishing to work with this particular bank, how long you intend to stay with this bank. How and where you would see yourself in the next 5 years and other such questions. I am sure you have got a hang of these general questions.
Bank related course question
The next part will be reserved for finance related common banking interview questions. You may be asked the following questions such as you would be asked to identify a field where this organization should invest and where not? You have to corroborate your answer with logic.
Relation with interest rate and economy, cost of equity and WACC or may be asked to explain cost of capital.
Then you will be asked to clarify in full details on the techniques used for valuing firms. You might even be asked which techniques you would love to use and why?
You may also have to describe all those major issues a company will have to face if it wants to enter a specific industry under the porter framework. Then they may ask you some general knowledge related questions.
The purpose of asking you such type of questions is to know that how much you aware with day to day things going around the world. The main purpose of the interview is to know about your IQ. They want to know about your skill of work like, can you work smartly? How effectively you can work under pressure. Interview questions are framed to judge the confidence, domain knowledge, skills and attitude.
Most commonly asked questions are listed below with hint:
Why did you choose banking profession?
(Hint) You need to talk about Banking – actually here interviewer by this tricky question sorting out people who are able to cope with changing situation in short time and make organization benefited with his or her development. Your answer can have following bulleted points.
• Banking is a fast changing environment
• Changing IT environment require more skilled consultants in finance or banking field
• Banking is now largely sales driven.
Do you have experience in the banking field or other areas?
Here off course your answer will hold some other finance or sales and marketing careers – insurance or accountancy, altogether these careers should have skills related to banking.
What is the commitment that we can expect from you?
That you believe you are human and you will be remain loyal and honest to your job, showing respect to your senior and colleague and try your best to update yourself to perform the task efficiently to reach the ultimate goal of department above all the desired destination of organization.
How do you feel about committing yourself to another three years of exams?
The professional examinations that you will almost certainly be required to take as part of your training are not always difficult in themselves, but do require determination and focus.
Why do you want to work with our bank?
What significant trends do you see in the future for our industry?
This is your chance to shine. Gear up in full throttle. You will be fully familiar with the economic situation as it relates to banking or how recent legislation affects it. How will you be familiar? By reading trade magazines, journals and newspapers, and you will have poured over company brochures, annual reports or anything else you can get your hands on direct from the employer. You could talk about tele-banking, the limited range of services now being offered by the supermarket banks, the effects of technology and competition and much more.
Go through net, goggle in different site.
The company will be expecting that you have done your research on the industry generally. You should be familiar with the bank’s products and services – literature on these can be picked up at any branch, like read out the brochures and annual reports. Be aware of current trends in the market and try to find out what each bank is doing in these areas.
Where you will see yourself two years down the line?
Some of the domain specific i.e. Finance associated questions are listed below:
Which stocks you will buy and how wise your decision would be?
Can you share your views regarding how the United States economy is affecting the economy worldwide?
Tell us the ways to access firms
Behavioral questions:
How you will rate yourself as a leader and explain?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What qualities do you think that you have as a good team player?
14 Common Banking& finance Questions.
Some of the most common interview questions for an investment banking interview include (some are a bit on the tough side but they DO come up very often, increasingly as a means of curtail down the candidate lists as the finance graduate job market gets harsher):
1. How many degrees (if any) are there in the angle between the hour and the minute hands of a clock when the time is a quarter past three? [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for entry level investment banking graduate jobs]
2. Find the smallest positive integer that leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 2, a remainder of 2 when divided by 3, a remainder of 3 when divided by 4, ... and a remainder of 9 when divided by 10 [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance jobs]
3. Two standard options have exactly the same features, expect that one has long maturity, and the other has short maturity. Which one has the higher gamma? [Typically asked during interviews for bank derivatives trading jobs]
4. How do you calculate an option's delta? [Asked during investment banking interviews for derivatives trading jobs]
5. When can hedging an options position make you take on more risk? [Typically asked during interviews for trading jobs]
6. Are you better off using implied standard deviation or historical standard deviation to forecast volatility? Why? [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance jobs]
7. Describe "duration" and "convexity". Describe their properties and uses [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for graduate investment banking jobs]
8. Two players A and B play a marble game. Each player has both a red and a blue marble. They present one marble to each other. If both present red, A wins £3. If both present blue, A wins £1. If the colors do not match, B wins £2. Is it better to be A or B, or does it matter? [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance or derivatives jobs]
9. How do you "value" yourself? Here "value" means in financial terms [Typically asked during interviews for MBA finance jobs or experienced banking hires]
10. What distinguishes you from other candidates we might hire? [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for graduate investment banking vacancies]
11. If you could go on a cross-country car trip with any three people, who would you choose? Why? [Typically asked during interviews for corporate finance / mergers & acquisitions banking jobs]
12. Tell me about a stock you like or hate and why [Asked by job interviewers for any accounting, finance or job!]
13. What is the difference between default and prepayment risk? [Typically asked during interviews for credit jobs / risk management jobs]
14. How would you move Mount Fuji? [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for consulting jobs or graduate accounting jobs]
Interview Preparation:-
Before you go for an interview you need to prepare yourself well. This is because in the process of an interview every aspect of yours will be analyzed very critically. Whatever you have to say about yourself will be probed. Your answers will make room for many other questions. So you have to be very careful with your answers.
A few steps and tips to successful interview preparation are listed below:
Go through your resume –
You should always go through your resume and understand it from the point of view of the interviewer. This will help you know what it is that the company is looking for and what it is expecting from you.
List your abilities to link the responsibilities bank is looking for if you are able you are ahead.
Go online –
A company would want a candidate, seeking employment, to know more about the company. Knowledge about the company and job responsibility is your best friend during an interview.
Rehearse -
It always makes sense to make a script for an interview makes sense.
If you rehearse the kind of questions that will be asked you can give the best answer possible.
Prepare a list of questions –
Don’t ever think when you go for an interview, you have to answer all the questions and ask none. Most interviewers love to entertain questions. This sends the message that you have prepared before coming for the interview, and that the job is important for you.Do not ask questions about remuneration and benefits in the beginning. Ask these questions later. Ask questions that are company oriented and job related. Dwell on questions relevant to the information provided by the interviewer.
Dress decently in formal clothes before an interview board. A business suit is best for an interview. Cleaning and ironing your suit to give it a crisp, clean look is also an integral part of your interview preparation.
Preparing for an interview can be overwhelming – but if you follow the above mentioned steps assiduously you can always perform well.
It is clear that banking personal should possess all required information about current situation happening around the world regarding economics, need to a good leader, multitasking abilities and convincing abilities to convince customer in harsh condition. Don’t worry all these come by practice. And the most important thing is your confidence. Your confidence will help your organization to achieve client satisfaction.
Keep in touch..more information updated soon..
Best of luck
