Preparing for a Successful Interview

As a candidate for a new position, it is essential for you to invest the time to properly prepare for an interview.  Doing so well help you feel more relaxed and confident going into the interview. More importantly, the prospective employer will be able to tell that you have done your homework and your preparation will increase the chances that you will receive an offer from the company.  Here are some tips that we have developed while assisting over 400 accounting and finance professionals land rewarding career opportunities:

1) Research the company – Visit the company’s website and thoroughly read through it.  Be sure that you understand the company’s divisions or lines of businesses.  If the company is publicly traded, a great place to research the company is the Finance page of Yahoo.com.  Insert the company’s stock symbol and they provide a wealth of information about the company.

2) Review the job description – Read through the job description in detail and list out practical examples that will demonstrate how your experience matches up with each of the listed job requirements.  For areas where you might not have any relevant experience, share examples of how you have been a quick learner in the past and are adept at getting up to speed on new assignments.

3) Review your resume – Be ready to explain to the interviewer why you selected the college or university that you attended, why you decided on your major, why you joined your first company after graduating from college, as well as the reasons that you joined other companies.  Additionally, the interviewer will want to know why you are exploring other opportunities now and why are you interested in their company and the position for which you are interviewing.  Rehearse your answers to these questions.

4) Research the interviewers – To the extent possible, research the backgrounds of the people with whom you will be interviewing.  Find out their names and titles, look for their profiles on the company’s website or search for them on Linkedin.  By doing so, you may be able to learn how long they have been with the company, what other positions they have had within the company, other companies that they may have worked at, as well as their areas of expertise.

5) Prepare well thought out questions – Invest the time to write down a handful of questions to ask the interviewers.  Questions directed to the direct hiring manager or peers of the position should be more detailed and relate to the job requirements, whereas questions to the CFO or executives of the company should be at a higher level.

These are just a few tips on how to prepare for a successful interview.  When you interview for one of our open positions, we will provide you with detailed interview preparation tips that are tailored for the specific position and company.  We will answer any questions you may have so that you arrive at the interview fully prepared.