You have completed your CA and ready to get in to job. But wait, passing is not just enough, to get a job you need to be well prepared for the interviews. Many students make a mistake of not preparing well and end up as jobless for a very long time. You should not make such a mistake.
ICAI placements are starting from 2nd week of March in most of the centers around India. Results in the recent placements have not been very courageous and only a small % of students got placed. So you should be really well prepared to assure a job in campus placements. In this post I will cover most common and Important finance interview questions.
These questions are not only important for ICAI placements rather for any finance job.
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Most Common finance interview questions
These questions may sound very basic to you, but many a times we don’t know answer for these basic questions as well.
- What is a cash flow statement?
- What is working capital?
- What is EBITDA?
- What is the link between the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement?
- What is a deferred tax asset or liability?
- What is goodwill and how is it calculated?
- Questions related to Accounting Standards (you should have a good grip on all accounting standards)
- What is the current USD/INR Rate?
- What is the current repo, reverse repo rate?
Seasonal Questions for a Finance Interview or Group Discussion
- A bit knowledge of politics and current affairs is required. Typical questions can be
- Who should be our next PM?
- What is your opinion about AAP
- Do you think Narendra Modi is a right person to be the next PM?
There is no right or wrong answer for such questions. You should be aware of some facts about the current happenings and you will be able to give your opinion. You can prepare yourself for such questions by reading newspaper daily (I know nobody likes that, but at least till your interviews :))
- You should also have some knowledge on recent industry and business news and transaction. Typical questions can be
- What do you think about the recent telecommunication spectrum auction?
- Why is united bank in news?
- Questions relating to recent mergers and acquisitions.. (Like Nokia & Microsoft Deal, Facebook & Whatsapp deal)
- Question relating to recent budget
You don’t need to know a lot about every thing but should have some idea that what is happening around. So if you have a simple sketch in mind of such questions, it would help. Again the best way to prepare for such questions is read newspaper daily.
Job type specific questions
You should also be prepared for the interview according to job you are applying. For example if you are applying for a auditing job in a Big 4 accounting firm then many questions would be around that. I will cover a few types here:
Auditing Jobs (CA Firms)
- What is the difference between internal and statutory audit?
- Lots of questions relating to Accounting Standards (While interviewing for a CA Firm you can expect 80% of questions relating to AS only, so you should be well prepared for that)
- What are recent changes in Schedule VI of the companies Act?
- Tell us about few changes that will come with new companies Act?
Accounting Jobs (Industry – Manufacturing Companies)
- What are the due dates for payment of TDS, Service tax etc. ?
- What are recent changes in service tax? You should have knowledge on recent changes in income tax, service tax and excise.
Jobs in Investment Banking, Mutual Funds
- What are options and futures?
- How can you value options and futures?
- What are option Greeks?
- What are bonds and how to value a bond?
- What is a Discounted Cash Flow Analysis?
Questions specific to your experience
In every interview a major portion of questions come from your past experience. Even if you are a fresher then there will be questions from your articleship or internship.
You should be well prepared to answer questions relating to the clients and work which you have mentioned in your CV.
Typical question can be:
- What was your daily work routine in XXX company?
- What were your achievements in your past work?
- Tell us about few problems which you faced in your past work?
This will also give you an idea that you should not write anything in your CV that is not true, else you may end up in trouble.
Let me know if this has helped you and if you think there are more questions that I should cover here.
Also read How to face a Group Discussion
