10 Interview Preparation Questions with a Head of Group Finance

1) Candidate Qualities: What key qualities and skills do you look for in a candidate for a finance role at your bank?

A) Skills – Skills will vary depending on the position I am hiring for, but in reality everyone needs to have core competencies around financial reporting, management reporting, business partnering, and financial control as a must. You get extra points for treasury management, change and finance transformation and systems, but if you don’t have the basics skills for accounting you will struggle. Having said this, if you know you have gaps in your knowledge or skill sets, call it out in the interview and turn it into a conversation piece with me so I can assess how important it is, your honesty and ability to have hard conversations will more often than not be rewarded.

B) Qualities – Attitude is the most important thing when I hire! If I am interviewing someone who knows nothing about banking but has a keen interest in whatever is going on in my team and can show that they have a bit of drive and ambition I will hire them over a banking expert every day of the week.

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2) Interview Expectations: During an interview, what specific traits or experiences are you most interested in hearing about from candidates?

A) Interviews are a tricky and high stakes business! As a hiring manager, I generally have 1 hour to assess if someone is going to be a good fit for the role, if they are going to add value to the Bank and, most importantly as a leader, if they will work well in my team to help drive change across the organisation. That 1 hour interview will dictate if I have issues for the following years or if my and my team's life will be easier.

B) Specific traits I’m generally looking for are, 1) eagerness, 2) honesty/integrity, and 3) confidence (both personally and professionally). Past experience at a Big 4 is a benefit not necessarily from a technical standpoint, but generally because it shows a level of eagerness and work ethic which is critical to everyone's career, particularly in a Group Finance division of a Bank.

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3) Impressive Responses: Can you share an example of a response or a candidate's story that particularly impressed you during an interview?

A) “That’s interesting/I didn’t know that, I’m going to go home and research that this afternoon”. Nothing gets me more excited about a candidate than a response along those lines. Working in finance, you will never know everything. Accounting standards are constantly changing and evolving and to be good in our profession we need to have a thirst for knowledge. Also, a response like that shows me that the candidate is eager and driven, which will take them far.

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4) Red Flags: Conversely, what types of responses or attitudes during an interview are immediate red flags for you?

A) Finance and Accounting in Sydney is a relatively small market, and Banking in Sydney is even smaller. Your reputation in most instances will precede you and at the least, there are 2 degrees of separation in this industry - so be honest in your experience and background!

B) General responses and attitudes that I see as negative are being unprepared for an interview, showing a lack of research on the role/team/organisation, being late for an interview with no explanation, bad talking your previous employer or company (this is a big no no!) and showing an attitude of past errors or issues being other peoples problems or faults without acknowledging any accountability.

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5) Cultural Fit: How important is cultural fit within your team and organisation, and how do you assess this during the interview process?

A) This is the most important thing! As I said previously, I would rather the right values and attitude over a Banking industry expert every day of the week!

B) Generally I'll ask questions that are either behavioural or around previous experiences. The ones I favour are, “tell me about a time you've had a difficult conversation”, “how do you manage your workload in stressful times”, “tell me the type of person you dislike most at the office” then follow up with “do you know a person like that you currently work with and how do you manage that relationship?”

C) Most importantly, “tell me about your biggest failure/weakness” - if the candidate tells me “I’m a perfectionist” or another off-handed compliment (it makes me want to throw up, first of all!) - it comes across as disingenuous! If you tell me something truthful, I will be more open to hiring you and we can have conversations about what you have learnt and your experiences! It gives me insights to you as a person and it shows me that you are aware of your weaknesses which are invaluable. No one is perfect and your hiring manager is acutely aware of this, if you were, your hiring manager would be working for you!

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6) Technical Skills vs. Soft Skills: How do you balance the importance of technical skills versus soft skills when evaluating candidates?

A) Technical skills, I generally will identify something on their resume or an area where they have worked and think about a complex accounting issue off the back of it. It could be an area of AASB/IFRS that they could have worked on, or something vague about differences between management, financial and regulatory reporting. I try to use this to connect with the candidate and see what their limits of interest, exposure and understanding is to where they currently work. I believe the best predictor for current engagement is their historic engagement within their prior team.

B) Soft skills, I find the best approach is largely situational and asking to share their thoughts on situations I am having at work and see what they would do, or if they have any interesting considerations. It is also interesting to see how people interpret this, as when I ask these questions, I generally phrase it as me requesting their advice on a matter or situation. In some instances, the interviewee can be aggressive or arrogant, or they can appear annoyed that I am asking them for free advice - these traits I always avoid. Also,?I generally need thinkers and people that don’t accept the status quo as correct or best practice, or accept what they have been given as correct. However, relationships with our stakeholders across the Group are critical, so asking questions to probe their balance across these two areas is always done.

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7) Adaptability: In the fast-paced finance sector, adaptability is crucial. How do you gauge a candidate’s ability to adapt to change and handle pressure?

A) My team runs the year end reporting process which is nothing short of chaos at times. Asking questions around how do you deal with stressful situations, or what do you do when you feel like you are getting overwhelmed with your workload, are important questions.

B) Soft skill questions are generally good here, I like to gauge their ability to deal with stress by asking what their most stressful day was and what did they learn about it in hindsight, or how could they have handled it better? If someone responds by saying that crossing the street is stressful for them, they might be suited to other areas of the Bank...!

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8) Team Collaboration: Can you describe a situation where a candidate’s ability to work collaboratively within a team made a significant impact on their hiring decision?

A) I do not have a specific example, though that's largely because my entire team are collaborative by nature and are required to collaborate closely on a daily basis. These kinds of people are generally well known and have a great reputation internally. If people are highly collaborative their reputation will go far.

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9) Long-term Potential: What characteristics or experiences do you believe indicate a candidate’s long-term potential within your bank, and how do you identify these in an interview?

A) This goes back to eagerness and attitude, as above. If a candidate shows that they are eager to get involved and help in whatever the situation, or if they have significant drive, this is the number one stand out for someone that will most likely be stepping up shortly after I hire them. You know when you are interviewing a person with long term potential!

B) Another one is interest in the organisation. This one is a biggie! If you come to me in an interview and you tell me that you are super interested in my Bank and everything that they do, and can talk to me with passion about our brand, you are already heads above the rest in interviewing!

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10) Bonus Question: In one of my first interviews many years ago, when asked to share one of my weaknesses, I responded with, “Being ginger” (true story - I got the job). What is the worst or most shocking answer you’ve been given during an interview?

A) When asking a candidate how they might deal with a particularly difficult stakeholder, they suggested they might “ask them to step outside for a one-on-one chat and sort things out ‘man to man’…!” – they did not get the job.