We asked W. P. Carey Alumni: What are your best tips for preparing for Accounting Interviews?
Here is what they shared:
- Answer with Confidence
- Research the Company Thoroughly
- Prepare Key Questions for Hiring Manager
- Differentiate Yourself in Interviews
- Stay Calm and Poised Under Pressure
- Send a Thoughtful Thank-You Message
Answer With Confidence
The #1 tip I would say is to answer with confidence during job interviews. It is okay not to know the answer to all the questions. Being honest and speaking with confidence makes an enormous difference. Try to answer questions from your experiences rather than memorizing lines from a website.
Bimala Pudasaini, Bachelor of Arts and Business Legal Studies ‘12, Accountant, Providence Energy
Research the Company Thoroughly
Before your interview, research the company you applied for (if you haven’t done so already). Using the company website, Google, LinkedIn, and other social media apps to learn about the company and its employees will give you a leg up over the other applicants.
When researching the company, be sure to note key information that interests you that you can bring up in the interview and ask questions about. Showing the hiring manager you know about the company shows that you are serious about the position.
Kyle Smithson, Mastery of Accountancy Data and Analytics ‘19, FPA Manager, Arevon Energy, Inc.
Prepare Key Questions for a Hiring Manager
One of the best ways to prepare for an interview after carefully researching company values is to have key questions prepared for the hiring manager. This will assess whether your values and the company’s culture are both in alignment. As a soon-to-be graduate, it is important to pick a company that fully accepts you for who you are and that you enjoy working for daily.
3 Key Questions:
1. What is your favorite thing about working for this company?
2. What qualities and attributes make for a successful employee in this company?
3. What management style motivates you to do your best work?
Paulene Garcia, General Business in Associates and MAAP for Accounting, Accountant, Lyft
Differentiate Yourself in Interviews
As I navigated through the interview process, I discovered that differentiating myself enabled me to stand out and leave a lasting impression. In the beginning, I was focused on simply showing the firm my accounting knowledge—but it was the same approach as the rest of the applicants, and I did not stand out. After some thought and revision, I took an alternative approach and could establish a personal connection with the hiring team by demonstrating a specific passion in my life that connected to the vision/values of the company.
Try not to focus only on presenting your technical accounting skills (although important)—but also show how those skills connect to and apply to the organization you want to join. Show “why” you want to be there, outside of the fact that it’s a job that pairs with your degree.
Jordan Chensky, BS Economics ‘17, Financial Analyst and FPA, Colgate-Palmolive
Stay Calm and Poised Under Pressure
As with any other interview, the most important thing is to remain calm and collected. Apart from a knowledge of accounting and basic business acumen, interviewers often look for confidence, poise, and the ability to handle oneself under pressure. If you can master that, you’re 80% there.
Fareed Zahid, BS Accounting ‘93, Group Chief Financial Officer, Rotana Media Group
Send a Thoughtful Thank-You Message
A great way to stand out after an interview is to send a thank-you message to your interviewer(s). A great rubric is to start by thanking them for their time. In the second part, mention how something they highlighted as important in their company resonates with you.
In the third part, give a specific example of how you can be a unique contributor to their company. And then finish by offering to be available to answer any follow-up questions and say how much you want the job.
Libby Koekebacker, BA Business Communication and Corporate Accounting ‘19, Accounting Manager, Filltech USA
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