Financial Analyst Interview Questions

The position of financial analyst is considered to be very lucrative. This is one of the best finance jobs available in the market, which can really pay you well if you have all the essential qualities. The main task of this job is to give precise investment advice to the organization to maximize its profits. Entry-level interview questions for this job are generally tough and challenging and would require you to think in an analytical way. This is why you need to go through some sample financial analyst interview questions. Before we discuss them, let us first acquaint ourselves with the job description to begin with.

Job Description

• A financial analyst is responsible for conducting a general financial analysis of the reports, which he receives from various departments of the company in which he works. These departments can be the marketing department, sales department, or the production department.
• He then conducts a detailed research over the various investment opportunities and prepares a final report of the same. This report is discussed with the seniors or the higher management of the organization.
• This task becomes extremely important, as any wrong investment can really be harmful to the interests of the company.
• Financial management, reading financial statements of the organization, learning new techniques of financial analysis, and fact verification are some other tasks which are performed by these professionals.

Requirements

One should ideally have a graduation degree in marketing, sales, or preferably in finance. A postgraduate or doctorate can increase your chances of getting a high-flying job to a great extent.

Commonly Asked Interview Questions

General

• Tell me about yourself and your educational qualifications
• What exactly was your job profile in your last job?
• What was the reason for you to resign from your last job?
• Are you really interested and looking forward to a career in the finance sector?
• Where do you see yourself five to seven years from now, personally and professionally?
• Why should we hire you?
• Are you ready to give your hundred percent while doing all the work given to you?
• Are you capable of working in a team?
• What is the salary that you expect?
• Do you have a positive attitude and passion for your work?

Technical

• Are you capable of creating sales reports for the entire month?
• Can you explain the concept of capital market?
• Explain the importance of ratio analysis in planning
• Which practices are used for reporting?
• Which profitability models are generally used for forecasting?
• How can you calculate the cash flows of a company?
• Which stocks do you track and why?
• Give the exact definition of marginal costing
• What precautionary steps do you take to avoid giving the wrong analysis?
• Which are the latest software available for accurate analysis?
• Can you state the advantages and disadvantages of activity based costing?
• Have you ever committed mistakes in your task of analysis? If yes, then how did you rectify them?
• Which method do you follow to find the valuation of a company and why?

The above-mentioned sample interview questions will certainly help you prepare well for this great job. Though these questions are likely, you may be asked something different, which will test how firm your basics in finance are. So, it is always advisable to study hard and keep yourself updated on the latest happenings in the world of finance.