Professional Banking Job Interviews

Archive for February, 2008

By: ReginPaul

There are many ways on how to look decent in a job interview. Here are a few things to remember:

1. Choose your corporate attire wisely. You can opt for the simple ones, like a plain colored polo (men) or a collared blouse (women) and match those with slacks or skirt.
2. Being overdressed and underdressed are both no-no’s. Minimize the frills on your blouse, skirt, polo and tie.
3. Make sure you are comfortable with you attire. Even if you have the most formal looking pump shoes or loafers, yet, you are not comfortable in it, it’ll be seen with the way you handle yourself (i.e. when walking).
4. Lessen your pieces of jewelry. You wouldn’t want to look like a walking pawnshop, do you?

You can almost bet they will ask you about Balance Sheet accounts, Income Statement accounts, bank recs, adjusting entries. Know what accounts have normal debit and credit balances, who how to do a financial statement, bank rec, adj entries. Let them tell you what the rate is and if they ask you first you should know what the going rate is in your area or otherwise you will be too high or low.

A job interview is a mutual discussion so try not to think of it as an interrogation. Its purpose is for the company to know about you and for you to get to know more about the job and the company. Make the interview meaningful by being prepared. List down the questions you would like to ask beforehand and keep them in mind. Go with a positive attitude and look at each individual interview as a learning experience. If you fail at the interview assess why you think it did not go well and make improvements on yourself to be ready with the next interview.

Avoid fidgeting in your seat and rest your hands in your laps. Try not to clutch at your pants or skirt while doing so. Be aware also of other nervous movements such as foot-tapping and playing with a ring or watch. Limit your hand gestures. Use them only when you want to emphasize key points. Too much and it can only be distracting to you and your interviewer both.

Enter the interview room calmly and with certain poise. Wait for the interviewer to indicate where you should be seated. Your cue to be seated is when the interviewer has already taken his or her seat.

Remember to make eye contact when you speak. Shifting your eyes make you seem like you are lying. Don’t stare too intensely either. Just relax and keep eye contact as if you do when talking to a friend. Stand or sit straight. Movie confidently and if seated, do so that you are sitting slightly a bit forward in your chair.

By: ReginPaul

Fashion magazines are everywhere. Their issues every month are overflowing with “what’s hot and not” in the fashion industry. They cover a wide variety of outfits such as skimpy ones, the liberated style, the conservative one and so on and so forth. However, if you are in for a job interview, no matter how tempting that tube tope looks like, you don’t need to follow the trend. The corporate world is different from your social hangouts (i.e. bars, clubs and chilling spots). You have to “dress to impress” and skimpy clothes surely do not make you look like you are a professional.

This is the most common question that is asked in interviews, but this is also the most difficult to answer. Here are a few tips on how to answer:

First, cite what your weakness is and be honest. Do not make the mistake of boasting, “I am too meticulous” or the like. Try, “I am a speedy worker but there are times that the quality of my work is compromised.” Follow it up with examples. Make sure that you include how much you are aware of your mistakes and if possible, its effect on other people. Lastly, explain what you are doing to overcome this weakness.