Professional Banking Job Interviews

Archive for the ‘Job Interviews’ Category

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?

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.

By: ReginPaul

First impressions do last, that is a fact. It’s the first time that the human resource manager will see you and so you have to make a lasting impression, a good one that is. Here are some of the tips that you have to keep in mind when it comes to your interview attire:

1. You have to dress neatly. Wear your newly ironed coat and tie (men) or blouse and skirt (women). Crumpled and stained clothes are not pleasant to look at.
2. Minimize your accessories. You wouldn’t want to look like a walking Christmas Tree in your interview, do you?

Not all questions asked of you during an banking job interview are going to be easy ones. Sooner or later, your interviewer will ask you questions like what was the most difficult aspect of your last job, or why you left you last place of employment.

The trick here is to always maintain a positive answer. You see, many people have the tendency to just go on and on, too much that it becomes ranting, and ranting is the last things your interviewer wants to hear from you. The banking industry can get stressful at times, and not being in control of yourself just shows the person you’re talking to that you may not be able to handle the pressures of the job. Keep your answers straight and sweet. Focus on the positive things you did, like the solutions you came up with to handle a situation.

One who has had experience from another bank may think the operations systems are the same, for while the fundamentals are most are not. The computer systems, office layout and many other noticeable differences may exist without you knowing about it. Never assume you are good enough to handle the position without really knowing it is. Even the organization may be different so be open and get ready to learn.
You can avoid all the confusion by establishing a network within the prospective organization if you can. This way, you get the inside look before you even submit your resume and application letter. You should also emphasize the openness to learn the system and making this apparent to the interviewee so you are seen as an open-minded person not out to complain at the slightest difference with your previous job.

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Interviews can be formal or an informal meeting. Sometimes, there are questions that are tough to answer and others can be as light. One thing to do to take away the fear from a prospective interview is preparation. Nothing beats a person who is prepared to do battle with everyday life and with every situation he faces. Usually these are the people that do not experience overwhelming problems when they are interviewed. These are the people which are able to relax after the meeting and can proudly say that they nailed it. now its just going to be a matter of a decent follow up to the person in charge. This helps them decide who is truly interested with the work and who is not.

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First impressions last. Your overall appearance will play a crucial role in landing the right job, even when it comes to as simple and unimportant as, submitting your Application. One effective way to dress is to think you are already going to work on that same company you are applying in. Who knows, maybe in passing your application, the interviewer maybe looking for an employee to fill up a certain postion and would need to interview you immediately. As much as possible, even when you are just submitting your application form, bring all the necessary stuff as if you are to be interviewed.

Bring the following when you submit the Application form.

Ball Point Pen
Fact Sheet
Copies of Resume

In filling out any form, you should remember to read the entire application before actually filling it out. Follow the instructions. Interviewers often review the filled out application form and based on the appearance too, for whom to schedule for an interview.

image source: www.executivecareerdevelopment.com

Interview for professional banking career is not that easy unlike interview in other career like marketing, sales, accounting, and etc. because banking career is crucial for it holds big amount of money from different people. That’s why we should need to know everything just to pass that interview:

1) we should at least know something about the company so that you can answer when they ask and as well as for you to prepare yourself in case you have been accepted.
2) You should know or master the types of interview like behavioral, panel, one on one, or phone interview. So that you will be flexible to what interview you will undergo.
3) You must know how to dress well so that you will look presentable to the interviewers and that’s a plus factor
4) You should know all aspects of interview process like opening, interview proper, and closing so that you can effectively communicate.

Interviews do not have to be one-way conversations. Interviewees who show genuine interest in the position and the company are more favorably perceived than those who look as if they’re only going through the motions. Some questions you can ask the interviewer are:

• If accepted, what responsibilities will be given to me?
• How will my performance be assessed?
• For what reason did the current vacancy open up?
• What growth opportunities does the position offer?
• Who will I be reporting to?
• Will I be in charge of other people?
• Would this position require me to travel?
• What are the factors in deciding this appointment?

Interview questions usually stay the same, with specifics varying depending on the position and field themselves. Here are some of the most common interview questions:

• How do you respond to pressure?
• How do you cope with criticism?
• Do you prefer working in groups or by yourself? Why?
• What are you looking for with an employer?
• Which part of the position do you dislike the most?
• What makes you more deserving of this position than the other candidates?
• How was your relationship with your previous employer?
• How do you measure your work performance?