Bank Viva

A Career in banking is one of the most worthwhile careers one could aspire for. Naturally, the
number of seekers following a banking career is increasing by leaps and bounds every day. If
someone wants to be ahead in the race and score an edge over other candidates, you have to be
thoroughly prepared, be confident and be competent in how to ace an interview.
The interviewers ask the usual question can be categorized in following section (according to
me):
1) About yourself
2) Reasons of interest in Bank Job
3) Bank related course question

About yourself

tell me something about you its a start Instead of giving stereotyped answers, if you pack in
a few punches by answering the same things in the required format a bit in your own way,
without conflicting from the context, you can land quite a few nymph points by impressing the
interview board.

Reasons of interest in Bank Job

You will be asked why you have chosen as your profession this line of banking. You will be asked
to elucidate upon your previous experiences, if any. You will have to honestly tell the interview
board the causes for leaving your previous job.
And then of course, you will have to tell the interview board the reasons for wishing to work with
this particular bank, how long you intend to stay with this bank. How and where you would see
yourself in the next 5 years and other such questions. I am sure you have got a hang of these
general questions.

Bank related course question

The next part will be reserved for finance related common banking interview questions. You may
be asked the following questions such as you would be asked to identify a field where this
organization should invest and where not? You have to corroborate your answer with logic.
Relation with interest rate and economy, cost of equity and WACC or may be asked to explain
cost of capital.
Then you will be asked to clarify in full details on the techniques used for valuing firms. You might
even be asked which techniques you would love to use and why?
You may also have to describe all those major issues a company will have to face if it wants to
enter a specific industry under the porter framework. Then they may ask you some general
knowledge related questions.
The purpose of asking you such type of questions is to know that how much you aware with day
to day things going around the world. The main purpose of the interview is to know about your
IQ. They want to know about your skill of work like, can you work smartly? How effectively you
can work under pressure. Interview questions are framed to judge the confidence, domain
knowledge, skills and attitude.

Most commonly asked questions are listed below with hint:

Why did you choose banking profession?
(Hint) You need to talk about Banking actually here interviewer by this tricky question sorting
out people who are able to cope with changing situation in short time and make organization
benefited with his or her development. Your answer can have following bulleted points.
Banking is a fast changing environment
Changing IT environment require more skilled consultants in finance or banking field
Banking is now largely sales driven.
Do you have experience in the banking field or other areas?
Here off course your answer will hold some other finance or sales and marketing careers
insurance or accountancy, altogether these careers should have skills related to banking.
What is the commitment that we can expect from you?
That you believe you are human and you will be remain loyal and honest to your job, showing
respect to your senior and colleague and try your best to update yourself to perform the task
efficiently to reach the ultimate goal of department above all the desired destination of
organization.

How do you feel about committing yourself to another three years of exams?
The professional examinations that you will almost certainly be required to take as part of your
training are not always difficult in themselves, but do require determination and focus.

Why do you want to work with our bank?

What significant trends do you see in the future for our industry?
This is your chance to shine. Gear up in full throttle. You will be fully familiar with the economic
situation as it relates to banking or how recent legislation affects it. How will you be familiar? By
reading trade magazines, journals and newspapers, and you will have poured over company
brochures, annual reports or anything else you can get your hands on direct from the employer.
You could talk about tele-banking, the limited range of services now being offered by the
supermarket banks, the effects of technology and competition and much more.
Go through net, goggle in different site.
The company will be expecting that you have done your research on the industry generally. You
should be familiar with the banks products and services literature on these can be picked up
at any branch, like read out the brochures and annual reports. Be aware of current trends in the
market and try to find out what each bank is doing in these areas.
Where you will see yourself two years down the line?
Some of the domain specific i.e. Finance associated questions are listed below:
Which stocks you will buy and how wise your decision would be?
Can you share your views regarding how the United States economy is affecting the economy
worldwide?
Tell us the ways to access firms
Behavioral questions:
How you will rate yourself as a leader and explain?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What qualities do you think that you have as a good team player?

14 Common Banking& finance Questions.

Some of the most common interview questions for an investment banking interview include
(some are a bit on the tough side but they DO come up very often, increasingly as a means of
curtail down the candidate lists as the finance graduate job market gets harsher):

1. How many degrees (if any) are there in the angle between the hour and the minute hands of
a clock when the time is a quarter past three? [Typically asked during investment banking
interviews for entry level investment banking graduate jobs]

2. Find the smallest positive integer that leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 2, a remainder
of 2 when divided by 3, a remainder of 3 when divided by 4, and a remainder of 9 when divided
by 10 [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance jobs]

3. Two standard options have exactly the same features, expect that one has long maturity, and
the other has short maturity. Which one has the higher gamma? [Typically asked during
interviews for bank derivatives trading jobs]

4. How do you calculate an options delta? [Asked during investment banking interviews for
derivatives trading jobs]

5. When can hedging an options position make you take on more risk? [Typically asked during
interviews for trading jobs]

6. Are you better off using implied standard deviation or historical standard deviation to forecast
volatility? Why? [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance jobs]

7. Describe duration and convexity. Describe their properties and uses [Typically asked during
investment banking interviews for graduate investment banking jobs]

8. Two players A and B play a marble game. Each player has both a red and a blue marble. They
present one marble to each other. If both present red, A wins 3. If both present blue, A wins 1.
If the colors do not match, B wins 2. Is it better to be A or B, or does it matter? [Asked during
interviews for quantitative finance or derivatives jobs]

9. How do you value yourself? Here value means in financial terms [Typically asked during
interviews for MBA finance jobs or experienced banking hires]

10. What distinguishes you from other candidates we might hire? [Typically asked during
investment banking interviews for graduate investment banking vacancies]

11. If you could go on a cross-country car trip with any three people, who would you choose?
Why? [Typically asked during interviews for corporate finance / mergers & acquisitions
banking jobs]

12. Tell me about a stock you like or hate and why [Asked by job interviewers for any accounting,
finance or job!]

13. What is the difference between default and prepayment risk? [Typically asked during
interviews for credit jobs / risk management jobs]

14. How would you move Mount Fuji? [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for
consulting jobs or graduate accounting jobs]

Interview Preparation:-

Before you go for an interview you need to prepare yourself well. This is because in the process
of an interview every aspect of yours will be analyzed very critically. Whatever you have to say
about yourself will be probed. Your answers will make room for many other questions. So you
have to be very careful with your answers.
A few steps and tips to successful interview preparation are listed below:

Go through your resume

You should always go through your resume and understand it from the point of view of the
interviewer. This will help you know what it is that the company is looking for and what it is
expecting from you.
List your abilities to link the responsibilities bank is looking for if you are able you are ahead.
Go online
A company would want a candidate, seeking employment, to know more about the company.
Knowledge about the company and job responsibility is your best friend during an interview.
Rehearse It always makes sense to make a script for an interview makes sense.
If you rehearse the kind of questions that will be asked you can give the best answer possible.
Prepare a list of questions
Dont ever think when you go for an interview, you have to answer all the questions and ask
none. Most interviewers love to entertain questions. This sends the message that you have
prepared before coming for the interview, and that the job is important for you.

Do not ask questions about remuneration and benefits in the beginning. Ask these questions
later. Ask questions that are company oriented and job related. Dwell on questions relevant to
the information provided by the interviewer.

Dress decently in formal clothes before an interview board. A business suit is best for an
interview. Cleaning and ironing your suit to give it a crisp, clean look is also an integral part of
your interview preparation.
Preparing for an interview can be overwhelming but if you follow the above mentioned steps
assiduously you can always perform well.

It is clear that banking personal should possess all required information about current situation
happening around the world regarding economics, need to a good leader, multitasking abilities
and convincing abilities to convince customer in harsh condition. Dont worry all these come by
practice. And the most important thing is your confidence. Your confidence will help your
organization to achieve client satisfaction.