Interview Questions

A. Past work experience (Name of the company, position title and description)?
B. What is your greatest strength?
C. What changes would you like to make in your college?
D. If you want to live your life once again, what changes would you make?
E. Tell me about yourself for 1 minute which is not there in your CV?
F. What do you want to do in life?
G. Describe a time, when you set your sights too high?
H. Tell me about a time when u has to fire a friend?
I. Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision?
J. Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed
preventive measures?
K. Give me an example of the time when you used good logic and judgment to
solve a problem?
L. Tell me about a difficult decision you have made in the last year?
M. Tell me about a time when u tried but failed?
N. Tell me about a time when u showed initiative and took the lead?
O. Give me an example of the time when you motivated others?
P. Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to the problem?
Q. Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully
convince someone to see things your way?
R. Please discuss an important written document you were required to
complete?
S. Tell me about a time when you used presentation skills to influence
someone’s opinion to get the work done?
T. Tell me about a time when u has to do too many things and you are required
to prioritize?
U. Give me a time when you have to make a split second decision?
V. What is your typical way of dealing with the conflict and give me an
example?
W. Tell me about a time when you successfully dealt with a person when the
individual did not like u?
X. Give me an example in which you set a goal and achieved it?
Y. What were your starting and final levels of compensation?
Z. What major challenges and problems you faced and how did you handle it?
AA. Tell me about your summers?
BB. Tell me more about your project on rural marketing at CIMP?
CC. Tell me more about your project on MIS at CIMP?
DD. Tell me more about your project on FBM at CIMP?
EE.Why did you choose Finance/Marketing/HR as an area of specialization?
FF.Why should we hire you?
GG. What are your goals for the next 5 years?
HH. How do you plan to achieve those goals?
II. Are you willing to travel?
JJ. What other goals do you have other than your occupational goals?
 KK. What do you really want to do in life?
LL. How well do you work with people and do you prefer working with
them?
MM. Have you encountered any difficulties with superiors?
NN. What is more important to you work or pay?
OO. What would our last boss say about your performance?
PP.How do you determine or evaluate the success?
QQ. Do you have any hobbies and what do you do in the free time?
RR. What qualities should a successful manager possess?
SS. What should be the relationship between the supervisor and reporting staff?
TT. What 2 or 3 accomplishments given you the most satisfaction and
why?
UU. Are you good at delegating tasks?
VV. What are the most important things you like in the workplace?
WW. What did your guide say about the summers?
XX. Tell me about your family?

My answers to the above questions

A) Name of the company, position title and description?

Well sir, I worked for X months in ICICI Bank as an officer and for X months in Fire
check safety engineers as an accountant. I handled multiple functions in ICICI Bank, for
the first X months, I was in retail banking and after that, I got shifted to corporate
banking and Internet banking.

I belong to the first batch pioneering batch of 30 students who were chosen to work in
Customer care and we got lot of exposure. I got training for 1 month in Finnacle, Siebel
and on various retail banking products after that I took calls for 2 months after that I got 2
weeks training in Internet banking and corporate banking shifted to internet banking and
corporate banking. I used to handle the backend work…i.e. we used to receive salary
sheets from HR personnel of different companies, handling their queries, I used to
address customers queries on Internet banking and corporate banking after that I worked
in SR Nagar branch for 1.5 month and then CPC begumpet for 1 month after that I got
shifted to customer care and I served as acting Team Leader there and then I left the job.

Then I joined Fire check safety engineers and worked as an accountant for X months and
my task was to prepare invoices, cash book, petty cash book, invoices, to submit
quotations, preparation of various ledgers, taking care of bank transactions, auditing
books of accounts.

B) What is your greatest strength?

Definitely hard work sir, I can stretch myself to achieve the targets assigned to me.
During my stint with ICICI bank most of my colleagues in the branch got married and
I used to take care of that extra burden.
 C) What changes would you like to make in your college?

Sir, I feel that we need to give paramount importance to the field trips. We do have lots of
field trips; I feel that we need to increase the quantum.

D) Have you ever had a conflict with the boss?

No sir never, with professors we do have conflict with regards to the marks. If we feel
that we got less marks then we do have healthy conflicts.

E) If you want to live your life once again, what changes would you make?

Till graduation, I devoted major chunk of time to sports, when, I look back I feel that it
is a huge loss. I want to change this given a chance.

F) Tell me about yourself for 1 minute which is not there in your CV?

I am from a small village in X district of Andhra Pradesh; my strengths are good

accounting skills, auditing skills, hard work, dedication and I am a fitness freak. With
regards to weaknesses, I lose patience at times and I need to improve open that aspect.
With regards to my curriculum, I need to sharpen my taxation and financial
management skills finish CA within the stipulated time. During the summer’s
internship, I done the rating for 8 federations and I have earned revenue worth 1.6 lakhs
for APMAS. Sir, my first preference is micro finance and then banking. Sir, my first
preference is micro finance and after that banking, Sir, I have been to more than 100 SHG
meetings and I love working with people. I foresee a great future in the field of micro
finance. I can say you with conviction that given a chance I will do a commendable job.

G) What do you want to do in life?

Sir, I want to make a mark in the field in have chosen and I want to be a good human
being and I think this is the most important thing.

H) Describe a time, when you set your sights too high?

I took coaching for civils during graduation and I worked pretty hard to crack civils but
things couldn’t fructify.

I) Tell me about a time when u has to fire a friend?

In XIM we need to work in groups to answer group assignments and if somebody fails to
finish his/her work within the stipulated timeframe, then we do fire them. These things do
happen on regular basis.

J) Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision?
Sir, I secured MBA seat in a top B school in AP after finishing graduation and I have
been to college for 1 week and after that I secured job, so I cancelled the MBA
programme and that really bothered my parents.

K) Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed

preventive measures?

In XIM we work a lot in groups they carry a major chunk of marks. During
presentations, you have to prepare thoroughly, because u will face lots of questions from
the faculty and batch mates. You need to handle the question and answer session very
well to secure good marks and you have to be ready with your answers.

L) Tell me about a difficult decision you have made in the last year?

Sir, I joined coaching for CA inspite of my busy schedule at XIM. My friends cautioned
in the initial phase but I joined the coaching and I am happy about the decision. I want to
become a good finance professional in the long run. And I feel that this will strengthen
my candidature and I think my decision will help the cause.

M) Tell me about a time when u tried but failed?

I want to secure seat in IIMs, but it couldn’t fructify because my maths is not up to the
mark.

N) When you showed initiative and took the lead?

If there is any project based on finance, accounting or micro finance then I take the lead
and initiative.

O) Give me an example of the time when you motivated others?

We had a volley ball tournament in the college and 6 teams participated in it, we lost the
first match but still we went on to win the tournament. It was possible because of my
motivation.

P) Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to the problem?

These things do happen in exams and if we don’t study the question properly we assume
something and we end up writing some thing.

Q) Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully

convince someone to see things your way?

Sir in 2004 march there were rumors in Gujarat that the bank became bankrupt and these
rumors had their repercussions on Andhra also. We had a very tough time convincing
customers that these rumors are absolutely baseless. The financial position is very much
sound and there is no need what so ever to press the panic button. Customer used to visit
the branch, close their FDs and savings accounts and we hardly slept during that period of
3 weeks. I remember one of the customers even threatened me if he loose his savings.

R) Give me an example of the time when you used good logic and judgment to
solve a problem?

S) Tell me about a time when you used presentation skills to influence

someone’s opinion to get the work done?

I have done summers in APMAS and during summer internship I have done the rating for
8 federation, 4 promoted by NGOs and 4 promoted by government and I need to compare
how they faired on various parameters like governance, asset quality, efficiency &
profitability etc.

In all parameters the NGO sponsored Federations faired well than their counterparts,
however in case of awareness levels and social initiatives the Govt sponsored federations
outperformed NGO sponsored federations. This is because the government sponsored
federations lay more emphasis on capacity building whereas the NGO sponsored
federations lay more emphasis on profitability. I have to show them the statistics to
prove my point of views.

T) Tell me about a time when u has to do too many things and you are required
to prioritize?

In the last 2 years, I laid more emphasis on my CA course and I took part in marketing
fairs, part of the event management team and I laid less emphasis on studies. In MBA we
learn things in piece meal and we have been studying since class 1 and I feel that u need
to master other skills apart from studies to excel in the life.

U) What is your typical way of dealing with the conflict and give me an
example?

Sir, it is of paramount importance to thoroughly analyze an issue, to study all the pros and
cons and if the pros outweigh the cons then u can go ahead with the plan, and vice versa.

V) Give me an example in which you set a goal and achieved it?

Sir, I used to have monthly targets in ICICI Bank and I need to finish those targets within
the stipulated time without hampering the quality of work.

W) What were your starting and final levels of compensation?

Sir, for the first 1 year my package was 7.3k and once I got confirmed it got increased to
10.3k. In fire check safety engineers, I used to earn Rs. 15000 per month.
 X) Tell me about your summers?

Sir, I worked for APMAS during my summer internship and during the period of 2
months I have done the rating for 8 federations. My task was to gauge the awareness
levels of SHG members, SHG federations, and staff and to prepare their financial
statements for the past 2 years and to audit their books of accounts. For rating federations
I used a tool called grades which is devised by NABARD & MCRIL and it is one of the
most widely used tools in the world. More importantly I have earned revenue worth 1.6
lakhs within a span of 2 months.

I have a strong passion to work in the field of micro finance and I feel that given a chance
I can excel in this field.

Y) Why should we hire you?

Sir, I am the ex employee of ICICI bank I got training in retail banking, corporate
banking, internet banking, and I can handle software’s like Finnacle, Talisma Siebel with
ease. I secured star of the month award for three consecutive months and I have a strong
passion to work in this sector.

Z) What are your goals for the next 5 years?

AA) Currently I am pursuing CA and I want to finish that and I want to

upgrade my knowledge on regular basis and reach higher levels of hierarchy at a
faster pace. Well sir, the bank is growing at a mammoth pace and I want to grow
with the company and acquire new skill sets and do a commendable job.

BB) How do you plan to achieve those goals?

I want to be abreast with the latest happenings in the banking sector I will try to perform
top the best of my abilities to reach the goals.

CC) Are you willing to travel?

Absolutely sir, I love traveling to different places and I am ready to relocate if the
situation demands. Because of MBA degree, I became versatile and I can perform very
well as per the requirement of the position.

DD) What other goals do you have other than your occupational goals?

Well, I want to serve my parents and grandparents to the best of my abilities and I want
to be a good human being.
 EE) What do you really want to do in life?

I want to be a good human being and I want to excel in life. Well sir I need to learn the
intricacies and I want o work in different streams of banking sector.

FF)How well do you work with people and do you prefer working in groups?

Absolutely sir, I don’t have any issues on that front. I can work at both the levels,
individual as well as in the group. In XIM, we work a lot in groups and we do lots of
group assignments.

GG) What is more important to you work or pay?

Primary importance as far as I am concerned is “work”. These days, if you simply like to
work it will not suffice, you have to love the work if you want to excel. I you perform
well achieve your targets on regular basis then you will be appropriately compensated.

HH) What would our last boss say about your performance?

He is very happy with my endeavors and is still in touch with me.

II) How do you determine or evaluate the success?

Sir if a task is assigned to you, the onus lies n you to finish the task within the timeframe
and you should not hamper the quality of work.

JJ) Do you have any hobbies and what do you do in the free time?

Sir, I am a fitness freak and I go to GYM on regular basis. I give utmost importance to
health. I do play cricket, volley ball etc.

KK) What qualities should a successful manager possess?

Sir, he has to be a leader first. He must have proper planning skills, organizing skills and
persuasive skills.

LL) What 2 or 3 accomplishments given you the most satisfaction and

why?

I used to secure 1st prize in athletics consistently till 1oth class. I secured 4th rank in a
talent search examination out of 1000 students during my matriculation. I even got star of
the month award in ICICI bank numerous times.

MM) Are you good at delegating tasks?

Absolutely sir, u have to judge whether the person is efficient or not and based on that u
need to assign the task.

NN) What did your guide say about the summers?

Sir my guide is the vice president of APMAS and she is quite happy with the way I have
performed. She thought at the most I can rate 5 federations without preparing the reports
explaining various changes witnessed in federations, I have rated 6 federations and I
drafted reports for each and every federation explaining the improvements. She was very
happy with my efforts.

OO) What are your family details?

Sir my father is APSRTC employee, my mother is a house wife and my brother is

pursuing computer engineering 4th year in Hyderabad.

PP) About summer internship?

QQ) Sir, the number of SHG groups which operate under a single federation
ranges from 100 to 600. Initially u have to chose a sample of say 6 to 10 SHGs
and you have to visit the concerned SHGs u have FGDs with all the members to
gauge the awareness levels, then u must have FGDs with the BOD and staff to
gauge their awareness levels on various aspects then u need to prepare financial
statements for the past 2 year at both levels SHG and Federation and then u need
to audit their books of accounts and if they are using MIS, basically tally and
wings they u need to audit the software and then u must give your opinion.