Job Interview Tips are Nonsense
Job interview tips = waste of time. Ok, maybe I need to explain where I’m coming from.
You’ll find plenty of tips, tricks, and techniques on how to ace a finance interview on the internet. In fact, it doesn’t have to be a finance one – any interview. The end game is to get you that job.
Most of the interview tips you see come with the right intentions. It might even be relevant to getting you that role.
My problem doesn’t come from the information you’re taught. It comes from the assumption in most cases that all interviewers are created equally.
If you are going through a formal process where there’s a thorough, auditable process involved, then you can get a sense of what to expect. There are well laid out rounds of interviews. That’s where job interview tips have the biggest benefits.
But so, so, so many job interview processes aren’t as robust as that. Even with banks. Sometimes you’ll get an interview by informally going through your network.
On occasion, you may get a job interview as one of the first applicants at a start-up. You could get an interview with a staff member that’s just been promoted and has never been involved in people management before.
I was once asked my age at a finance job interview. And, no, I wasn’t straight out of college. If I was that way inclined and hadn’t got the job I could have legally challenged them under the guise of age discrimination.
Whether you are viewed as “too young” or “too old” (whatever those terms mean), there’s simply no place for that kind of questioning. My potential future line manager was moved onto another role before my arrival, so I never did get to air my opinion.
But you don’t get taught how to answer questions like that in those “Top 10 Interview Tips” lists.
At the end of the day, you’ve got to remember that the person interviewing you may not have much job interview training and so are willing to go off-script. They might even be as nervous as you. Your goal is to make it easier for them to make the right decision.
Whatever strategies you choose to apply to improve your chances, you’ve got to approach every interview with the idea you’re selling your “ability”:
Like-ability
Hours of your life each week will be invested in making a bank make more money. But it’s a people business. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with your colleagues.
So make sure you sell the good side of you at the job interview. At the very least, make sure that you don’t give them a reason to reject you on personality alone.
Technical Ability
Can you do the job? You might be a great guy or gal. You might be the life and soul of the party. And you might bring in freshly baked muffins every week.
But if you don’t know your VLOOKUP from your VMWare, it might not be the role for you if you’re supposed to be knee-deep in spreadsheets as an analyst all day, every day.
If you don’t have the skills yet, go hunt for them. There are plenty of ways to upskill that won’t cost you the earth.
Adapt-ability
Regulation. Restructuring. Rationalization. Banking continues to evolve. As a result, you must too.
You might be a nice person. You might have passed your CFA or CFP and be highly technically proficient. But if you can’t show them an ability to adapt, the role might pass you by.
That adaptability might even include the need to learn new skills.
So when you next find yourself interviewing, remember that the interviewer might be clueless about the process. All the interviewer wants, deep down, is your “ability.”
