What to expect in an interview for an accounting job? It is a curious question because when you are in front of the interview board, it is the time that decides the future of your job application. There is no time for lags, searching for answers, or being nervous. The candidate needs to be ready with good preparation for subject-related as well as in general questions.
Gladly, hiring managers use a set of questions to understand the aptitude of the candidate in general. They want to know the character of the candidate, they want to test your professionalism and aptitude. On the other hand, subject knowledge is also an important aspect. The chances are that there will be questions that challenge your knowledge in the core subject.
Getting ready to tackle any questions demands organized preparation research over the possible questions and answers. Here we go some of the most important questions that one might face while attending an interview to become an accountant.
What to Expect in an Interview for an Accounting Job
First, we will go to the possible questions that target the aptitude and career of the candidate.
Question: Tell us about you
One of the basic but important questions that will be asked is to introduce yourselves. Remember this means they are looking for a summary about your professional career and they need to understand the work and skills you have.
Why do you want to work as an accountant?
The answer will be different with each company but in general, the candidate needs to think about why it appeals to him/her? Having answers about why you can do or like the subject, the practical aspects, what is it that you like the most in the subject, etc can create a strong base of the answer. Employers always want to see the intention behind you applying for the job. Your chances are better if you can present your case in a genuine way, the chances are high to crack the stage of the interview process.
Next is adapting this into the context
The Information about the company
Having a deep understanding about the company is another aspect that is critical in the interview process. Even if the hiring managers doest ask about the company, you can always modify your answers to the content of the industry or work that the company is working. Questions that are related specifically to the industry, about tasks, etc can be answered in the context of this knowledge, which will make relevant answers to the questions.
Your strengths and weaknesses
Another area where questions can be asked by the hiring managers to know more about the candidate. Assess your skills, identify your key strengths. When discussing the strengths, your key ones specifically and allow them to understand more about them with examples. Talking about the weakness is a challenging task, so whenever discussing that aspect, make sure to add the ways you took to overcome the weakness. Discuss about the learning from that experience.
Questions about teamwork
Subject related
Types of Accounting
If you are looking for a job in the accounting sector, then it’s basic to get a deep understanding about the subject. There are different kinds of accountancy, Financial accounting, Tax accounting, Cost accounting, Administrative accounting, Management Accounting, etc are some of them.
Having a concrete understanding about the different kinds of accounting and being able to show a deep knowledge of the system that is relevant to the job can make your candidacy much more stronger.
Software skills you have
Another subject-oriented skill that is absolutely necessary is having good working skills on accounting software such as Tally Prime, QuickBooks, SAP FICO, etc.
Tally is one of the most popular accounting software used around and having good knowledge is essential to work in the accounting industry. QuickBooks on the other hand, is leading the cloud accounting revolution. With cloud accounting software is getting more and more popular, knowledge in QuickBooks can enhance your career further. SAP however is a world leader in ERP software and FICO is the module that deals with accounting matters. SAP FICO is majorly used by multinational companies and or big companies. Naturally, the SAP FICO knowledge will open opportunities in such companies all over the world.
Core Subject Questions
To simply put, these are the types of questions that are extremely into the subject and it will be asked by the concerned team or senior officials working in the sector. Some are the sample questions and answers in this area are added below
Q: What Is Accounting Ethics?
Answer: Accounting ethics is primarily a field of applied ethics, the study of moral values and judgments as they apply to accountancy. It is an example of professional ethics
Q: What Does Overhead Mean in Accounting?
Answer: It is to describe costs of running a business, e.g. rent rates and salaries.
Q: What Are Variable Costs?
Variable costs are those that are directly proportionate with the quantity of production and or directly associated with the service.
Q: What does premises in accounting mean?
Answer: It refers to fixed assets that are shown in the balance sheet.
Q: What are material facts in accounting?
Answer: Material facts are bills or any documents that become the base of every account book. It means all those documents on which the ledger is ready are called material facts.
