[caption id="attachment_4906" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="http://www.danamanciagli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/How-tough-is-todays-interview-process.jpg"><img src="http://www.danamanciagli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/How-tough-is-todays-interview-process-300x200.jpg" alt="How tough is today&#039;s interview process? " width="300" height="200" class="size-medium wp-image-4906" /></a> How tough is today's interview process? [/caption]

<p>For those of you in finance and other technical positions, the following is the actual interview process experienced by a candidate for a finance position in a non-financial company.</p>

<p><strong>First phone interview</strong></p>

<p>This interview was with the hiring manager, who asked a combination of behavioral-based and standard questions such as, “Why this job? Why are you leaving your current company? What is your biggest accomplishment? Your best role? Your least favorite role?"</p>

<p>We also walked through my résumé. There was one question on the hiring company: "What is our biggest asset?" At the end of the phone call, I was advised I would advance to the next phone interview.</p>

<p><strong>Second phone interview</strong></p>

<p>The senior finance manager conducted this interview, and I was asked a series of behavioral-based questions, similar to those in the first phone interview. I heard at the end of this interview that they would probably fly me out for face-to-face interviews.</p>

<p><strong>Face-to-face interviews (full day)</strong></p>

<p>I was stationed in a conference room (the same one all day), and interviewers came in and out with their computers for the interviews.</p>

<p><strong>First interview:</strong> The interviewer came in with his laptop to conduct an Excel-based forecasting test. I was given sales data by month for one quarter, various currencies and geographic locations. I was asked to organize the data by three regions and use foreign exchange (FX) rates to calculate sales data in U.S. dollars. I was given base prices and purchase prices, then calculated split base plus options, and used the resulting data to forecast where sales should be optimized for the next quarter.</p>

<p><strong>Second interview:</strong> The interviewer brought her laptop for an Excel-based financial statements test. I had to link “blanks" within a balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow statement.</p>

<p><strong>Third interview: </strong>Again the interviewer was armed with a laptop, and I was asked to scrub data and use Excel to calculate budget versus actuals. Given thousands of expense lines, I was tasked with pivoting/organizing the data so I could understand cost centers and groupings. Then, I was asked to explain why variances occurred — usually an expense item didn't belong or was way out of whack. For example, the company opened a new store that wasn't in the budget and the resulting rent total was up. In another case, repair expenses were up because one item was incorrectly categorized: It should have been capitalized rather than expensed.</p>

<p><strong>Working lunch: </strong>I lunched with a couple of analysts who asked me questions like, “Why did I want to join the company?" Plus, they just paused to see what kind of conversation I made.</p>

<p><strong>Fourth interview: </strong>On his laptop, the interviewer asked me to perform an Excel-based go/no-go consulting-type project. The scenario was, “Should we do a project that lasts 12 months?" I was given x-amount of expenses, x-amount of fees, different currencies and rates of return. It was basically a net present value (NPV) test. Once I calculated the NPV, I was asked to explain my thinking and advise which other variables should be taken into account in deciding whether to accept the proposal.</p>

<p><strong>Fifth interview:</strong> This interview was with a senior manager who asked all behavioral-based questions, similar to those in the second phone interview. There were two questions not usually asked: “Convince me NOT to buy our product," and “What are our main product's biggest weaknesses?" In this interview, I got to ask my pre-prepared questions, too.</p>

<p><strong>Sixth and final interview: </strong>The final interview was with the CFO, who also asked more behavioral-based questions. It was mainly just a conversation, but he was pretty deep and asked questions like, "What do you want to do?" I think he pushed me because he wanted a pretty clear understanding of my career ambitions.</p>

<p>Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about this interview day. And most of us would have bombed this big-time. This company, however, had many candidates who “passed" these interviews and they had a hard time selecting Michael, my coaching client. Way to go, Michael!</p>

<p>It's pretty clear: Companies are being thorough, and candidates better know their stuff! I don't think I need to close this with lessons learned — I'll just remind you to prepare, prepare some more and then prepare even more! You can do it!</p>