trainee accountant interview

fireflys

hey so ive an interview coming up for the role of trainee accountant and am wondering what type of questions should I be preparing myself for ?

My first proper job interview as im finishing college in june but in a general business degree so some heads up would be really appreciated

Thanks guys

OttoPilot

They may ask you basic accounting questions such as what is a balance sheet, are these transactions debits/credits etc seeing as you should have some accounting knowledge from a business degree.

Where do you want to be in 5/10 years and why accountancy are popular ones to imo. Know a little about the company and act confidently and you should be in with a shout (eye contact is important)

Colemania

I've only had interviews for trainee accountants in practices so I'm speaking from experience of these interviews.

Confidence is key. If they sense a lot of nerves, it can be the difference between a candidate with a good application and little confidence to a candidate with an application not as good but bundles of confidence.

They will ask about your Co-Op experience, if you have any, and just as a side note, having Co-Op experience from college is massive when applying for jobs and attending interviews. I didn't have any and it was my downfall initially. When applying for your first job, the majority of the time you're chasing them but when you're moving on down the line to your next job, they may end up chasing you!

Anyway, a bit off track there! Make sure you know a bit about ACCA and ACA and what exemptions you will have upon finishing your degree. Make sure to have researched the employer as they will more than likely ask you to tell them something about their firm. When asking questions at the end you can even reference something you learned from the research for example in my case, I saw on the firm's website that they gave client's access to their books and progress of accounts and I found this interesting so asked about it and how it's working out. Unfortunately they hadn't updated the website in a while so that concept had actually been disbanded :P They still agreed with me that it was an interesting move with the way technology is advancing and so on.

Every interview I've been to has been vastly different but my best tip is to go in calm, confident, make sure you come across very interested and don't slouch in your chair. As the above poster mentioned, eye contact is key.

Best of luck!

chickenlicken2

All the above. Achievements skills and weaknesses are also popular.