Tips to prepare for an accounting interview

By NIIT Editorial

Published on 12/04/2021

6 minutes

Interviews are not just a test of your credentials, but also character. Diligent and far-sighted aspirants continue to deep/up-skill themselves throughout their stay at a company so when the opportunity presents itself they can just update their resume and send it across for a shot at a new workplace. And yet they often flounder.

Why?

Is it luck, or a lack of astute judgement of what to say when, and banal presentation skills that let people down? Turns out it’s a combination of all. NIIT’s flagship Post Graduate Programme in Applied Finance and Accounts with GST is a placement assisted massive online open course. Students have the faculty support not just to acquire employment-worthy skills but also streamline their approach towards interviews.

We’ve helped thousands of our alumni do well in the recruitment drives, which are a highlight stage of course completion. Based on the cumulation of all those experiences here are 10 tips to help you glide through an accounting interview like feather.

Clear Your Doubts

Most of our students qualify, on the merit of their expertise, to be an accountant. But there are others who wish to make a BFSI career in corporate finance, or management consulting or even business analysis.

The foremost question that the recruiters begin their inquiry with is for you to offer a reason for applying to the job. They want you to justify your candidature above others and why their trust in you would be a better return on investment than on others.

Layout your goals, ambitions, and interests in a way that piques listener-interest in you.

Show Your Calibre

Your selection will be subject to the core competency metrics set by the employer. The more technically sound you are the more your scorecard would speak for itself. Some of the common questions that applicants have to address include:

Explain the difference between different types of accounting.
Subjective questions on how to improve a business’ capital flow.
State the differences between accounts payable and accounts receivable

Brush Your Communication Skills

Command over multiple dialects can strongly play into your candidature. Well-spoken individuals carry an air of unblemished, almost surreal professionalism especially in the corporate sector. You could be asked to narrate an incident from your prior experience just to test your oral skills.

Whatever it is, never let silence do the talking for you.

Be “in” Time

Punctuality always lands bonuses, of a sort that could appear to be intangible at first. Showing up ahead of time conveys your seriousness for the interview. Accounting is a time-demanding job profile which requires utmost precision and attention to detail. Any lapses in discipline could result in a disastrous outcome for the finances of the company.

When your name is called out and you step into the room ready with a swank resume folder or a satchel bag, it speaks volumes of self-confidence, which is what any recruiter would want to see.

Use Examples to Elaborate

Learn to amplify your impact on the listener. For instance, it is one thing to say that you’ve been working on spreadsheets and know 100+ excel formulas but totally another if you share a problem statement that you resolved with the skill.

Share complex use cases where your ability with the numbers or a software like Tally.ERP 9 was instrumental in getting the job done. During the course of the program at NIIT, the faculty ensures even first-timers go through a rigorous training regimen and become first-day job-ready for the interview.

Do Background Research of the Company

Provided the interview gets to that stage, you’d be offered the chance to clarify queries you may have about the company. If you have done due diligence on them this would be the time to make use of it.

Sometimes recruiters begin directly with the question, “have you read about the company?” in which case it would send the wrong signal to say no. get your facts straight and use the time to bold over the HR with all the relevant information you have.

Know Your Field Inside Out

There are many accounting standards in the world. The Indian Accounting Standards (ISA) is an entity you should be well-versed with. In accordance to the same, when there are tax law amendments, fiscal announcements and regulatory updates from the Finance Department of India should be on your tips.

Although not mandatory, it is good to know information at hand.

Take Interview Grooming Seriously

NIIT flagship courses are backed by soft-skill training sessions that are supervised by behavioral science experts. They specialize in emotional intelligence and corporate negotiations. Empirical data has shown us that the tips and classroom grooming helps applicants capture the final frontier of interviews.