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Interview preparation tips from Alexander LLoyd

By Katy Aston

Katy Aston is part of the Senior Accountancy & Finance recruitment team at Alexander LLoyd placing outstanding candidates for a wide range of clients within the South East.

It’s all in the preparation

It doesn’t matter what level of seniority you achieve or how many interviews you've attended; the process is always a daunting one. Much like an athlete competing in the Olympic 100m final, you must be in top form as you get one chance to beat the competition and be first past the post.

Your preparation therefore is your training regime; no sprinter would turn up for a big race without prior preparation. Whilst it's true that the further you progress along your career pathway, the more experienced you become at interviews, more is expected of you and proper preparation therefore, is vital to maximise your chances of coming in first.

Do your research

Every interview requires that you research the potential employer, and I highly recommend that you don’t leave your research to the last minute.  Whilst it needs to be fresh in your mind, a rushed last minute skim will leave you feeling tense and under prepared. 

What information do you need to know?

Talk to your consultant

Your consultant will want to brief you on the role; I can’t stress enough how vital it is that you take the time to discuss it with them.  They hold information on the role that simply isn’t available in the public domain and will really aid you in the long run. They should be briefing you on the structure of the team, reporting channels, company growth plans, company culture and how the role came about.  Really take advantage of their knowledge of the company and what they are looking for in this hire to give you an edge.

A good consultant will then follow up with you via email with links to the company website and any other relevant information they feel would aid you in your preparation.  However, don’t rely solely on what they can provide; try to be proactive and use the tools that are so readily available.

Information in the public domain

You are looking for a variety of information that lies within the public domain; first stop, the company’s website.  What products or services do they deal with and where do they operate?  Is the company focused on the UK market, does it have a European or global scope?

You also need to find out about the financials as far as is possible.  Take note of losses, areas of growth and trends in order to glean information on which you can base your questions for the interviewer.  Alongside this, ensure that you research the market and the company’s main competitors.

An area that is often overlooked is the news.  What has been publicised about the company in recent months, both positive and negative?  Many publish press releases that might not quite reach the heights of the BBC, but industry news may publish them, and this can be a valuable source of information. 

Know yourself

Make sure you review the job description provided by the consultant and ensure that you brush up on any technical areas as necessary, along with any industry regulations that are relevant.

Your goal during the interview is to present a professional image whilst discussing your achievements, skills, expertise, knowledge and showcasing your personality.  It’s a tall order, and being able to discuss your CV fluently without having to refer to the document will aid you enormously.   Do take a copy with you just in case you do have a blank moment and need to refer to it, don’t ask to look at the interviewer’s.

Prepare your questions

You will of course be aiming to ask questions at the end of the interview, and the company research you have carried out and your conversation with your consultant will give you the grounding on which to base these and showcase your acumen. 

Aim for at least four or five written down, just in case the interview covers one or two during your conversation.  I do recommend that you try to maintain a positive rather than negative line of questioning, and don’t be reticent in drawing out your interviewer.  A positive question looking at a recent area of growth and what the company’s projected plans are for the coming year for example, or alternatively how they have overcome challenges in the past.

With your research done, questions practiced and a good grasp of the company, you should be now ready and raring to go; waiting to step out on to the track, hearing the roar of the crowd... take a deep breath and you’re on.

This is the first in a series of articles by Alexander Lloyd charting the interview process, packed with useful advice and tips for a successful outcome.  Coming soon... First Impressions Count.

© Alexander Lloyd 2012.

 

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Should your next move be into a Corporate or an SME?

By Chris Daems

Chris Daems is the director of Principal Financial Solutions, a small financial planning practice based in the city of London.  During his career, Chris worked for a number of large financial institutions before setting up his own business.  Chris’s experience is working with both medium sized businesses and high net worth individual clients.

Let’s assume you’re looking for your next opportunity to develop your career and feel that you can’t fully utilise your skills in your current role. Let’s also assume you have two opportunities on the table, one with a large corporate organisation and another with a medium sized niche practice. A natural assumption is that the opportunities, potential career progression and scope of work within the corporate environment would be greater due to the size of the organisation. Whilst on many occasions these assumptions are correct, is it worth considering looking at the smaller business?

Personally, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I now run a small financial planning business but have worked for large corporate organisations for the majority of my career.

How does the corporate environment compare with working within a SME practice environment? 

Well, I don’t believe I would have launched my business without having the training, development and supportive environment of a large business. I also think that if you are at the early stages of your career, a larger corporate environment tends to provide more support in helping develop your skills than a smaller niche professional practice can.

However, and I’m sure it depends on the culture of the business you work in, I reached a stage in my career when I wanted to broaden my portfolio of skills, build my own long term professional relationships and start to develop my own systems and practices.  In my experience, taking this element of control can be particularly tough in a corporate environment and it tends to be easier to develop as a professional (once a certain level of competence has been achieved) in a smaller niche practice.

Within my business we encourage our staff to share ideas, take on new projects, develop new business opportunities and suggest changes to our systems to make the way we work more efficient. This culture was developed based on my frustration of working within a large corporate where sometimes that creativity was stifled.  Therefore the question I believe you need to ask yourself is, does the opportunity you are considering offer the opportunities, flexibility and scope to build as a professional?    

 

Are you looking for a new opportunity in accounting or know someone who is? Have you worked with an SME or a Corporate and want to share your thoughts and experience? Got a question for Chris? 

Feel free to leave your questions and comments below.

 

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Newly ACA qualified Chartered Accountant?

By Harriot Bishop

Harriot joined Marks Sattin after graduating from Southampton with a BA in Geography. She joined the Professional Services division as part of the Newly Qualified Accounting Team. Harriot specialises in sourcing accountants with 0-1years PQE from the leading accountancy practices for opportunities across Financial Services, Commerce & Industry and Professional Services. She has become an expert in providing career advice and guidance to this market sector whilst becoming respected internally for an extensive pool of high calibre   candidates.  

Astronaut? Princess? Ballerina? Probably once upon a time. There aren’t many, but unfortunately those are a few of the things that an ACA qualified candidate is a little under-qualified for.

With results released only a month ago, and the new years resolutions made along the lines of “2012 will be the year I get a new job”, January sees an influx of CVs and phone-calls to recruitment firms. The only issue being that after three years of blood, sweat and tears, the newly qualified accountants are often clueless as to what they actually want to be now they’ve “grown up”.

AAT Salary survey: how are you doing?

By Steven Drew, Brand Strategy Manager, AAT 

Steven Drew is Brand Strategy Manager at AAT. He is responsible for managing a programme of continuous insight and supporting research to understand AAT’s market and provide strategic direction to the organisation. 

During 2011 few people will have avoided the effects of the global downturn - whether as an individual keeping a closer eye on their personal expenditure, or as an organisation wishing to maintain its position in a contracting economy. With that in mind, AAT wanted to examine if its members had been affected by the recession and to what extent – asking about their salaries, job satisfaction, working hours and job security. Members were surveyed across all levels – from students at the beginning of the qualification to fellow members with many years’ experience in the accountancy profession. Some of the results were as expected but others provided greater food for thought.