Question

1. You are a partner in an accounting firm and are preparing to interview candidates for articling positions with the firm. You’ve already identified key selection criteria for the position, which include: excellent analytical skills, ability to work under pressure and the ability to interact well with clients and coworkers. Generate one situational interview question and one behavioral interview question for the positions. Be sure to explain how each of the questions is relevant to any of the selection criteria identified.

Answer 1

Situational interview question

1. ‘You are leaving your current organisation to join ours; do you bring clients with you?’ This obliges candidates to choose between an answer they think will please you, and their sense of ethical responsibility.

2. ‘How would you go about setting up a filing system from scratch?

3. ‘You are calculating the profit for a Limited Company. Give examples of an allowable and a disallowable expense’.

Behavioral interview question

1. Tell me about a time when you had to meet a tight deadline. What steps did you take?

2. Describe a time when you had to work with another team member. What was your role and why?

3. Describe a time when you helped to reduce costs at a previous accounting job.