Business Careers
Finance interviews reward clear fundamentals, not clever answers
A finance or analyst interview usually begins with fundamentals: what the three financial statements show, how working capital behaves, why a project is accepted or rejected. Students often prepare by memorising answers and then freeze when the question is turned around. This session practises the fundamentals aloud, with people who work in finance, and shows what each kind of role tends to ask.
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“Finance” covers several quite different jobs.
An audit associate, a credit analyst at a bank, an equity research analyst, a corporate finance executive and a financial planning and analysis analyst do different work and are interviewed differently. Students prepare for all of them at once and are ready for none.
What they share is a base of fundamentals, and a habit of reasoning with numbers aloud. Interviewers can usually tell within minutes whether a candidate understands an idea or has memorised its definition, and the surest way to find out is to ask the question a different way.
What the session practises
33 topics across 7 areas. Seven areas, from the three statements to the questions you ask. 6 apply to almost any business; the rest only in a particular case.
The Three StatementsThe base of almost every finance interview.4
- What the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement each show
- How a single transaction moves through all three
- Why a profitable company can run out of cash
- Reading a simple set of accounts aloud
A good test: explain to a friend why profit and cash are not the same thing.
Working Capital and Accounting IdeasWhere theory meets a real business.5
- Receivables, inventory and payables, and the cash they tie up
- Depreciation and what it does and does not mean
- Revenue recognition, in outline
- Provisions and why they exist
- Why accounting standards matter to an analyst
Corporate Finance and Valuation BasicsPlain words, not formulas.5
- Time value of money
- Cost of capital, in outline
- Why a project is accepted or rejected
- What a company's value depends on
- Common ratios and what each is for
Excel and DataMore of the day than students expect.5
Only list Excel skills on a resume that the student has used in real work.
- Lookups, pivot tables and basic formulas
- Cleaning a messy file and checking it
- Building a small model with clear assumptions
- Explaining your spreadsheet to someone who did not build it
- A short timed test, of the kind some employers use
Markets, Banking and the EconomyIf it appliesFor students aiming at banks, brokerages and research.5
- Following markets and business news for a few weeks before interviews
- Interest rates, inflation and the central bank, in plain terms
- How a bank earns its money and what a credit analyst checks
- Certifications some securities-market roles require, such as NISM, which SEBI requires of research analysts
- Being careful to say “my view is” and to give a reason
Explaining Your Own ProjectThe question every fresher is asked.5
- The business question behind the project
- The data used, and its limits
- The method, and why it was chosen
- What the result suggested, and how confident you are
- Which part was yours, in a group project
Honesty about what a model cannot tell you reads better than confidence about everything.
Ethics and JudgementA big part of what finance employers hire for.4
- Handling confidential information
- Conflict of interest, in a simple scenario
- Saying no to a request that feels wrong
- Accuracy over speed when reporting
Exercises in the session
- Explaining the three statements aloud in two minutes
- A short timed Excel exercise
- A mini case: should this business expand?
- Describing a project or model to an interviewer
- Rapid-fire fundamentals, in pairs
What students leave with
- A list of fundamentals to revise, ranked by what they found hardest
- A rehearsed explanation of their own project
- A short reading list from official and well-regarded public sources
- A clearer sense of which finance role fits them
How the session runs
People who work in banking, accounting, corporate finance or research explain what they ask a fresher and why, then run the fundamentals as a rapid-fire practice in pairs and a short timed Excel exercise. Each student describes a project aloud and gets feedback on it. Because roles and employers differ, we agree the mix with your placement cell beforehand. Speakers are asked not to sell courses, coaching or certification programmes.
What your students leave with
- A confident explanation of the three financial statements and how they connect
- Comfort with working capital, depreciation and cash against profit
- The basics of time value of money, cost of capital and valuation, in plain words
- Practice on Excel and data questions
- A clear explanation of a finance project or model the student has worked on
- An idea of what different finance employers ask
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Know the fundamentals well enough to explain them in your own words.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.