I have an interview soon for an all round management accountant position.
I am just trying to work out how can I best answer the below 2 questions:
1) what's your strengths
2) what's your weakness
What can I say which will be relevant for management accountants positions. I am an ACCA qualified accountant with over 3 years of experience. please help!!!
try to put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer.
They will see a dozen or more people who on paper are already great for the position and the interview is to see how that the CV stands up to reality.
Things that they will be looking for are
- how well you work with others - where you have been in charge of others - could they sit opposite you for the next six months of their lives - are you presentable - do you speak well and confidently - what software have you used previously - will there be much of a learning curve to pick up any different software that they use - have you presented to management before? - to what level of management? (line, head office, board?) - Are you willing to put in the extra hours and weekends (implied for no extra money) - what evidence is there that you have done that in the past? - Do you know anyone else in the organisation who can vouch for you (the higher in the organisation the better) - Can you explain any gaps on your CV?
Do not underestimate the quality of the questions that you ask them and do not ask about money or holidays at interview. Do some research on the company and the industry sector before the interview and ensure that you ask something about the company history or plans for the future. If they start umming and arring over your qualification ensure that you emphasise that the entite CIMA syllabus is incorporated within the ACCA one.
Its good to give a weakness but only pick a minor one such as "I would like to get more exposure X" showing that you have experience in something but would like to gain further expertise.
Its good to sing your strengths but do not oversell yourself.
NEVER (ever, ever) slag off your existing firm to a new employer but defend them to the hilt. Employers respect more those who genuinely care about the companies that they work for but have perhaps got as far up the tree as they are ever likely to limb in their current roles.
Even if asked a direct question NEVER tell a new firm any secrets that you know about your firm. If you do not treat existing employer information confidentially then how could the potential new employers trust you.
God luck with the interview. Sure that you'll get lots of other great advice from other members on here,
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
As well as the excellent advice from Shaun I would add that highlighting strengths and weaknesses requires great thought. Your strengths should of course match the requirements of the post applied for or else why apply for the position. How you handle the weakness aspect of the question I believe can be used to highlight what is in fact a strength. We ALL have weaknesses but we do not all acknowledge them. While they may not be something to shout from the roof tops I never have any qualms about explaining what they are because I then turn them around in to a positive - "I am weak in French but as I know and accept this I am taking steps to improve, I now have three French lessons a week and use a Teach Yourself Languages CD" - sorry perhaps a poor analogy but hopefully you see how you can turn a weakness around by highlighting a positive action.
