FRANK
Hi
Coco,
Thanks
you very much for doing reference check for me. I got the call on Friday
afternoon that the company offered me Accounts Officer job.
Since
i graduated from university I have been looking for an Accounting job. but due
to i lack of work experiences, i didn't get any call to interview. Since i took
the level 1 training program, i have learnt a lot from Platinum Accounting Partners. I
have more confident in looking for an accounting jobs.
I
had a few interviews so far. Here are the experiences that i obtained from
those interviews and i hope i could share my experience with other interns.
wish they could get the ideal job for them as well.
1.
never give up looking for the job.
there
is a period i had applied so many jobs but i didn't get any call from any
agents or companies. i felt so desperately. But i just kept applying and
finally i got interview calls.
2.
Be prepared.
prepare interview question according to the job
description. Also prepare some workplace examples that u might be able to use
during the interview such as teamwork example, challenges, accomplishments
ect.
3. Be flexible.
I believe most of the interviewers will prepare lots
of interview questions, but during the interview, interviewees might ask
different questions. then you need to be flexible, some answers can be used for
other questions as well.
those are job hunting experiences, hopefully, it
will help others in their job hunting.
On last Wednesday, i got the phone interview from
the company first, during the phone interview, she asked me a few questions:
1.
tell me your internship responsibilities in
FA.
2.
Describe your experiences in AP and AR
3.
what if your manager calls you to help him while you
are doing your own work? (i just gave her an example)
4.
strengths and weaknesses
5.
how do you handle stress and pressure?
After phone interview, she said she will contact me
before Friday no matter i get the job or not.
On Thursday, i got the call from the company to ask
me to go interview. the position is a Accounts officer. In the beginning
of the interview, they gave me a small quiz relating to Excel, MYOB and
Accounting. it was a very simple quiz, all covered in level 1 training. You gotta
review level 1 training material before going to interview.
and then questions they asked me were:
1.
what did you do in your firm.
2.
AP process, AR process in your firm and the
debt collection process in PAP. what application did you use? (they all covered
in level 1 Training)
3.
what is your weakness and strength?
4.
why should we hire you?
5.
Have you ever handle a upset client or customer?
what did do? outcome? what would do to make it better if it happens next time?
6.
what is the most difficult report you have ever done
in your job or study? what challenges? what did you do? outcome?
7.
what is your excel level? have you ever use excel to
generate report? how did get it done?
8.
have you had experience in payroll? what application did you use?
9.
how does super, PAYG work?
10. how do you
pay Payroll tax, prepare BAS?
11. the volume of
tax invoices you process every week?
12. can you work
under pressure?
13. describe
your level of pay attention to detail ability.
14. you
said you are well-organized person, give me an example!
15. any
questions you want to ask me?
The interview was around 1 hour, i prepared a lot
before i went to interview, so it went quite well. Thanks again to Coco
and Platinum Accounting Partners. I hope all the interns will get the job soon.
Best wishes
Frank
KAY
Hi Selina.
I was looking for a job I had 2 interview with different
companies. The first one was a small Chartered Accouting firm and they were
looking for a casual person to assist with the tax returns when the peak period
starts. They did not ask me any technical questions as they expected to train
me. The questions were mostly related to my studies, future plans (if I plan to
do CA/CPA studies) and work experience including internship tasks in Platinum. I
am still actually waiting for them to get back to me as they advised that
decision will be made around 10 March.
Anyway, I have already got a job as assistant accountant
with a small manufacturing company. The interview process was very challenging
there yet exciting. Apart from standard questions about qualification and
experience I was asked to do journal entries for 6 different problems. They
include: purchase of materials on credit, Payment for the purchase using Amex
credit card with a surcharge 3%, sales on credit, receipt of deposit and
partial payment, reimbursement of personal expenses, writing off a bad debt.
And also I had to determine the right GST amount. Though I have not done
everything right, I showed the ability to think logically and when we discussed
every step together it was not hard. The second task I was given a small table
which I had to put in Excel and calculate the percentage change and perform
What if Analysis. And the final test, I was given a customer account statement
which I had to reconcile, determine the amount outstanding, and draft the email
to the client explaining the situation and ask politely for money. And after it
had been done, there was a short role-play. I had to call to the next
room where another person was playing the customer and explain professionally
the situation, amount and ask for money. It was fun and probably the easiest
task for me, as they tested my communication skills.
Platinum training and internship helped me a lot with the
technical part of the interview, but it turned out that people skills can play
a vital part.
I was not asked any of the behavioural questions during this
interview.
Kind regards,
Kay
RAY
Hi Selina and Coco,
This is Ray here. I managed to secure a position with a multinational Fortune 500 company in the Lending and settlements team as a Finance officer. It is a 6 months contract position through a recruitment firm with potential to go permanent if performance is good. I first had the interview with the recruitment agency in the morning. It was an interview with the senior consultant which was a general behavioral interview with questions like:-
what do u expect in your next position ?
what were the responsibilities in my previous position ?
what are my strengths and weaknesses ?
How do i keep motivated ?
The recruitment agency was straight forward with me. she told me that for every position there are at least 200 applications out of which 30 - 40 move to the phone interview and 8 to 10 depending on the position manage to get to the final interview. she also told me that i need to sell myself during the interview with the company HR. All the candidates have experience but it how u sell yourself to the company makes the difference. I need to focus on my strengths during the interview. I need to make sure that the HR feel that I am the best candidate for the role.
And the same afternoon, I was send for the interview with the company. The interview went for almost 40 minutes.
Some behavioral questions were:-
how do I keep myself motivated as the tasks are going to be repetitive?
Why did I apply for this position ?
Why do I want to work for company?
What can I bring to (basically strengths and weaknesses)
why do I think I am the right candidate for this position ?
What do u know about the position ?
Then there were discussions about my past experiences and my responsibilities and how it relates to this new role.
Hope this helps u guys.
Regards,
Ray
This is Ray here. I managed to secure a position with a multinational Fortune 500 company in the Lending and settlements team as a Finance officer. It is a 6 months contract position through a recruitment firm with potential to go permanent if performance is good. I first had the interview with the recruitment agency in the morning. It was an interview with the senior consultant which was a general behavioral interview with questions like:-
what do u expect in your next position ?
what were the responsibilities in my previous position ?
what are my strengths and weaknesses ?
How do i keep motivated ?
The recruitment agency was straight forward with me. she told me that for every position there are at least 200 applications out of which 30 - 40 move to the phone interview and 8 to 10 depending on the position manage to get to the final interview. she also told me that i need to sell myself during the interview with the company HR. All the candidates have experience but it how u sell yourself to the company makes the difference. I need to focus on my strengths during the interview. I need to make sure that the HR feel that I am the best candidate for the role.
And the same afternoon, I was send for the interview with the company. The interview went for almost 40 minutes.
Some behavioral questions were:-
how do I keep myself motivated as the tasks are going to be repetitive?
Why did I apply for this position ?
Why do I want to work for company?
What can I bring to (basically strengths and weaknesses)
why do I think I am the right candidate for this position ?
What do u know about the position ?
Then there were discussions about my past experiences and my responsibilities and how it relates to this new role.
Hope this helps u guys.
Regards,
Ray
DAVID
Hi Selina:
Here is the job interview about the assistant financial planner position. Hopefully the feedback can give anyone who is interested in banking and finance industry some help. The interview lasted about one hour, I was asked about my personal information and my degrees, and the theory questions were focused on forex, equity and derivatives etc, however, they were all basic ones, not even in details. For example they asked me: what is the impact on the AUD if RBA increase the interest rate?
Because it is a position like a financial planner assistant, I was asked to show the basic skills about microsoft office. And then they asked me about the position I was in Platinum; the reason that I left Platinum Accounting; my strengths and weakness, the understanding about teamwork and giving an example; why I think the company would hire me, and etc. They asked me to give a lot of examples in the previous working experience and life time, which I am not sure if it is because they were trying to see the personality from those examples.
Hopefully my feedback can give anyone who is interested in banking industry a bit idea of how they do the interview,however, the company is in China, so I am not sure if it is the same in Australia. Anyway, thanks Jeff and Platinum Accounting and I hope every interns can get a good job soon.
Cheers
David
Here is the job interview about the assistant financial planner position. Hopefully the feedback can give anyone who is interested in banking and finance industry some help. The interview lasted about one hour, I was asked about my personal information and my degrees, and the theory questions were focused on forex, equity and derivatives etc, however, they were all basic ones, not even in details. For example they asked me: what is the impact on the AUD if RBA increase the interest rate?
Because it is a position like a financial planner assistant, I was asked to show the basic skills about microsoft office. And then they asked me about the position I was in Platinum; the reason that I left Platinum Accounting; my strengths and weakness, the understanding about teamwork and giving an example; why I think the company would hire me, and etc. They asked me to give a lot of examples in the previous working experience and life time, which I am not sure if it is because they were trying to see the personality from those examples.
Hopefully my feedback can give anyone who is interested in banking industry a bit idea of how they do the interview,however, the company is in China, so I am not sure if it is the same in Australia. Anyway, thanks Jeff and Platinum Accounting and I hope every interns can get a good job soon.
Cheers
David
PAUL
Dear Coco,
I will be meeting the head of the company most
probably tomorrow to discuss about my role and the days which I am supposed to
work there. So, then I can decide on the days that I will be attending the
internship. The interview questions are definitely answerable if we attend the
training session level 1. Honestly, I would have had no clue if I had not
joined this internship. Thanks a ton.
I don't exactly remember all the questions asked but I can
surely give you an overview. Basically, he took out a print out of my resume
and started asking me technical questions. There were no behavioral
questions as such probably because he was more interested in knowing whether I
can do the job first.
Questions:
1) What do you mean by intermediate-advanced knowledge in
Excel?
2) Which MYOB version do you use at your internship?
3) Describe the function of accounts payable and receivable
4) What are the 2 ways of preparing BAS?
5) I would want my accountant to do P&L analysis for me.
How would you do it?
6) What do you mean by update Fixed Asset Register?
7) How do you do payroll?
8) Can the director/head of the company take more than what
he is supposed to from the petty cash account?
9) Who or are the clients of Platinum accounting?
They were more or less direct questions. After this session
he took me to the accountant as he wanted to know my knowledge in MYOB. She
asked me these:
1) To create a new card
2) To create a purchase order
I think I have covered most of the questions that were asked
in those 45 minutes. Hope it helps.
Thanks,
Paul
YOLANDA
Hi, Selina
I have received their call just know. They decide to offer
me the finance assistant role.
Thank you so much
The interview took about 30-40 minutes; there were a finance
controller, an assistant accountant and HR officer. The process was really
relaxed. The company is using SUN System; I did some research before I went to
the interview.
Lots of behaviour questions and less technical questions
during the interview, but I had answered all the behaviour questions and tried
to relate all questions to my past working experiences.
The list below is what questions I had during the interview
1. Can you
please tell us about yourself?
2. Why did you
leave your last position?
3. Why did you
want to apply for this position?
4. Are you a
team player
5. Tell me
about a problem you had with a supervisor
6. Tell me
about your ability to work under pressure
7. How do you
propose to compensate for your lack of experience
8. How do you
react when you realize that you have made a mistake
9. Where do
you see yourself 5 years from now
10. Where do you see yourself in the
long term
11. Describe a difficult problem you
had to sort out in your last job
12. What do you know about Our Company?
13. Do you have any questions for me
14. What challenges are you looking for
in this position?
15. What is GST
16. What is liabilities / account payable
17. What is three way matching of
invoice?
18. What items of information do you
need before you can approve an invoice for payment?
19. Tell us about your experience in
accounts payable.
22Why do you think you would do well at this job?
--
Regards,
Yolanda
Yolanda
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