Five Good Strengths for a Finance Interview (2024)

By Heidi Cardenas Updated April 19, 2022

Employers use interviews to verify how qualified, knowledgeable and experienced the candidates are who apply to their companies. They want to find out if their candidates are people they can trust and if they can do the work. The interview process is a process of elimination, revealing the best candidates to hire while disqualifying all others.

Good candidates in finance interviews can demonstrate their strengths in such areas as “fit” for the position and the company, work ethic and ability to handle stress. Take a look at some financial manager skills and qualities you can highlight.

Importance of Financial Manager Fit

One of the best strengths a candidate can bring to a finance interview is the ability to solidly demonstrate a good fit. Employers want to hire people who know and have experience in their business and industry, who will fit in with their corporate culture and who can do the job they are hired to do, explains BioSpace.

In addition to training, education and work experience, they want to hear about how candidates have handled situations that thev've faced at work and about candidates’ professional and personal interests. Finance candidates should research the business and industry of the companies they want to work for and prepare strong answers for questions about their knowledge and understanding of finance and the particular position, about their knowledge of and interest in the company and finance industry, and about related interests.

Demonstrate a Good Work Ethic

Finance employers are in a conservative industry and profession that values commitment and responsibility. They work with and are entrusted with large sums of money and important financial decisions on a daily basis. They want to hire people who share their values and who they can entrust with the financial transactions they regularly perform. A good finance interview strength is being able to discuss personal work ethic and views of accountability.

Show Ability to Handle Stress

The ability to handle stress is one of the desirable financial manager skills and qualities. It's especially necessary in finance positions that may require long hours and involve difficult monthly, quarterly and annual peak activities for closing and reporting processes.

Finance employers may test candidates’ reactions to stress with stressful interview techniques such as demanding tones or seemingly brusque questioning to see candidate reactions and responses. Thorough interview practice and preparation, a confident and calm demeanor and concrete examples of how candidates have handled stressful situations in finance are solid interview strengths.

Have a Finance Education

You'll need to show you have the technical skills required for finance manager job. Therefore, Rrlevant advanced education in finance is a definite strength when interviewing. A bachelor’s degree in finance, business or accounting is the minimum necessary degree in finance, but a master’s is required by many employers who need employees with analytical skills and financial acumen.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that some finance professionals get industry certifications such as Chartered Financial Analyst, CFA, and Certified Treasury Professional, CTP. Candidates with advanced degrees and industry certifications have the best job prospects.

Explain Relevant Experience

A good strength for finance interviews is experience in previous positions entrusted with financial transactions with references to verify it, or to have been bonded and insured in previous finance positions. Experience in finance positions is an area employers explore during interviews since it can show whether you're ready to handle financial manager responsibilities.

The BLS reports that those who work in finance often have more than five years experience as accountants, loan officers or financial analysts. New graduates with finance internships or part-time finance-related jobs during school have relevant experience to discuss during finance interviews. If there is absolutely no work experience, academic finance and accounting projects are a basis for finance experience.