Financial Analyst Interview Questions
Interviewers will expect financial analyst candidates to be well versed in financial markets, modelling and analysis. Make sure you are comfortable with both micro and macroeconomics. In addition to highly technical questions, be ready to answer a few behavioural questions that will show off your communication and collaboration skills.
Top Financial Analyst Interview Questions & How to Answer
Here are three top financial analyst interview questions and tips on how to answer them:
Question No. 1: What is EBITDA, and what is left out of it?
How to answer: This question lets you showcase your knowledge of financial analysis. Mention that EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, and that many companies use this to assess their overall financial standing. Also, let the interviewer know that the acronym doesn't include the cost of capital investments such as property.
Question No. 2: What process do you use to create accurate sales reports?
How to answer: Discuss the industry-designed software tools you use to produce accurate financial reports and gauge the financial situations of companies accurately. Talk about how you analyse more specific areas and advise the business about the policies they should change for better profits after looking at the initial report.
Question No. 3: Do you hold any current industry licences or certifications? If so, why did you get them?
How to answer: Talk about your licences and certifications, and let the interviewer know that you got them to improve your competency, learn more about the latest financial analysis techniques and increase your appeal to potential clients. For example, many financial analysts have a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification from the Corporate Finance Institute.
Formulas for calculation of various margins and mortgages from case study
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does anybody have the sample of the case study ?
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please give me two case study
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If you remember the case, everything will be easy
There was no real questions as all these financial companies want financial advisors or sales reps because they do not cost them a cent . Free labor with no benefits! A heck of a business model. Whomever came up with the concept should be giving a Nobel price by rendering useless the idea that people should demand wages for a job.
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if you have good experiences ,good education this is easy.
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This is everything hand is god?online honest person and legal offer few?
What is your core work foundation?
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The writing topics are very basic and ask you to compare and contrast two simple subjects that spans 1-2 pages. For example, I remember one of the prompts asking you to compare living at home by yourself with more expenses versus living with a roommate. It won't trip you up - just make sure you're concise and organized. The proofreading was general material - it won't require any additional preparation. The business analysis is mainly balance sheet ratios from what I recall. ROA, ROE, and Current Ratio are really the only ones I remember. You will also be asked to compare and contrast two proposals. I don't think there is a right answer- just make sure that you are confident and have good reasons to support your decision. Hope that helps and good luck! Less
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What kind of math problems should I expect on the assessment?
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What was the writing like? Do they give you topics and you just start writing? Or do they give you several documents and you just write a summary of some sorts? For the proofreading, was the material regular or was it something about the FDIC? Less
Q: A user has a Chromebook, an Android phone, and a regular laptop. Which device do you think Google would want the user to use more?
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Asked if the primary goal for Google is profit maximization, since some products are more for profit sustainability rather than maximization. Interviewer said profit maximization was one of the primary goals. I then stated that since 97% of Google's profit comes from ads, that would mean Google would want the user to use whichever item led to more clicks on ads/more relevant ads. I asked how the search capability/ad display capability differed from the 3 products. He said the chromebook and laptop is similar while mobile was different. I asked if the mobile ad display was better or worse than a laptop-type device. He wouldn't answer aside from saying that mobile search just surpassed desktop search (which didn't answer my question). I said from personal experience that I see and click on more ads on a laptop-type device than a mobile device since ad display on a laptop is better (he agreed with my assessment later during a different part of the interview). And since the Chromebook has no local storage, google would be able to gather more information about a user from a Chromebook than a laptop - more info means more targeted ads - more targeted ads means higher CPC (since the question was 'which does GOOGLE want the user to use more') - higher priced ads means more profit for Google. He didn't seem to disagree. Less
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The phone. It is always with you.
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I slightly disagree - given that the majority of ad clicks come from pcs/laptops and that market is more aged than mobile search, I wouldnt consider this the primary demographic for profit maximization. What ultimately drives the revenue and corresponding bids for advertisers is the amount of data that Google can maximize to target the best audience for the customers ads. And given that mobile search surpasses that of a pc/laptop, Google can gain a much more robust data set and more complete profile of its product consumers. In addition to creating more opportunities to analyze better ways to increase the propensity of ways to increase marginal revenue. Less
How do you reverse a number without storing it in an array Ex: 412 should be printed as 214
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int reverse(int n){ int rev = 0; while(n!=0){ rev = rev*10 + n%10; n = n/10; } return rev; } Less
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int reverse(int n){ if(n==0) return; int tmp=n%10; reverse(n/10); printf("%d",tmp);} Less
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Arithmetic operations are unnecessary. If it is required to use an array, have variable i from start and variable j from the end walk towards center of the array and swap content of a[i] and a[j]. Less
Write a java program that can convert a string of numbers (e.g. "5387") into an integer (5387).
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why do you need Math.pow()? will this work? fun() // input 5467 // take first character and transform into integer //multiply by 10 * index of character which is zero that is 5 + 0 = 5 then take the next character and transform into integer now multiply 5 * 10 * index of character which is one 50 +4 = 54 repeat 540+ 6 = 546 5460 + 7 = 5467 running time is O(k) k = no of digits or O(n) n being the number Less
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The way I did it was (for your example of 5467) essentially 5000 + 400 + 60 + 7. It's the first solution that came to mind and since that hour long portion of the interview seemed to be winding down, I just went with it. Not a pretty solution, but it does get the right answer. For your solution, I understand what you're doing but I think your description of it is a bit off, or at least confusing. The you don't multiply by the index of the character at any time. What you're doing is just multiplying the sum to that point by 10 before adding the next character... i.e. in pseudo code, sum = 0; n = (length of the string of characters); for(i==0; i < n; i++) { sum *= 10; sum+= (converted integer value of the character at index i); } So the first time through the loop when the index is zero, the initial sum multiplied by 10 is still zero, so you add 5 and get the running sum to be 5. Iteration 2, 5*10 = 50, add the next integer and you get 54, and so on. And that is a far more elegant solution, definitely. Thanks for pointing it out! Less
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If Java is allowed than why to do all these things. Why not directly use wrapper calss Integer and convert a string to integer. String s="12345"; int i = Integer.parseInt(s); Simple ! Less
There is a panel containing 3 light switches in front of you. Each switch controls a light in a room somewhere. Doesn't really matter where. You can play with the switches as much as you like, but you're only allowed to enter the room once. How do you tell which switch controls which light? Again, you can only enter the room once, so you cannot play with the switches after you enter the room, but you can play with them as much as you want before you enter the room. One entry is all it takes to determine which switch controls which light.
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Take the hint. Key part is that you can play with the lights as long as you want. Flip on a light an leave it on for a long time. Flip it off, and turn on another one. Walk into the room. If the light is on, it was that switch. If it is off and warm, it was the first switch. Otherwise, it is the untouched switch Less
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Switch on the 1st one and switch it off, then switch on the 2nd one and go in the room to check if the light is on. If it is on it means it's the 2nd one, and if it's not touch the light to check if it's hot. If it's hot it means the 1st switch is the correct one as it was switched on once or else it's the 3rd one. Less
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Think about it for a bit... . . . . . . Here's a hint: the lights start off, and they've been off for a long time. Less
How to find out whether a number is odd or even.
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look at last bit.
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Just check if the first bit is 1.
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#include using namespace std; int main () { int num; cout > num; if (num % 2) { cout << "This number is odd." << endl; }else { cout << "This number is even." << endl; return 0; } } } } Less
1,2,3,5,7.... what will be the next number in series
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Answer is 10. First 1 is not prime so 11 can't be the next number in series Start with 1 then : ******** 1+1 = 2 2+1 = 3 ******** 3+2 = 5 5+2 = 7 ******** Next possible numbers 7+3 = 10 10+3 = 13 Less
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1 is not prime. Question seems wrong
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What if we view this series of number as “non-composite”? then 11 will be valid
write a function that returns the first unique element in an array
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What the type of elements in the array? If character, set up the hash table, and scan the array. the hash table stores the index of each element. If the element appears more than once, update the table as a negetive value. After scanning, find the smallest index value from the hash table, which would be the first uniqure element. The time complex gonna be O(n), where n is the length of array. Less
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I wrote a sample program here. (I use map container here to replace hash_map. The doesnot work on my computer) #include "stdafx.h" #include #include using namespace std; static int find_unique_ele(char*,int); int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[]) { char test[6] = {'a','b','c','b','c','a'}; int min_index = find_unique_ele(test,6); if (min_index store_table_value; map store_table; while(i ::const_iterator test_it = store_table.find(*test); if(test_it != store_table.end()){ store_table[*test] = -1; } else{ store_table.insert(map::value_type(store_table_value(*test,i))); } i++; test++; } map::const_iterator table_it = store_table.begin(); store_table_value temp_value = *table_it; int min_index = temp_value.second; while(++table_it != store_table.end()){ temp_value = *table_it; if(temp_value.second < min_index || min_index < 0){ min_index = temp_value.second; } } return min_index; } Less
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I think in the above solution you have to scan the original array twice making it order (2n) or O(n). The 2nd scan is needed to determine the corresponding entry in the hash table whether it is unique or not. We need this to determine the first unique element in the array. Less