Commitment questions: There are no "right" answers to these questions. These questions are meant to assess your commitment to the profession and your career. The interviewer will be looking for a relatively organized thought pattern that indicates that you've really thought about your career goals.
- What are your long-term and short-term goals?
- What do you see yourself doing in five years?
- How do you plan to achieve your goals?
- Why have you chosen this career?
- Why did you select your university or college?
- Why did you choose this field of study?
- What other jobs are you interviewing for?
- What other firms are you interviewing with?
- What are you going to do if you don't get a job in public accounting?
- Why do you want this position with our company?
Maturity questions: These questions are meant to assess your level of maturity, how thoroughly you monitor what you need to improve and how to make those improvements. It would help to know at least two of each.
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What qualifications do you have that will make you successful in your career?
- How do you function under pressure? Give me an example.
- Describe a major problem in your life and how you dealt with it.
- What did you learn from your mistakes?
Motivation questions: Recruiters will want to know what drives you to do your best work and, conversely, what bores you in your work. They'll want to assess how well your motivations and work style fit with their corporate culture.
- What are the most important rewards that you expect in your business career?
- What is more important to you, the money or the type of job?
- What motivates you to put forth the greatest effort?
- How do you determine and evaluate success?
- What are the qualities of a successful manager?
- Why audit and not tax? Why tax and not audit?
- What work environment are you most comfortable in?
- What things are most important to you in your job?
Communications skills questions: These questions are designed to assess your level of preparation for the interview. Interviewers will be looking to see whether you can effectively convey information in a thorough yet concise manner. These questions will also assess how well you think on the run.
- How would you describe yourself?
- How would a friend or a professor describe you?
- How has college prepared you for your chosen career?
- Why should I hire you?
- How can you make a contribution to our company?
- What is your greatest accomplishment?
- Which two or three accomplishments gave you the most satisfaction and why?
- If you were hiring a candidate for this job, what qualities would you look for?
- Are your grades a good indication of your academic achievements?
- Do your grades reflect your abilities?
- What have you learned from your extracurricular activities?
- What do you know about our company?
Technical questions: These questions are designed to test your knowledge of basic accounting and tax. Don't be surprised if you don't get any technical questions at this level, especially if you're interviewing with the Big Four. The expectation is that you can learn the technical stuff - they're more interested in the questions above that test your "fit" with the firm. Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt to brush up on basic technical questions like these.
- What is the matching principle?
The recording of expenses in the same time period the related revenues are recognized. - When do you recognize revenue?
When it meets two criteria: 1) it is earned (i.e., goods or services are delivered); and 2) it is realized (i.e., cash or cash claims are received in exchange). - What does auditing mean to you?
Examining transactions and financial statements, in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, in order to attest to the credulity of those statements. - What is the current corporate tax rate?
35 percent. - What is the relationship between the income statement and the balance
sheet?
The income statement is the major link between two balance sheets. Balance sheets show the company's position at given points in time (i.e., year end), whereas the income statement explains the changes that have taken place between those points.
Net income per the income statement is entered into the balance sheet as retained earnings.