INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES – PART 5

Where you have been able to get your CV to speak for you and you have been called for an interview, you then have to speak for yourself at the interview.

In the first blog on interviewing techniques, we mentioned a few bullet points which we are continuing with in this blog.

AT THE END OF AN INTERVIEW, ASK AT LEAST ONE QUESTION

Never say, no I don’t have any questions. Always prepare a few questions about the role, about the accounting system or internal control being adopted by the organisation.

I usually say, this is a final opportunity for you to throw in a bit of accounting knowledge and accounting terminologies before you leave the interview room. If the interview session has not given you the chance of speaking about your accounting knowledge, then you may want to ask a question that lets you show a bit of such. For example;

• what is the sales invoicing system adopted by the organisation
• does the department use any books of prime entries and are these manual or electronic systems
• does the organisation maintain a purchase ordering system and how effectively is this maintained. Will this be part of my role?
• does the organisation maintain manual salary journals or are the payroll details electronically connected to the accounting system (if this has any connection with the role)?

You will agree with me that these are not the usual generic sorts of questions you will find an individual asking, but questions like these, will make you stand out a little better.

Ha!, but how will you ask a question like this if you don’t even know what a sales invoicing system is or what books of prime entries are or what a purchase ordering system is or what salary journals are?

Then get on with it

• gain some experience,
• learn about how accounts work in the real world, and 
• start talking about accounts; and

the next interview will be a lot better than the last.

WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST from:

THE TRAINING PLACE OF EXCELLENCE