Need some advice for job interview please

geek84

Hi Folks

I am on the intermediate level of my AAT and have got an interview with an accountants practice next week. The lady at the practice who arranged the interview was very vague - she said they are recruiting for various positions.

If this is the case and I am successful at the interview, what type of position should I be aiming for? Or, shall I just settle for what they offer me, and then work myself up to become assistant accountant etc? What about salary expectations? They are based on the West Midlands.

Thanks in advance for your response.

uknitty

Be sincere and give honest answers.

Think about what aspects of working in an accountancy practice appeal to you, what the strongest areas of your studies have been so far, and what areas you are looking forward to developing when you continue your studies.

Try not to be too vauge and "I'll do whatever job is on offer" as this may be a test to see how motivated you are and where your interests lie ! Make it clear that you are happy to take on board new skills and ideas , and help out wherever possible, but be clear that your goals and aspirations are to acheive X Y and Z.

In the first instance I wouldn't be too concerned about salary. At this stage the main thing is getting the experience on your CV and progressing in your studies. With a qualifiaction and work experience behind you the good salaries will come in time

Hope that helps

geek84

Hi

Many thanks indeed for your advice.

How can I find out the good/bad apects of working in a practice?

Thanks in advance.

Rinske

Do a search on the forums and internet in general.

Lots of people have discussed this and there are lots of debates about practice versus industry, which will give you the insights in what people's opinion is about working in practice and what they liked or disliked. Based on that you can form your own opinion on what you might like and what not.

Gem7321

In practice accounts assistant positions don't really exist.

As a student you'll be looking at a trainee/junior position to begin with, and this could be in audit, accounts, tax etc. depending on what services they offer. You'll work your way up to semi-senior - senior - manager (generally speaking).

Research what services the practice offer, do they offer any specialist services like forensics, ask what sort of assignments can you expect to be working on and show an interest in these.

Good luck in your interview.

oli

Hi Geek84

I started work in a trainee position 3 months ago, I am mostly doing accounts work at the minute but in time should be doing tax and also payroll work.

I am guessing that if offered a position that it will be a trainee role (unless you have experience) which would be very beneficial for you. I'm coming up to the end of my AAT studies and felt that I have only used the skills obtained from AAT in practice, when I worked in industry you would only work on a specific part of the accounts e.g. sales/purchase ledger.

I have found that most practices will not take on people unless they have previous experience so it would be a great opportunity for you, as for salary expections I would guess that it won't be as much as industry but you may get study support for your AAT and possibly further study.

Do you work at the minute? If so what do you do?

Good luck with the interview :-)

geek84

Hi Oli

Many thanks for your reply. I don't work at the moment - I got made redundant from my credit control job last year. This is when I decided to do the AAT. I have had enough of credit control!

Since I haven't got any experience in accounts except for credit control, I think that would be a big disadvantage for me when going for the interview. My age might also play a factor - I am approaching my mid 40s. I only hope that if I do get selected, I don't end up doing the odd jobs in the office such as filing or faxing, since I haven't got any 'relevant' experience! They did say that they are recruiting for 'various roles'.

Personally, I don't think that they will train me from scratch - since there are a lot of people out there with experience who can't get jobs!

What are your thoughts?

oli

You'd be surprised geek84, no experience to employers is sometimes what they want as they can start from stratch and in some respects mould you, also people with experience may want a higher salary so it maybe in your favour. Unfortunately be expected to do some odd jobs like filing at first but as time goes on they give you more interesting things to do. I guess it depends on the role that they may offer you.

Credit control is still accounts experience, my roles have mostly been purchase ledger based, and being that you have credit control experience you will have gained good customer service skills, and in practice you would be dealing with clients who are customers so that could be an advantage in my opinion if you put it across in the interview well.

Have you got any other interviews lined up? And have you tried any agencies?

uknitty

I'm in my early 30's and decided to do AAT after losing my job 3 years ago then bouncing around from temp debt collection job to debt collection job (the job market where I am is so limited and any work is work...)

Right now I am working unpaid in an accounts practice on a 3 month internship. So far I have assisted on an audit, undertaken payroll duties, prepared some simple accounts for sole traders, and helped file some online tax returns (quite complicated ones with all sorts of income from different sources )


There has also been a fair share of filing, letter typing and general admin. The way I look on it is I am looking for an employer to nvest their time and experience in training me (and remember 2 hours spent training me how to file tax returns could be time charged out to a client at a very high hourly rate...) then its only fair to do the general office admin in return for me benefiting from their time and expertise.

Thing is - even filing can be really beneficial if you take advantage of it as a learning opportunity. I look at the documents I am filing and from the pile of papers infront of me try to work out the clients background. At an appropriate time I ask my manager questions about the client and the work that has been done on their records so I can gain a better understanding of what it is I am looking at and how the work that has been done all slots together in to the final accounts.

I definitely think that the employer is deliberately being vague about the job so as to get you to state what your expectations of an entry level role in an accounts practice will entail !

Gem7321

geek84 wrote: »

I only hope that I don't end up doing the odd jobs in the office such as filing or faxing

Sorry to break it to you but it's likely you may be the most junior member of staff in the practice so you may well have to do the filing! But like uknitty says even this is a learning opportunity, you'll get the chance to have a look at various statutory forms and get to know their format as well as learning the writing language for HMRC and Companies House etc.

geek84

Hi

Many thanks indeed for all the advice given by you kind folks out there!

I have 3final questions -

!. What type of questions do you think I will be asked at the imterview?

2. What type of questions should I ask towards the end of the interview?

3. If they ask me what type of job role I am expecting to go into, what shall I say?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Monsoon

geek84 wrote: »

3. If they ask me what type of job role I am expecting to go into, what shall I say?

I'd say something along the lines of, "I'm hoping to go into [incomplete records/ tax returns/ accounts prep/ payroll/ task of your choice] as this area interests me in particular, but I'm willing to learn and gain expereince of a variety of accounting and associated tasks, so I would be happy to do whatever is most helpful to you.

On general interview things, I've just answered a similar question and what I said was:

Just be yourself.

An interview is a mutual thing - do you want to work for them as well as do they want you. You are interviewing and assessing them at the same time as them interviewing you.

If you are enthusiastic, that is always a good thing. Also remember to think of what you can do for them. They want to take on someone who can be an asset to their business and help them make money. So it's great for you to say "I really want this job because I really want to get into practice" but make sure you add how that enthusiasm will help them: you will be reliable, attack all tasks with gusto and attention to detail, you're willing to do all sorts of tasks as you are eager to learn, etc.

While hopefully they are nice people who want you to enjoy your job too, ultimately, they want you because you will make them money, so always make sure you say what you have to say in a way that shows how you can benefit them.

Above all, be yourself, don't rehearse lines too much. Being genuine is much better than effectively reading from a script.

Good luck!

geek84

Many thanks for your reply, Monsoon.

janwal

Good luck with the interview, and as others have said just be yourself & be positive, when i had my last interview i froze on the questions & wished i'd wrote them down, so jot them on a postcode (i did get the job, been there 9 yrs)

Good luck

Jan x

geek84

Hi Folks

Just to let you know, the interview seemed to go well, because they have called me back for a second interview.

In that interview, there will be a second partner who will also be interviewing me. Can someone please give me an indication of what things I could be asked / or what else could be discussed in the interview? Do you think it would be a more indepth interview than this first one, or do you think it will be more of a formailty i.e. just putting a face to a name.

Finally, they want to test my Excel skills at this second interview. I am ok at Excel, but is anyone aware of any good websites which I can look at in order to improve my skills?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Dcollins

Bags of tutorials on the MS Office site, but just make sure you're familiar with the old Excel and new 'ribbon style' layout and know how to do formulae with functions (SUM, IF, ROUND... etc.). Oh, and formatting - numbers, borders - making things look professional.

Try not to worry too much about the questions, employing people is tricky these days and one interview is just not enough to make a decision. If you're asked a difficult question, make a (reasonable) comment to give you time to come up with an answer (like 'that's a good question for a Monday morning').

Show interest in them - ask how long they've been in business, are clients local, big small, which sectors, anything that helps turn the interview into a chat.

I went to an interview once, and completely failed to find the way into the office. Found the building and car park but someone saw me on the CCTV and came out to get me. Then they let me run their finances for several years.

Good luck - let us know how it goes.

BeccaLouJ9

Dcollins wrote: »

I went to an interview once, and completely failed to find the way into the office. Found the building and car park but someone saw me on the CCTV and came out to get me. Then they let me run their finances for several years.

That made me laugh!

geek84

Good Morning folks

I forgot to mention - in my 2nd interview I will also be tested on SAGE.

I am familiar with this accounts package and quite familiar with Sage Instant Accounts version. However, I don't know which version they will test me on.

Do you think I should phone them up to ask, or will that be viewed as being a bit cheeky?

Thanks in advance.

Monsoon

geek84 wrote: »

Good Morning folks

I forgot to mention - in my 2nd interview I will also be tested on SAGE.

I am familiar with this accounts package and quite familiar with Sage Instant Accounts version. However, I don't know which version they will test me on.

Do you think I should phone them up to ask, or will that be viewed as being a bit cheeky?

Thanks in advance.

Not cheeky. Intelligent! I would ask.

Woooof

Monsoon wrote: »

Not cheeky. Intelligent! I would ask.

Enthuastic too in my opinion!

Gem7321

Definitely ask! It's amazing how many candidates we get who don't realise there is more than one version/package of sage so if I was asked I'd be over the moon!

geek84

Good Morning

If I was to ring up the employer and ask which version of Sage I will be tested on, then what is the best way of getting hold of that particular version so that I can brush up my skills before the interview?

By the way, I am quite familiar with Sage Instant Accounts.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Monsoon

AFAIK, you would need to buy it, I don't think Sage offer free trials.
Given how expensive Sage is, this probably isn't an option.

I would Google the differences between them and read up on the extra features. Alternatively ask if you know anyone who has a version you can 'play' on.

I used to toggle between Instant and Line50 on various versions and couldn't tell you what the differences were; I didn't find the basic functions or feel differ that much.

geek84

Good Morning Folks

The interview which I went to (stated in an earlier email) went quite well and the employer did verbally agree with me after the interview, that they will be calling me back within the next 2 weeks for a second interview.

The 2 weeks have now just finished but I have not heard from them. Do you think it would be a good idea to phone them just to remind them, or shall I wait for another week?

By the way, the original interview was arranged via email. So, do you think it would be better if email them to ask when they will be calling me back rather than phoning them?

Thanks in advance for your response.