Ice Breaker:
Always enter the room with a good smile on your face, keep yourself cool and composed. Greet the interviewers with a ‘Good Morning’, ‘Hello’, ‘Namaste’ or anything that you think is more appropriate. Please look at everyone’s face when you enter and greet. Even if the question is asked by one interviewer always remember to look at everyone while you are answering. Keep eye to eye contact throughout the interview. Always be very honest and realistic. As you are handling the huge bank transaction, honesty and integrity should not be in question. Thumb rule is Never Lie! Even if you lie (though not recommended), you should sound genuine J
Tell me something about yourself?
Introduce yourself?
This would be generally the first question in any interview. The interviewer also might split the question. If the interviewer already addressed you by your name before they start the interview, you don’t have to start by answering ‘my name is so and so’. They may also start by asking ‘tell us something about your education’, ‘Tell me something about your family’, ‘Have you appeared for any banking interview before’. Be prepared to answer any question that they may begin with and also question that arise from your answers. For instance, if you say that you have appeared banking interview before, they would ask ‘what was the result’, ‘why do you think you have not cleared’. ‘What did you do to improve yourself this time’. If you have any prior job experience, be ready to answer questions related to your job’. Below is typical answer, you’ll have to change your answer as appropriate. When you talk about your hobbies, make sure you have fair knowledge about the area. If you say ‘reading books’, they might ask you about the last book that you have read. If you say ‘travelling’, they might ask you about the place you have travelled and significance/ historical questions related to the place. If you say ‘browsing’, ‘watching TV’ etc , rather than just talking about TV Serial, entertainment shows or chatting, talk also about the news channels, learning oriented activities.
Channels: Hindustan Times, Time Now, CNN IBN, CNN , BBC, ‘NDTV Profit channel’, ‘CNBC’ etc.
Internet: Google to search for documents and learning materials. Go through some financial websites in internet. If you are into share trading, you may mention that as well. But you should have knowledge about stocks, NIFTY, Sensex etc.
But remember when you talk about this, you should have good understanding about the content.
Here is a typical answer:
‘My Name is <abc>. I’m graduate/post graduate in <computer engg>. I have completed my graduation from <abc college, Cochin>. My schooling was from <abc school, Trivandrum>. I’m working as a <software engineer> in <abc company> for the last <2 years>. To speak about my family, my husband is working with <abc company> as <abc executive>. My father is a <abc manager> and mother is a <house wife>. I have one brother; he’s doing his <graduation in engg>. My hobbies are <watching TV and Reading books>.
If you have prior work experience, interviewer may ask about your job profile.
What was your role in the team. How did you work together as a team.
<mention the your role in your previous job> I always believed in working together as a unit. Working together as one team is a key to success and achieve the organization goals. In a team you will communicate and support each other. An individual may not be an expert in all the areas, but as team you get collective ideas and knowledge to reach the objectives. It combines many different skills from many people.
Most difficult situation/ customer you have handled. How did you handle the situation. What was your learning.
<Explain your experience first>. In learning part you can mention the points like “customer is always right”, “I’ll never think that they are angry with me, but they are upset about the problem that they are facing”. “I’ll always put myself into their shoes and think how I would have reacted if I was in his position”, “I’ll listen to the customer completely and give him an opportunity to explain his difficulties”, “I will not give excuses rather I’ll handle professionally and resolve his issue with the possible way”.”I’ll understand the company process and policy well, so I’ll not make any wrong commitments” . “I’ll show empathy and will tell him that I completely understand his position and offer the best possible assistance” “I’ll always keep him updated about the progress”. If they interviewer ask how would you handle if the customer is still not convinced, you can answer like “I’ll involve my senior , so he would have better confidence”.
One of the big errors that you have made. What was the error. What did you do resolve. What was your learning. How will you ensure this will not be repeated.
<You can talk about your experience> here are some points that might help “mistakes are painful when it happens” “Errors bound to happen, but you should not use it as an excuse for making an error, but you rather learn from it “ “Always learn from your mistake and admit that you have made an error” “Do not blame your colleagues or situation for making the mistake”.”I’ll take whole responsibility of my action” “I’ll also learn from the mistakes other have committed, so I’ll not make the same mistake again”
Why do you want to leave the current job. (never say negative about your current job, talk about the positive side of banking job as reason for move)
Like many other college pass outs, my first goal was to get into a job for my livelihood. I’m fortunate that I got fairly a good profile which is in line with my education and it gave me good exposure to corporate environment. As my career aspiration was to get into banking sector, I kept trying for banking job while I was working. I have cleared the first step and I’m here to give my best for the second round. I’m confident about my abilities and I’m certain that sooner or later, I’ll achieve my dream. <you can also refer my post on 'why do you want to be in banking if you would like to elaborate>
Your biggest contribution to the previous company. What was your role. Pros and cons. Your learning from this achievement.
We had a customer who wants a project to be implemented within two weeks. Realistically it requires atleast a month for implementation considering the number of resources and complexity of the project. We had set his expectation clear and also explained that it requires a month to implement. However customer has immediate requirement and though he understand the constraints, he was not willing to extend the delivery date due to urgent business requirement. I had discussion with my manager about the situation and explained him how we can achieve this goal in two weeks. It gave confidence in my manager and he committed the client to deliver in two weeks. We as a team work really hard to execute and deliver the project on time. Client was extremely happy and it build his confidence in our organization which resulted in getting many new project from the same client.
Pros, cons and learning: If you want to be successful, you will have to take some calculated risks. Work together as a unit to overcome the difficulties and challenges. Take ownership of the situation and have healthy discussion within your team.
Don’t you think your parents will not let you work in a remote villages in Asam or Jharkhand?
My family is well aware of the fact that banking jobs are transferable and you’ll have to work in anywhere in the country. They always supported my decision and they are as interested as me in seeing me in Banking sector. So I’m certain that there won’t be any resistance from my family in working anywhere in India.
