Top interview questions for finance professionals

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What makes a good finance professional—and how do you spot them? These interview
questions will help you identify ability and prowess in your next finance hire. Here, you’ll
find questions to help assess a candidate’s hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft
skills.

Hard skills

Use these questions to identify a candidate’s technical knowledge and abilities

Behavioral

Use these questions to determine how a candidate handled situations in the past

Soft skills

Use these questions to assess a candidate’s personal traits and cognitive skills

Top hard skills interview questions for finance

professionals

Which factors should be considered when deciding to

finance with debt vs. equity?

Why this matters:

Debt and equity are the two primary forms of funding company growth, and there are
advantages and downsides to each. For example, while equity financing is advantageous
in the sense that there’s no repayment obligation or interest on the funds, it does dilute
control of the principal stock owners. And while debt provides more control, it also comes
with more risks, like bankruptcy.

What to listen for:

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 Candidates should be comfortable discussing these financial concepts and display
an intimate knowledge of the pros and cons of each.
Top answers will emphasize the company’s goals (e.g. debt helps management
retain control).

What best practices are the cornerstone of a good financial model?

Why this matters:

A financial model provides a summary of a company’s expenses and earnings in

spreadsheet form. These models allow companies to determine the impact of a future
event and can help guide the decision-making process. There are different types of
financial models, but they share a common purpose: pulling together data to inform the
reader.

What to listen for:

Answers should stress the importance of displaying complex information in a clear,

consistent way.
Candidates should mention color coding, cross-checking capabilities, and the ability
to produce a dashboard of graphics to easily display key metrics.

What factors drive a company to merge or acquire another company?

Why this matters:

A true financial specialist will know that every company has different reasons for entering
into a merger or acquisition (M&A) agreement. That means there’s no one simple answer
to this question, but qualified finance professionals should have no difficulty discussing
some of the key factors at play in most cases.

What to listen for:

Answers may include sharing resources, taking control of a larger percentage of the
market share, and eliminating direct competition.
Top candidates may also touch upon the factors that lead to a successful M&A
agreement, like harmonious corporate cultures.

Top behavioral questions to ask finance professionals

Tell me about a time you went against the tide of

popular opinion at work. What happened? How did you
handle it?

Why this matters:

Disagreement and differing viewpoints aren’t just common in business—they help build
healthy discourse. You want to know that your candidate can be tactful, but they should
also be willing to stand up for their convictions and possibly take an unpopular stand,

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especially if they’re confident it’s in the best interests of the company.

What to listen for:

Look for candidates who gather all the relevant facts before making a stand, rather
than acting impulsively.
Pay attention to the candidate’s attitude when they answer—a smug or frustrated
tone may be a red flag.

Describe one of the toughest challenges you’ve ever faced at work.

Why this matters:

Everyone has faced significant challenges or failed at one time or another—but the way
they handle these hurdles can tell you a lot about their character. In finance, being able to
manage pressure is a requisite. This question can help you assess whether your candidate
is equipped to navigate pressure and come out the other end stronger for it.

What to listen for:

Good answers might focus on incomplete data, an obstructive manager, or an

unrealistic deadline.
If a candidate is reluctant to share a challenge or claims they’ve never really faced
one, this could be a bad sign.

Tell me about a time when a financial model or presentation said one thing, but your gut
told you to dig deeper.

Why this matters:

Qualified finance professionals read the numbers. Great finance professionals have an
innate and holistic understanding of them. On paper, numbers can look good or even too
good, but your new hire will ideally have an intuitive feel for when things don’t add up,
and they won’t hesitate to put in the work to double-check.

What to listen for:

Answers may mention factors like projections seeming too rosy or an impending
competitive threat being underestimated.
Great candidates will display a strong sense of what drives metrics and the
importance of qualitative factors.

How to screen finance professionals for soft skills

Imagine you were the CFO of this company. What

would be your long-term concerns?

Why this matters:

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This question can help you assess a candidate’s leadership potential and strategic
thinking. Even if they don’t know a great deal about your company’s financial standing,
they should be able to apply their knowledge of the market to pinpoint key concerns and
highlight some strategies they’d focus on.

What to listen for:

Look for candidates who can quickly provide a high-level overview of the company’s
financial position.
Top answers will touch on each of the three financial statements—the income
statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.

If you could invest in one company right now, who would it be?

Why this matters:

Evaluating the financial health and future of companies is one of the key roles of a
financial manager or executive. With this question, you’re not interested in what stock the
candidate chooses to discuss, but the thought process behind it. A candidate who is
passionate about finance will want to have skin in the game, so they’ve likely pondered
this question already.

What to listen for:

Look for candidates who display knowledge and curiosity about both quantitative
and qualitative measures.
Strong answers will demonstrate the candidate’s ability to persuasively articulate
their thoughts.

Describe a time in your career when you had to work as part of a team with people who
weren’t finance professionals. Did you enjoy the experience and what was the outcome?

Why this matters:

Finance professionals don’t just work with others in the finance department. They need to
work with legal and compliance teams for reporting, operations to source numbers,
investor relations to explain performance, and management and the board of directors to
analyze performance and help chart the company’s future. Teamwork and communication
skills are critical to getting the job done.

What to listen for:

Look for answers that highlight a commitment to strong collaboration and

communication.
If a candidate positions themselves as the hero and doesn’t give credit to fellow team
members, they may not be a team player.

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