We often get asked when we offer an interview how best a candidate can prepare or what a candidate can do to improve their chances of being successfully accepted on to the programme. Since we have been getting a number of requests lately, we thought we would do a blog on interviews.
The main purpose of the interview is not to catch you out. Primarily, the aim is to understand you, your career ambitions and to see how an internship programme with Capital Placement will fit into your career ambitions. Also, We want to make sure an internship with us, is in your best interest and of course we want to see if you are competent enough to do the internship.
We will now break down each section of the telephone interview and give you examples.
Understanding you:
The first stage of the interview is to understand you a little better. We want to know about your educational background, what degree you are studying, what optional modules you chose to do during your degree and why you chose them.
The next stage is focused on the sector you have chosen to intern in:
The questions will be centred around topics like; why you chose to intern in a particular sector. It is crucial for you to answer this section well if you are doing a degree which is different from the section you are looking to get an internship in. E.g.- You have applied for a legal internship but your degree is in Psychology.
We will also ask about your previous work experiences and internships (if any) If you don’t have any, don’t worry because after all, that is why we are here!
In addition, we will also want to know what your understanding of the role you have applied for is and how an internship will help achieve your career goals.
For us the city or country you have applied for is just as important as the sector. We want to ensure that you have already done your research into the country. Some of the questions we may ask are –
- What you know about the country?
- Also, what is unique about companies within the sector you have applied for in the particular city?
- Why that particular city as opposed to the other cities? Would you consider working in any of the other cities?
Once we are convinced that you have done enough research into the city, the next stage of the interview will focus on the industry you have chosen. Here are some examples of the interview questions you can expect-
For Law students-
- Tell me about a case that you discussed this week in university and why is this case significant?
- If this was a recent case, what will be the implications of this judgement? In your opinion, will an appeal be granted?
For business/ finance students-
- How do you value a firm?
- What tools will you use to help you value a firm?
- Or what is the difference between investment management and investment banking?
- Tell me about a recent article about the economy you read in a newspaper or magazine?
If you have applied for a finance role, you can expect further technical and maths based questions like-
- What is risk?
- And what are swap points and why can they be negative? How do you calculate a WACC?
- If you rolled three dice, what is the probability of getting the same number on each one?
- In addition, If a clock shows the time as 09.30 am, what is the angle between the two hands?
We hope that this blog is helpful and although you may not know the answers to some of the questions above now, if you do your research properly, you will be fine! As always, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
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