1
Q
Tell me about yourself and your background in finance
A
- My name is Atiqah Azhar, you can call me Atiqah. I just graduated with an Accounting & Business Finance degree from Heriot Watt University, so I am relatively a fresh graduate.
- Throughout studying for my degree, I have developed strong interest to pursue a career in finance, particularly in [mention the role]. The courses I studied have helped me to develop analytical and problem-solving skills, particularly.
- Managed to score higher marks in most subjects and graduated with an upper division of 2nd class.
[STAR method]
- I also actively participated in a lot of school activities, such as leading projects and group teams also becoming a student ambassador.
- Student ambassador - means heavily participated in school activities such as organizing events, becoming emcee, mentoring new students etc.
- I also have experience in coordinating a group of medical professionals, where I coordinated them for in-house patient services, I joined the healthcare industry during my study gap despite having zero background.
2
Q
What is your salary expectation?
A
- I have put RM4K per month in the application
- this was based on market research, the average salary for fresh graduate for big 4 company is RM4k per month.
- however, i am open to discussion of the salary, considering the perks and benefits the company could offer.
3
Q
Why did you get a full time job at a homecare/clinic before?
A
- i took a year gap between my studies because of the challenges i faced at that time, financially.
- During that time, I sought employment opportunities and joined the healthcare team,
- it was pretty challenging at first as i had no prior background but i successfuly led all projects and coordinated the team.
4
Q
In your opinion, how do you think your previous role is important for this current role?
A
- multi-tasking between full time and part time job
- able to work under pressure; bcs there was a lot of instances where emergencies came in and i needed to attend to both.
- i believe, the skills gained such as multi-tasking, working under pressure and adaptability needed when working for this role.
5
Q
Give some examples how you actually navigate challenges in your previous roles when leading a team?
A
- Leading a team of doctors and nurses to involve in the digital marketing activities.
- as their core responsibility was to treat patient, so involving in the creative process was a challenge for them.
- but eventually i gathered their inputs and tailored our strategy to meet their hectic schedules
- the result was fruitful - we managed to publish online content on regular basis without skipping, resulting in increased page reach and engagement by more than 50%.
6
Q
Why did you choose your major?
A
- I chose studying this field because I always love working with numbers and-
- have always been fascinated by how financial systems drive business success and economic growth.
- All the courseworks that I have done, has equipped me with strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of financial principles
- which I believe all are crucial for a [the role applied].
7
Q
Why should we hire you?
A
- I believe you should hire me because I have a strong basic foundation in accounting and finance, coupled with a fresh perspective on current industry trends.
- I am very committed to continuous learning, growth and improvements
- I always love working in a challenging and dynamic environment, such as [the company].
8
Q
What is your greatest strength?
A
- I learn things quickly
- I am good at prioritizing my responsibilities and producing value where it counts.
- I am able to work under pressure
8
Q
Why should we hire you when you have no experience in this field?
A
- I understand that I lack direct experience in this field; but I bring a strong work ethic, adaptability and relevant skills.
- All these skills coupled with my passion in finance, I am committed to bring values to the table.
9
Q
What is your greatest weakness?
A
- I must say while I am good at bearing multiple responsibilities at once, sometimes I forgot to delegate tasks to others where necessary.
- But as i learned from my previous roles, now I understand the importance of delegating tasks.
10
Q
Where do you see yourself in five years?
A
- I would want to enhance my career development within the finance industry still.
- Achieve my goals within this career, being excellent in financial analysis, valuations or modelling.
- Understand the financial systems of various sectors.
- Getting skilled in managing multiple projects at the same time.
11
Q
(Competency) Describe a time when you had to explain a complex concept to someone with no background in the subject.
A
- When I was working for my dissertation project, my topic research was assessing the working adults’ behaviour on retirement planning, by measuring their financial literacy level.
- So throughout the process, I had to strategically think on how to measure their financial literacy levels, finding correlations between variables, and present the findings.
- I successfully explained the findings, found no errors in the data gathered, and scored an A for my dissertation.
