Questions You Should Ask 1. Do you have any hesitations about my qualifications? 2. Do you offer continuing education and professional training? 3. What have you enjoyed most about working here? 4. What is the single largest problem facing your staff and would I be in a position to help you solve this problem? 5. What is the next step in the process?

Interview Questions 1. Tell me about yourself?
Good morning. My name is, or you can call me David. I recently received my Bachelor’s degree of Accounting with a first-class honours from University and have completed a total 11 months of internships with KPMG as well as private entities in the past three years. I've worked hard in my education as well as internships to prepare myself to become a world class employee in my role. In my most recent position as a, I have had the opportunity to initiate and develop numerous accounting and financial-related report to Business Director and I’m proud to say that I have suggested and implemented new policies on the workflow within the company which saving the company over 40% of paper wastage. In addition, my internship at KPMG has proven my ability to be a quick-learner and adaptor when being placed in a fast-paced working environment. I believe this experience and training has prepared me to take the next step and pursue a full time position for a company where I can be a part of a team as well as allowing me to focus my energy on professional growth.

2. What’s your biggest weakness?
I have had trouble in the past with prioritization. As a Vice President of, I have had problems in the beginning with taking on overwhelming projects excessively and then, in some cases, not delivering in a quality manner. I think that's the opportunity that as a freshman, you want to do everything in the perfect manner and to help out whenever it is necessary in trying not to let anyone down.
Realizing this was a problem, I was then talked to the consultant of for advice. I suggested to have committee meeting weekly in order to discuss the every significant matter regarding the association and initiated to plan out weekly delivery schedule in advance, in order for me to effectively prioritize my task on hand and to deliver in a quality manner. Also, I keep an organizer in my smartphone that synchronize with Google Calendar in my computer as it has a notification system to remind me of what should be completed. Additionally, I've learned to be more assertive, to better recognize and prioritize projects, to know whether I can bail others out without jeopardizing my existing work.

3. What is your greatest strengths?
I’m a problem solver. I love taking a problem and looking at it from every angle. I enjoy work that challenges me and pushes me to think outside the box. I enjoy situations where I am allowed to work with other people to come up with creative solutions. At my last internship, I was asked to come up with ways to increase the effectiveness of the work flow and to ensure the information linkage is in place without decreasing the accuracy. As I was new to the company, I had to quickly get my feet on the ground and analyse what every department was doing and facing. I was able to not only streamline the workflow and deliver within one month period, but saving the company over 40% of paper wastage as compared to previous workflow.

4. Are you into big picture or detail?
I’m definitely a big-picture person because I think strategically in terms of where the organization needs to be in order to be successful and profitable, but I can focus on whatever necessary details I need to inform those decisions. In my opinion, we should be able to see the big picture as well as detail-oriented in order to become a successful leader. You can’t get caught up in just the details or you will lose sight of the long-term goals. And you can’t get caught up in just looking at the big picture, or you will fail because of the lack of detail. I was the Vice President for as well as Sport Director for Games & Telematch Committee throughout my college and university life. As a leader, I had to keep an eye out for what everyone was doing and make sure we were working toward the objective of the event as well as the committee as a whole. At the same time, I have to keep a checklist of all the details that needed to be taken care of to make sure even the tiny parts were correct and in place in order for whole event to be successful.

5. What motivates you?
I’m a results-driven person. Meeting set targets within deadlines and achieving the desired end result is my primary motivation as it gives me a sense of accomplishment and it's something that I can look back on and say "I achieved that". In doing lengthy work, I will break the workload up into daily or hourly targets to ensure that the next small success is never too far away. While I enjoy working on a project on my own, I’m particularly motivated by the buzz of working in a team. It’s very rewarding working closely with others who share the same common goal and motivate each other to succeed. I like to take on a challenge and desire the opportunity to utilize my skills and talents; I like to rise to that challenge as part of a concerted team effort – and I naturally appreciate it when my boss compliments me for a job well done.

6. Why audit?
One of my early mentors was my brother in law, who worked in the finance industry and encouraged me to explore opportunities in this field. But it was the combination of my career research along with my lecturers in my major who helped to solidify my decision. My internship at KPMG Malaysia years ago helped me to get an inside view into the world of work in this field. Audit is a broad concept as it includes everything starting from Finance and Accounts and ending with becoming an expert in handling relationships with clients and colleagues. I’m always curious about how things work and how they can be improved. I enjoy working with figures and people, and love to work in an environment where career growth and challenging tasks are common occurrence. I think that auditing allows me to get an understanding of every aspect of the client’s business processes and able to talk to people at every level up their firm, which serve as a great foundation for any career. The massive scope of exposure an Auditor gets to business in general is a motivating factor as where else can we experience so many different systems and processes of the best listed companies in Malaysia inside out? 7. Why did you choose to be an accounting major?
I chose to be an accounting major because I was pretty good at math and really enjoyed the entry level accounting courses. I think I became the most excited about the accounting major when I discovered the career opportunities in public accounting. From the professors I’ve talked with and the research I’ve done online, public accounting offers such a great career and provides a great foundation right out of school. I wanted to set myself up for success and felt that accounting was the best route for me. 8. Why KPMG Malaysia?
Working for an organization, which has won best employer award multiple times, is a motivating factor. KPMG consistently being the finalist for Most Popular Graduate Employer in Accounting in Malaysia’s 100 Leading Graduate Employers, and I also really like idea of KPMG encouraging the opportunity to fulfil the international aspiration. KPMG is made up of outstanding people with a broad range of interests, talents and motivations and the clients are mostly public listed companies in Malaysia drawn from every sector of business and industry imaginable, which means there are countless new challenges and opportunities for the employee of KPMG. At the ACCA Conference, I was able to meet some of the people from Deloitte office and I really felt comfortable and enjoyed this company.

9. Do you wish to pursue higher education?
I am interested in higher studies, but not immediately. I plan to take up part time studies, with either an ACCA or an ICAEW, depending on which will be more beneficial for my line of work.

10. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
As a fresher, I am assuming by first five years will be a huge learning curve. I am definitely interested in making a long-term commitment to my next position. I want to absorb much of the industry knowledge and also to sharpen my technical abilities. In next five years I see myself playing various roles in the team from a developer to leading a team. In terms of my future career path, I’m confident that if I do my work with excellence, opportunities will inevitable open up for me.

11. What are your major achievements to date?
I have several notable accomplishments in both my education and my work experience. But, I felt that my major achievements was yet to come as I’m looking to achieve more tomorrow than what I did today. However, the most notable accomplishment to date most probably will be delivery of the enhanced business process workflow during my internship last year. Since I had already practiced the knowledge of effective internal control in my university life as well as in KPMG Malaysia and no one else in the company had worked with business process workflow, I was asked to come up with ways to increase the effectiveness of the work flow and to ensure the information linkage is in place without decreasing the accuracy. This was outside the original scope of my internship, but definitely mission critical. As I was new to the company, I had to quickly get my feet on the ground and analyse what every department was doing and facing. I was able to deliver the proposal on my Director’s desk within one month resulting in an enhanced method for information retrieval and the linkage of information from sales to finance is ensured, which was the major concern of existing users and the Business Director. 12. Have you applied for any other jobs?
Finding the right position is obviously very important to me so I am being rather thorough in my job search. I have been quite selective but I have identified a number of different jobs and organisations which fit my criteria and my applications for these vacancies have reached varying stages. However, this opportunity with yourselves remains my preferred choice – both because of the specifics of the role in question and because the organisation itself is one I feel to be particularly appropriate to me. 13. Do you work well under pressure?
Working for a start-up company last year has naturally been quite a high pressure experience on occasion and have since learned to manage stress. I’ve had to deal with numerous conflicting demands within limited time frame on my time. To tell you the truth, I think I work the same if there's pressure or if there's no pressure. I try and take out negative emotional factors and work hard regardless of down time or busy time. If the situation involved pressure due to a lack of time, then the only difference in my work would be the extra time I would need to put in to meet the deadline on time. 14. Which three words would you friends use to describe you?
The first is hard working. I put a lot of effort into what I do and anyone I work with would say that I do whatever it takes to get the job done efficiently and effectively. Second is team player because I excel in an environment that is supportive and work together. Last would be communicator, because I talk with anyone I come in contact with and I find it easy to get along with people.

15. Why do we need to hire you?
I sincerely believe that I'm a great fit for the job. I think that my past internship in the KPMG Malaysia and my ability to work autonomously make me a good match for this position. I realize that there are many other graduate who have the ability to do this job, but I also bring an additional quality that makes me the very best person for the job – my attitude for excellence. My high energy and quick learning style enable me to hit the ground and size up problems rapidly. Throughout my university life and previous internship, I have consistently reached for becoming the very best I can become. I think my active participation, leadership positions and awards obtained from extra-curricular activities throughout my study life are the result of possessing the qualities you're looking for in an employee. I have the ability to stay focused in stressful situations and can be counted on when the going gets tough. I'm confident I would be a great addition to your team. I’m excited by the prospect of bringing this same level of commitment and enthusiasm to this new and exciting opportunity.

16. Do you prefer working with others or working alone?
I am equally comfortable working in groups as well as independently. Throughout my university matriculation, I’ve had the opportunity to work alone as well as be a part of many groups. I’ve found that, in either circumstance, I’m able to perform at my peak level. I have the initiative and self-determination it takes to be successful working alone, and I have the communication and people skills to be successful working in a team. I enjoyed representing my university in participating in basketball tournament as well as being vice president of the. Each required a different kind of team play, but the overall goal of learning to be a member of a group was invaluable. I continued to grow as team member through my subjects taken throughout my university life where we had numerous group assignments. I really enjoy collaborating with a team and brainstorming ideas, but that doesn’t mean I can’t work independently to get things done. I prefer teamwork, but have no issues working independently especially in carrying out the thesis in the final year of my degree and earned an A+ for the thesis.

17. What do you know about the type of work you will be doing at KPMG? What do you think you will be doing in your first year at KPMG?
My first & foremost expectation from my first job would be to learn how all these are applied in a practical and industrial way. I also want to be a part of the corporate culture and learn how this is run. As an audit associate, I can expect to perform a range of accounting tasks. My duties might include examining financial statements for completeness, accuracy and compliance with uniform accounting classifications; reconciling client’s reports and financial data, vouching invoices, debit and credit notes, statements and others, making sure two or more documents agree and other report and analysis based tasks. I might also have to test client’s internal controls to help a company mitigate against risks, check for compliance with IRFS and Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404 and chase up clients to find out about missing information or find out why there are inconsistencies, when they occur.

18. Can you discuss any recent developments which have strongly affected PwC and the accounting industry? / Discuss a recent piece of financial news that has been in the press. How will impact upon PwC's business.
The FASB amended the guidance for measurement of inventory by issuing ASU 2015-11 – Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory. The new guidance becomes effective for public entities in 2017. Early adoption is permitted in 2015. The new guidance does not impact inventory measured at LIFO or under the Retail Inventory Method.
Prior to this, inventory was measured at the lower of cost or market. Market was defined as replacement cost, subject to a ceiling of net realizable value (i.e., selling price less costs to dispose) and a floor of net realizable value less a normal profit margin. Under the new guidance, inventory is measured at the lower of cost or net realizable value (NRV), which is the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. Eliminating the concept of the ceiling and floor in determining“market” with a single measurement of NRV is intended to simplify the accounting for preparers. When evidence exists that the net realizable value of inventory is lower than its cost, the difference should be recognized as a loss in earnings in the period in which it occurs.

19. Can you explain some main problems which every professional service firms can face up with today?
The “Big 4” face major challenges in the pursuit of consolidating and expanding market position amid competition with banks. Primarily, given the high demand for talent within the advisory industry, it is essential to attract and retain the best available human capital in the market. For junior and mid-level positions, the compensation paid by the “Big 4” is considerably lower than the average in the M&A market. Whilst this remains the case, it will prove difficult to build and maintain competitive teams. It is uniformly felt that aligning salaries and bonuses to the investment banks is fundamental. Understandably, implementing this is fraught with difficulty and Partner resistance, but essential in building a sustainable long term presence in Lead Advisory. This must be combined with strong career development that incentivises junior and mid-level employees to commit to the partnership for the long term. Currently, the gap between the senior director and partner level is perceived to be too great and difficult to broach. Often this is viewed as a disincentive and leads to well-trained individuals leaving the firm when they are at their most valuable. Professional services companies that have introduced a mezzanine or intermediate level have been successful in retaining their top talent. The conundrum faced by the “Big 4” is that if such a level is introduced in Lead Advisory it will have to be rolled out across the other product lines. Therefore getting cross-departmental consensus to introduce such an initiative may prove very difficult.

The culture in investment banks is often condemned and often cited as the main reason why professionals choose to leave. The same environment is acknowledged as more effective in terms of driving internal competition and work ethic, and therefore winning clients. Creating a more results-oriented culture is considered pivotal to building a competitive corporate finance practice and the recruitment of professionals trained in the investment banks is the first step in the process.

In addition, you may well also be asked: 20. Describe a time when you had to improve a piece of work after criticism? 21. Give an example of a time you failed to accomplish something. / Tell me about a time you failed.
I had worked hard on a generation and presentation of income and expense flux analysis report and cash flow analysis to the Finance Manager and Director. I have done a thorough research and developed the format of the report by referring to the report of public listed companies. Also, I created a platform to transfer financial information directly from company’s accounting database. However, in the very first presentation, they told me that they were disagree with the accuracy of the financial information that I presented and that the reports generated were complex for users who do not possess financial knowledge.

I was surprised as I felt that I had prepared well and the report generated was informative. Hence, I requested to go through the presentation with Finance Manager after the meeting and explain to me exactly what the problems were. She pointed out that the financial information included was somehow outdated and therefore failed to present accurate financial forecast in the report. I found out that I have key-in all the payment voucher as well as receipt into the accounting database and raise the queries to Finance Manager. After a thorough investigation with Finance Manager, we discovered that the outstanding financial data were still sitting on her desk and have not ever passed to me before. Immediately, I started with updating the financial information that was missed out previously into the accounting database and then present the information in a reader-friendly manner by separating the significant financial event as according the Finance Manager. After make sure everything was updated and crossed check with the source document, I asked if I could initiate another financial meeting to discuss the financial report developed and they agreed. I explained the problems that causing the discrepancy and also discussed the financial condition in the coming financial month. After that, the Director paid me an enormous compliment for generating an enhanced report in such a short period of time after criticism. I’ve found that collective intelligence is much better at solving problems than any one person. So hearing about my mistakes or missed opportunities, and listening to others is a great way to improve performance, and to learn.

22. Give an example of a time when you had to complete multiple different projects to a short deadline.
In my last internship, I have to deliver multiple tasks within a month such as developing new business process workflow, updating the accounting database, and developing monthly financial analysis. First I plan out the weekly and monthly tasks and decide the easiest route to their completion. I keep track of each assignment independently, as well as prioritize my time in advance so that I know what, when, and how each aspect of the assignment is occurring, and update myself on its progress. I regularly met with the Finance Manager and Director to prioritize the delivery schedule of financial analysis and to discuss the delivery of the new workflow. I keep an organizer in my smartphone that synchronize with Google Calendar in my computer as it has a notification system to remind me of what should be completed. As I completed each task, I checked it off the list.

23. What is the biggest mistake you have made? What did you learn from this mistake?
I think the biggest mistake I ever made at work was in my second internship at. A senior member who transferred from other department to do an inter-department tender seemed to take an instant dislike to me from the very beginning – and one day she was particularly shout at me for the financial information in front of several colleagues. Later on, I was talking to one of the colleagues who was, I thought, attempting to console me. I foolishly vented my feelings and told her what I thought of the lady in question. I was naturally shocked to find out that she went on to tell everyone what I had said and this certainly didn’t help my relationship with the senior team member. Rather than allowing the situation carry on, I chose to have a quiet word with this lady so as to find out what her problem was with me and to see if we could put it behind us. It turned out it was nothing personal; she just resented the fact that a close friend of hers had also been interviewed for my position and had been turned down. Once we had got matters out into the air, her behaviour changed and we actually got on quite well after that. However, I certainly learned a lot from the experience. I learned that careful communication is vital in managing interpersonal relationships and that if I have a problem with someone it’s always best to talk it over with them rather than with someone else.
Teamwork Questions 24. Give me an examples of when you have worked in a team to achieve a goal/ Can you describe a time when you have worked in a team to deliver a piece of work? What was your role in the team? What did you do exactly? / Tell me about a time when you contributed to a team.
I have had many opportunities in both athletics and academics to develop my skills as a team player. My tenure as a basketball player with my high school and college's basketball team serves as a good example. I learned a great deal about teamwork while playing basketball because all the players on the court must act as one to execute the pre-determined strategy, which meant that we ran and passed the ball relentlessly to keep each other moving on the court.

Back to year 2009, basketball team of my school was the defending champion for both district level and state level. However, some of the main player from the prior year champion team have left due to graduation and we need to recruit for new talented player to replace the vacant position, which meant that we need to train with the new player from the basic and the very beginning onwards. Even after two weeks of training, those new players still couldn’t catch up the direction of each strategy we used to play and we left only one month of time for the tournament to begin. The situation was stressful as the existing player started to blame those new recruits. As a captain of the team, I suggested to the coach that we play a friendly match with the amateur basketball team to test our capability as well as understanding with the new recruits. As expected, we lost the friendly match with a 30 points deficit. After the match, I requested every player to sit in a circle and voice out their feelings. I’m glad that everyone willing to voice out their perspective upon each other and trying to figure out what we should do in order to improve the team’s current situation. We then started to train every day, jog every day, walk to school together every day and even having lunch together every day to develop the understanding upon each other. After all, we turn out to be able to defend our champion once again and we even defeated the opponent in the final match with a 34 points.

25. Describe a time when you put your needs aside to help a co-worker or classmate understand a task. How did you assist him or her? What was the result?
I was studying right before a major accounting test. A group of classmates indicated that they did not understand certain chapter that the tutorial answer were presented by me. I’m convinced that I knew enough about most of the chapters and I could perform well enough to earn a good grade. I realized that the chapter that those classmates did not understand was a major portion of the exam since the lecturer had put priority in this particular chapter. I stopped what I was doing to explain to the classmates about the variance analysis and transfer pricing. Those students learned enough from what I taught and they did well on the exam. I couldn’t answer the theory part in certain section that I had not mastered, but I did well enough to get an A.

26. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a co-worker who wasn't doing his/her fair share of the work. What did you do and what was the outcome?
During a group assignment in the last year of my degree, one of the subject in which the lecturer required five members in a group and every group require at least a foreign student. The assignment was to compare the financial performance of five public listed companies in a single industry and were given 7 weeks to accomplish despite some other assignments and mid-term test were due in the same week. We first focused on the background, corporate structure and the projection of financial analysis for the chosen companies, and agreed to submit the first draft after 1 week. On the due date, what we got from the foreign student was far below the expectation. As a leader, I then mentored him the way of doing by showing example and required him to complete within the next five days. In phase two of the assignment, we were required perform SWOT analysis of each company, explanation on how each of our chosen companies performed financially as compared to each other and to industry standard, and their impact on the share price. Unexpectedly, I was being told that the foreign student had dropped the subject with four weeks left. Furiously, I went to the lecturer and told her the situation my group was dealing with. I suggested that we continue with four members without finding a new foreign student in the class and to compare only the financial performance of four public listed companies. She agreed but said to focus on the four companies we had compiled the most info on but not entirely neglecting the fifth. Then we agreed to split up the non-contributor’s work, and completed our work collectively on his share within the next four weeks.

When we had our work done, there were only less than 2 weeks left to the due date and there was still pending of a company to be done. The papers came out very well, but were understandably weak when comparing the fifth company with others. The lecturer understood, and we received the grades we deserved. I was pleased with our teamwork and the way we handled the situation. I learned the importance of examining tasks more carefully so I can better estimate the amount of time required to complete them.

27. Tell me about a time that you didn't work well with a supervisor. What was the outcome and how would you like to have changed what happened? /Give me an examples of where you have been in a situation of conflict, and explain how you choose to do the right thing.
I remember there is one when I worked as an intern for a private entity and I discovered that there is a long outstanding trade creditor account which amounting up to 9k and still existed as an active account payable in current year account. Immediately, I queried this issue to the company’s Finance Manager in private. I was being told that the previous account executive has issue number of cheque regarding this payment and respective creditor did not claim nor respond upon the outstanding payment. She was then told me to write it off and recognize the sum amount as donation under other income. I disagreed with the decision of writing off the long outstanding trade creditor as the company’s liability will be understated whereas the income will be overstated. She seemed to pay no attention to my opinion as she had to complete multiple tender to a short deadline and asked me to carry on with her decision. I went back to my place and started to do research for the proper accounting treatment via Internet and advice from lecturer. After I got the proper way of doing confirmed, I went back and requested to talk to her, and told her that her decision was inappropriate as it was opposing the GAAP and IFRS 9 Financial Instrument. After I explained under what circumstances that outstanding trade creditor can be written off and what we should do, she agreed my way of doing and make an apology for not paying attention on my opinion earlier. I learned that it only takes simple dialog and a little compromise to overcome a disagreement.

28. Have you worked with someone you didn't like? If so, how did you handle it? 29. Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the end result?
I have had a disagreement with one of my tutor over the wording of a question on one of the midterm, which was missed by several members of the class due to the ambiguity. I brought it up to the tutor privately, but he was dismissive of my request. After discussing it with classmates, we went to him to discuss it further. At that point, he agreed that there was a level of ambiguity in the question, but would not change the grade of the test. However, he did appreciate us bringing it to his attention and gave us the opportunity to work on a separate project for extra credit to make up for the shortfall on the test. We completed the extra credit and we were all satisfied with the final result. It wasn't necessarily the solution we were seeking, but it was a compromise that was acceptable. 30. Have you ever been a member of a group where two of the members did not work well together? What did you do to get them to do so? / Tell us about a time that you had to work on a team that did not get along. What role did you take? What was the result? / Tell me about a time when you resolved a conflict in a group.
I have participated in several groups throughout my academic career. There is a time when I had to work with a group in my entrepreneurship class, and one of the member had some personality clashes with the other member. My two members did not care for each other and they wanted to complete and wouldn’t work together as a group. However, I realized the importance of completing the assignment in a prompt and efficient manner. I focused on the skills they brought to the job, their ability to solve problems and the two things I did appreciate, slowly my attitude towards them changed. When I presented them with the evidence that we would finish the assignment before the due date by working together, and they decided that working together was the right path to take. I made it a point to put their differences aside and complete their respective part, along with offering assistance to the other group members. As a result, we finished our assignment without any further conflict. We were never friends, but we did work well together.

31. What is the toughest group that you have had to get cooperation from? Describe how you handled it and the outcome? /What has been most difficult teamwork experience?
It must be the time when I was managing the creation of our logo, medal and leaflet for a marathon running event and we were on a very tight deadline because we had to have the leaflet printed in time for advertising purpose. It took a considerable amount of planning and organization on my part as I had to assess everything that would need to be arranged in advance, from hiring the set-up crew to liaising with our designers on the production of appropriate leaflet for us to hand out. The student designer that was assigned to the project was very talented, but unfortunately she told me that she possibly will missed a deadline that I assigned in the first place. When I approached her about it, she blew up at me. I was taken aback by her response, but I remained calm. I acknowledged that the deadlines were tight and explained again the reasoning and the importance of having the logo and corporate literature ready. She relaxed a little when she saw that I wasn’t attacking her. She told me about all of her other competing assignments and how overwhelmed she was. I asked her if there was any way that I could help her come up with a solution. Eventually, we agreed that it would help if her tutor had a better understanding of how important and time-consuming this event would cost her. We decided we would speak with the tutor together. The tutor ended up agreed on extending the subsequent checkpoint for her, which took some of the pressure off of her. As a result, the designer was able to focus on the creation of our leaflet and managed to hand in to me by one day later than the deadline.

On the day itself, we were on site very early to make sure all the sponsorship was arrived in time and everything was in place, tested and fully functioning prior to the arrival of the runners – just in case there were any last minute hitches, which, thankfully, there weren’t. The event was very successful and received numerous compliments from both our own members and visitors. Our marathon event led to a substantial increase of resources for the association and I believe the leaflet played a key role in that.

Leadership Questions 32. Describe your leadership style and give an example of a situation when you successfully led a group / Give me an examples of where you have had to lead a team/ Describe a time when you’ve successfully managed a project for example coursework or organising an event. What challenges did you overcome? Who supported you? What was the outcome? 33. Tell me about a time when you took initiative. 34. Tell me about a time when you solved an important problem. 35. Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project disagreed with your ideas. What did you do? /Tell me about a time when you had an idea but your team was not willing to accept it. How did you go about presenting this idea and trying to persuade them to accept it?
To give you a recent example, in my last internship, I was asked by the Business Director to take the lead for the development and implementation of company’s enhanced business process workflow. I had to quickly get my feet on the ground and initiate a plan. I started with discussing my plans and schedule with the Finance Manager and got the go-ahead to start to interview the existing users to get a feel for their perspectives upon the current workflow. As I was new to the company, I scheduled several meetings with existing users from different departments to inquire how current workflow works and their perspective on current workflow. The ideas shared were immediate, and high quality. After all, I analysed what every department was facing and identified a variety of weaknesses. I started to do research on requirement of an efficient and effective workflow and refer to the workflow of other established company. Meanwhile, I have scheduled multiple meetings to have detail discussion with Director regarding feasibility and appropriateness of certain controls in different scenario. I was able to deliver the complete proposal within a month.
Then, I initiated a meeting and discussed my proposed changes with existing users, Finance Manager and Director. Since they had been following the same process for years, I knew it would be tough to convince people to change things up. After my detailed presentation, the changes was met with considerable resistance from the some of the existing users of the previous workflow who didn't see the need for change. The reason which most of the existing user against was the enforcement of several new controls and policies that were necessary as the company is growing in term of size and revenue from year to year. I emphasized that new workflow vastly improve the information retrieval process and the linkage of information from sales to finance is ensured. I managed to bring them round to my way of thinking, emphasising that any disruption would only be short-term and that the long-term gains would more than justify the project. Ultimately, not only did I manage to persuade them to follow my vision but I also got them greatly involved in the process, providing a lot of valuable feedback on enhancing the new business process workflow. 36. Give an example of a time in which you felt you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates at work.
When I was leading my university basketball team at the first match in a tournament, some of the players on my team were intimidated by the other team because they were bigger in size and obviously more experienced as they were tournament’s previous year quarterfinalist. I encouraged them and told them that we had practiced for so long and so hard that we deserved just as much respect as those other teams. I told them not to matter victory and it is an honour to play our favourite sport with other good players in such a high level tournament, and what matter is that we still able to play our favourite sport even if we lost the match. They were so excited and pumped after my speech. They cheered each other on, and not only did we won that first round match, but my team seized the overall third place in the tournament.