by Elaine Sihera

Created on: August 04, 2008

Finance is a pretty wide field: from the basic selling insurance, to banking to investments, it is all about looking after clients' interest and making money, so it tends to be a pretty stressful career. Most finance professionals are involved in selling insurance packages of one kind or another in order to protect people and their loved ones from the adverse financial effects of not having an income, perhaps having an accident, or even dying. Others concentrate on the savings element for children's education or for a special goal. The main aim in a finance career is thus to persuade people to take the services on offer. Interviewers will be seeking to test how candidates will cope under pressure and thus all questions will be geared to teasing that out in various ways.

1. Tell me something about yourself. What really motivates you?
This is the opening classic. It seeks to know more about the applicant primarily to assess whether their motivation matches with the company expectations. Whether the person is self motivated or they have to be directed. If the job involves selling financial packages, this question seeks to identify the kind of personality being interviewed, the level of confidence involved and the ability to get a particular message across to reluctant clients. A person motivated by getting results, communicating with, or empowering, others would be highly sought after.

2. What brings you to the job market at this point in your career?
People move from job to job all the time. The trick here is not to sound as though you are just leaving one job for another perhaps mainly for money but not for any great purpose. This is where you need to show that you have explored the financial field and quote a few elements in it which have attracted your attention and convinced you that this move is now right for you. Mention some specifics of what you have done before and how they would now match with, or enhance, your new role. Quote the trends in lifestyles, like older people who now have more money to spend and more time to enjoy their life with greater security which the financial services can provide, or even the recent movements on the stockmarket and the effect that could have on ordinary people's lives. By noting the latest trends, it will help to demonstrate that you understand the financial markets much better than another candidate might.

3. What would success in your chosen career mean to you?
This question is particularly useful to interviewers to identify

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