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Data Bank for Interview Questions Specific to Industry - classified by major industries The Major Classified Industries include: I. Banking and Finance (including Big 4, Accounting, Investment, Insurance etc.) II. Building Engineering and Construction (including Property, etc.) III. Educational Services (including teaching, administrative support and educationalrelated work etc.) IV. Government & NGO (including AO, EO, Disciplinary, NGO & Public Utilities etc.) V. IT & Telecom (including Market Research, Business Consultancy etc.) VI. Marketing, Advertising & Logistics (including Airlines, Publishing, Retailing, Tourism & Hotel etc.) VII. Others

I. 1.

Banking and Finance (including Big 4, Accounting, Investment, Insurance etc.)

All Banking/Finance Why do you want to work for our bank and why do you want to work in this position? Where you see yourself in five to ten years? How will working for us help you to achieve your long term goals? What did you learn during your internship at XXX company that you believe will help you in this job at our company? When did you have to meet the deadline for, did you achieve the deadline and what could you have done differently? You are not business major, why are you interested in this job? Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuade successfully someone to see things your way? 'Talk me through a situation where you had to use your initiative to solve a problem for which there was no set procedures.' Give me an examples of when you have worked in a team to achieve a goal Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem. Why did you work part-time as a teller and what have you learnt that you can contribute to our department? By providing examples, convince me that you can adapt to a wide variety of people, situations and environments. Can you discuss any recent developments in which may have influenced the industry as whole in Hong Kong? What does it mean to be a "self-starter"?
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Investment Banking/Corporate Banking/ Investment or Insurance Companies What do you know about the work nature of a relationship manager? Tell be about a stock you like or hate recently and why What is an IPO and why would a company want to go public?' What is the difference between default and prepayment risk? What do you consider to be the long-term global impact of QEs of the USA?' 'How do you see the potential for cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions activity over the coming years particularly in Asia and why? How do you "value" yourself in financial terms Estimate the annual car demand for car batteries

3.

Bloomberg (2nd round interview) A group exercise with 6 candidates assigned in each group and they were required to solve the following scenario: A customer was very upset because the drink he ordered had not arrived after one hour and he complained and asked for discount. As shop-owners, how would be dealt with such a customer?

Assessment was only made on the presentation but not the discussion progress. The presentation was held in front of 6 groups of 36 people and 1 assessor.
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BDO Group Assessment The topic was on whether minimum wages should be legislated as a law

5.

Big Four Job Applications List of Sample and Past Questions 5.1)

Online Application Form - Short Questions (around 100 words) What is your career objective and what you have done to achieve it? Describe your greatest success or a situation where you exceeded your own expectations. Outline your career ambitions and objectives. How can you contribute to the success of the firm? Please explain how your personal qualities, skills, knowledge and working experience will help you to be successful in the position for which you are applying. What divisions are you interested in? Please explain. What clubs, societies or community organisations do you belong to and to what extent are you involved?
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Please give a brief summary of your current recreational and leisure activities, including sports and hobbies. What factors have influenced your career choice? Why are you applying for this position? Please include any other information which you may consider relevant to your application.

5.2)

Aptitude Test

Example 1 Respond to the following by indicating the most appropriate response. You have several internal customers with whom you need to talk to before the end of the day. You note that some of your colleagues have some free time because they were able to finish all their assigned tasks earlier than expected. Your best course of action is to:

Continue your own work although you might not get to all of your internal customers Ask one of your colleagues to work with a few of your internal customers Ask your supervisor to tell the other team members to help you Request some assistance in dealing with your internal customers from management.

Example 2 Respond to the following questions by indicating your agreement with each statement using the scale below: 1= strongly disagree 2= Disagree 3= Undecided 4= Agree 5=Strongly agree

I enjoy working in a team. Once I have achieved a goal, I set a new and more challenging goal. I usually cant wait to try out new things at work. I always want to win.

Example 3 Select the response that most accurately represents your own experience. In the most recent situation I was asked to act immediately:

I asked my coworkers to help. I asked my boss for advice and instructions. I checked to make sure it was my responsibility I acted according to the request.

Verbal Reasoning Example (shl)

Many organisations find it beneficial to employ students over the summer. Permanent staff often wish to take their own holidays over this period. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for companies to experience peak workloads in the summer and so require extra staff. Summer employment also attracts students who may return as well qualified recruits to an organisation when they have completed their education. Ensuring that the students learn as much as possible about the organisation encourages interest in working on a permanent basis. Organisations pay students on a fixed rate without the usual entitlement to paid holidays or sick leave. Statement 1 - It is possible that permanent staff who are on holiday can have their work carried out by students. (A) Statement 2 Students in summer employment are given the same paid holiday benefit as permanent staff. (B) Statement 3 Students are subject to the organisations standard disciplinary and grievance procedures. (C) Statement 4 Some companies have more work to do in the summer when students are available for vacation work. (A)

Numerical Reasoning In a numerical reasoning test, you are required to answer questions by using facts and figures presented in statistical tables. In each question you are usually given a number of options to choose from. One, and only one, of the options is correct in each case. If necessary, use a rough sheet of paper and/or a calculator.

Newspaper Readership
Daily Newspapers Readership (millions) Year 1 The Daily Chronicle Daily News The Tribune The Herald Daily Echo 3.6 13.8 1.1 8.5 4.8 Year 2 2.9 9.3 1.4 12.7 4.9 Percentage of adults reading each paper in Year 3 Males 7 24 4 30 10 Females 6 18 3 23 12

Question 1 - Which newspaper was read by a higher percentage of females than males in Year 3? A. The Tribune B. The Herald C. Daily News D. Daily Echo E. The Daily Chronicle Question 2 What was the combined readership of the Daily Chronicle, the Daily Echo and The Tribune in Year 1? A. 10.6 B. 8.4 C. 9.5 D. 12.2 E. 7.8

5.3) Past or Sample Interview Questions i) Personal Experience

Please introduce yourself. How do you describe yourself? Why did you choose your degree course? What are your favourite courses and why? What do you like the most/least in your university education? Why did you switch your major? What are your interests and hobbies? Please briefly talk about your involvement in extra-curricular activities. Tell me something about the projects you have done at school. Tell me about your exchange experience in the UK. How do you rank family, friends and career? How do you maintain a good balance between work and family? Please share with me your community service experience. Please share with me your travelling experience. What is your favourite book/author/movie? Do you like numerical and analytical tasks? You are a non-accounting major student. Do you think you have disadvantages when applying to accounting jobs?

ii) Competencies

What are your strengths and weaknesses? Describe an experience in which you can demonstrate your leadership skills. Describe the biggest challenge in your life so far. How did you face it? And what did you learn from this experience? How did you deal with situation with diverse opinion? What attributes do you possess to enable you to be a suitable candidate for this job? Tell me a situation that you need to learn new things and then make use of your new knowledge to perform the required task? Can you work under pressure? Any examples? How did you handle a stressful situation? Have you ever tried to convince others to solve a problem? Please talk about your experience in handling difficult clients? How do you set priorities for the tasks in hand? Why should we employ you rather than another candidate? Describe your greatest success or a situation where you exceeded your own expectations. Do you prefer working with others or working alone? Do you think you are a team player? Team work is critical to our project success. What evidence do you have to prove that you are a good team player? Do you make your opinions known when you disagree with the views of your supervisor? Give me an example of where you have had to lead a team Give me an example of where you have been in a situation of conflict, and explain how you choose to do the right thing.

iii) Work/Internship Experience

What have you learned from the summer jobs or internships you have held? Are you willing to work in China? Why? Any challenging tasks you have encountered when working as an intern? What are the differences between working in Hong Kong and that of the PRC? What is the most challenging part of your previous part-time job? What was your most valuable work experience

iv) Career Planning and Maturity

What are your career objectives? What have you done to help achieve them? Why do you want to work in the accounting field? Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years time? If you get the job offer now, what will you do before the job starts? Any plan to further upgrade your professional qualifications or standing in this field? What are your expectations with PWC?
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How can you contribute to our company? Have you applied for any other jobs? If you are given job offers from more than one firm, which firm would you choose? Why?

v) Knowledge of Employer

What do you know about our company? What do you like the most/least in our company? What are the missions, visions, and values of our company? What is our market position? Any news on the industry/corporation. What are the future challenges of Big Four. What do you think are the most important issues facing this company at the moment? Why choose KPMG? In your opinion, how does KPMG different from the other 3? Which have strongly affected PwC and the accounting industry? (Commercial Awareness) What do you know about the type of work you will be doing at PwC? What do you think you will be doing in your first year at PwC? Discuss a recent piece of financial news that has been in the press. How will impact upon PwC's business.

vi) Knowledge of the Profession

What can you tell me about the ACA qualification to which you have applied? Why do you want to do this qualification? What is the difference between Auditing and Accounting? Why do you prefer audit assurance to tax service? What is the most challenging task faced by a professional accountant? Why do you choose this profession instead of other industry like banking etc? What are the future prospects of the accounting profession? What are the qualifications of being a competent professional accountant? With the rise of IPOs and economic activities on the Mainland, what are the major impacts on the development of accounting industry in HK? How much do you know about the financial market?

vii) Scenario-based Questions Suppose you are an Audit Trainee at one of the Big Four. Your supervisor asks you to conduct a research on tax services in Europe with three colleagues from another team who are two years senior than you. The research report is meant to be submitted to the Associate Director (Tax) early next week.

Among the three colleagues, two are very productive and friendly, but one of them is not able to do his share and fails to produce quality work as requested. Worse still, he is the one who always late for meetings and he criticises unconstructively on others work. The only thing he can do right is he is quite capable of giving brilliant presentations in front of the boss and clients. You also know that he is the boss family friend. What would you do?

viii) Current Affairs

Tell me about your views on universal suffrage. What are your views on the current property market? Can you comment on the existing medical services in HK? What are your views on implementing minimum wage legislation in HK? What are your views on the pollution problems in HK and the South China region? Please comment on the 4-year university education system to be implemented in 2012. What do think about the economic prospect of HK? With the rapid economic development in Shanghai and Beijing, what challenges do you foresee HK will face in the future as an international financial centre? Interest rate and its impact on the real estate market? Do you think the standard of accounting profession on the Mainland will catch up Hong Kong in 5-20 years? Can you predict the trend of retail business in Hong Kong in the next 3-5 years?

ix) Any Other Information

Tell me anything that would help you in this job application that you havent mentioned before. Do you have any questions?

5.4) Assessment Centre Discussion Topic & Presentation

Cultural Diversity: How to coordinate the work between the Singaporean and Malaysian groups within the company? Based on the discussion, present the solutions to the Board of Directors. How to improve the efficiency of a multi-national company that produces crackers (crisps)? Based on the discussion, present the solutions to the Board of Directors. Company ABC is making a huge loss in profit. Information on company background, business nature, financial accounts are provided for discussion. Please propose business strategies that can turn the business into a healthy state.
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Deloitte Group Assessment: A case on pollution that affect the growing of pearls. They were asked to discuss and present. After presentation, the HR manager and Senior Tax Manager will ask questions (related to the case) to the group and to the individuals.

5.5) Partner Interview Casual chat : work experience, school experience, hobbies, current news Probing/searching questions

You are not studying accounting. My son is also not an accounting student. Apparently he spent the entire summer working in this company and he told me that its very hard for non-accounting students to pick up accounting skills. I guess my son is right. What do you think? If our company and another Big Four firm are both going to hire you, which one would you join and why?

Killer questions

Why should I offer the chance to you rather than one of the other candidates? Why didnt you take any summer jobs when you were at school? Name five current country leaders / members of the Legco. Name three things to remember you by.

KPMG Partner Interview Samples

Why choose Big 4 instead of working for a corporate? Do you know how KPMG earns its profit? What else do you want to share with me? What is your career goal other than being an auditor?

II. Building Engineering and Construction (including Property, etc.) 1.

What is your overall career objective? Do you see yourself working in engineering ten years from now? If not, what do you think you will be doing? Why do you choose to work for a contractor instead of a consultancy?
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Why did you choose this topic as your final year project and tell me what was your learning. Describe the most significant written technical report or presentation that you had to complete Tell me about your greatest success in using the principles of logic to solve an engineering problem during your internship. What do you enjoy most/least about engineering? Why dont you join the company you interned at ? Why did you study an engineering undergraduate program after finishing your associate degree program in business? Tell me about your experience in dealing with routine engineering/surveying work. How do you keep from getting bored? I expect the engineer that I hire for this position to be precise detailed oriented in everything he or she does. What checks and balances do you use to make sure that you dont make mistakes? Describe a typical day out in the construction site during your internship. 'Imagine you are a couple of months into a 6 month project and it is about to overrun on costs. How would you deal with this most effectively, what steps would you take?'
How can you best use your engineering education and prior work experience to help our

company grow?

III. 1.

Educational Services (including teaching, administrative support and educational-related work etc.)

Teaching Jobs Interview Questions Why do you want to be a teacher? What aspire you to dedicate your career in teaching? What does education mean to you? What is your teaching philosophy? What are the essential qualities of being a good teacher in the 21st century? Do you have such attributes? Please provide evidence to demonstrate your three most important qualities. What are your views on the existing HK education policy? How do you facilitate student learning within and outside classroom? How much do you understand young people? What are the characteristics of Gen Y, and how are you getting along with them effectively?
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Please describe your previous experience in handling difficult situations with young people? How did you solve the situations? How do you maintain student discipline in a dynamic classroom? What would you do if there are students who do not observe classroom rules by disturbing your teaching and the learning of other students deliberately?

IV. 1.

Government & NGO (including AO, EO, Disciplinary, NGO & Public Utilities etc.)

EO Interview Suppose you are assigned to plan for a fire drill for the whole department. What steps will you take? Do you agree that the government should subsidize seasonal influenza and vaccinations? Why do you choose a government job instead of working in the commercial sector? Have you ever taken any leadership roles in the university? Mention one occasion in which you motivate your teammates to achieve a goal. Have you also applied for AO? Which position appeals more to you? Why? If we dont offer you a EO position, what are you going to do? What make one a competent EO? The clerical officers under your supervision are almost all older and more experienced than you in the department. How are you going to lead them? A clerical officer I, who is going to retire in 2 years, has been demonstrating deteriorating performance lately. As a direct supervisor, what are you going to do? This is your first year conducting performance appraisal for your subordinates. You give a subordinate grade C overall, but some grade D in sub-sections. This subordinate disagrees with you. He argues he had received grade B in the past years and demands that you revise the grading. What will you do?

2.

AO Interview What is your attitude towards the Middle East problem? What are the challenges that China are currently facing ? Do you agree to legalize the selling of human organ? How should the government spend with the fiscal surplus? What is your opinion on legalization of guy marriage? ?
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AO Impromptus Talk "HK vs Shanghai" "HK vs Singapore" "small class teaching" "It is more blessed to give than to receive"

4.

Police Inspector Past Questions 4.1) Written Test - Past Questions (07-08) English o Unemployment in Tin Shui Wai (Why + how to solve) o Air pollution in HK o Access of children to online pornography o Children staying at home without parental supervision o Easy access of obscene photos on the internet Chinese o o o o o o o o

Past Questions (08-09) English o Please comment and give your views on the strategies and approach used by Dalai Lama towards Tibet after the March protests and demonstrations in Llasa. Chinese o

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4.2) Extended Interview 4.2.1. Impromptu Talk Past Questions Equestrian event Demonstration in Lhasa Ministerial system Prestige Aloha Crisis Domestic waste Civic education Princess Diana Abortion Supply of rice Blue sky Outbreak Prostitutes Middle class Typhoon Olympic torch relay Warship Monks Suicide /
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4.2.2. Group Discussion Past Questions Police information leak Blue Sky Action How do Hong Kong people identify with their identity? As Hong Konger, Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese? Use of plastic bags in HK 5 work-day week in private sector Pace of life (slow in Europe vs. fast in HK)

4.2.3. Management Exercise Past Questions Travel Agency Case Imagine you are a management consultant and you are supposed to give suggestions to a travel agency on the application and execution of either o Flexi-Work hours, or o Structured work-hours

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Congo Case Choose and prioritise to rescue 5 people from 12 in a plane crash o Nurse o Young children (refugees) o Elderly (renowned economist) o Sergeant (physically strong) o Presidents daughter o Ministry of Transportation o Mentally-retarded

ABC Electrical Company Case Communication Problem One day, the branch manager Tim complained to Tom that a report has been released before his review. Tom asked Kimmy, his secretary, what it is about and Kimmy explained that there was a deadline in which Tim was unable to meet nor respond. So the report was released without Tims input/consent. Tim and Kimmy were hostile to each other since then. The company has hired you as a consultant to provide a solution.

4.3) Final Interview Board Past Questions Self introduction Why do you want to be a PI? Do you think poverty is a problem in HK? Why? What is democracy? Do you think democracy is the same as universal suffrage? Whats your views on the unauthorised uploading of obscene photos of some HK artists on the internet? What are your unique selling points? If you fail PI, will you apply for PC? What is the best about the Force? What are we doing well? What is the biggest challenge of the Force? How to face it? Why should we hire you? What are your priorities in life? If there is a grey area that you have to deal with, how would you handle it? Is there any racial discrimination in HK? If your team member tells you that your decision might lead to disciplinary action, what would you do?
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Comment on the education system in HK. Comment on the mother-tongue teaching policy. Which newspapers do you read? There are a lot more murder cases in HK this year than last years. Why is it so and what can we do to prevent it? What do you have to say about this comment : The Police Force is led by the media? Did you apply for other civil service jobs? What qualities do you think a competent police inspector should possess? Do you have such qualities? What is critical thinking? Do you agree that economy is more important than politics? What are the qualities that an inspector should have but not necessarily required in a PC? Have you ever handled a poor performer? What would you do if you face a poor performer in your team? What are the potential threats to HK during the Olympics Games? What are the values of the Force? How long did you plan for this FIB? Would you consider the position of PC, if you fail in this PI application? What is corporate wellness? Do you agree legalization of sex workers? What it meant by rational? The retirement age of police is 55 years old. Do you think it is appropriate? Are there other better measures to rescue people from the natural disaster in Burma/Sichuan? Why didnt you join PMP? Why dont you consider joining other disciplinary force? Imagine you are a SCMP reporter, what headline news are you going to write for tomorrows newspapers? What does good decision-making mean to you? What are the differences between your generation and teenagers nowadays? Do you think there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor? What is the biggest evil in HK? What are the most crucial characteristics of being a good leader? Is it necessary to ban Fa Lun Kung? Your views on Minimum Wage. Do you think HK has a serious pollution problem?
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Is drink-driving a serious offence in HK now? How to tackle it? Imagine you are patrolling the busy streets in TST with a police officer. Suddenly the giant monster Godzilla appeared. What would you do? (new - 08)

V. 1.

IT & Telecom (including Market Research, Business Consultancy etc.)

Tell me about the most difficult IT problem you ever faced during your internship and how you handled it. In retrospect, would you handle it the same way now? Give me an example of a time when you applied your ability to use analytical techniques to define problems or design solutions. Describe for me a situation where you were required to gather a large amount of data, to analyse it objectively and to make a decision or a recommendation based on the results Why do you think you are fit with this position as an iphone apps programmer? Explain what local area networks and wide area networks are, and how, if at all, they are related. To whom did you turn for help the last time that you ran into a major technical problem, and why did you choose that person Tell me about a time when a project team effort that you were involved in failed. What step-by-step criteria do you use to make difficult decisions that involve other engineers? Give me two examples of technical decisions that you had to make on your internship. In the ICT industry, priorities often change quickly. Give me an example of a time when that happened. How did you handle it? What media contacts do you have that would help us market our technical products/services? What personal characteristics do you feel are necessary to be a successful programmer? What single technical skill or ability is your best asset? How do you stay informed about your profession?
Give me an example of something that you have learned from a mistake that you made

on a job at a client site.

VI. Marketing, Advertising & Logistics (including Airlines, Publishing, Retailing, Tourism & Hotel etc.) 1. 'Describe a time when you used your skills to persuade a manager or colleague to accept

your recommendations.'
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Hong Tai MT Program Group Interview: You are in the tourist group management position and there are several tours in a region where there is a terrorist attack. How would you handle it? , , ?

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Kerry Logistics MT Program Group Interview: There is a cargo in Japan contaminated with radiation. How would you handle it?

VII. Others (Recruitment Firms etc.) 1.

Laboratory Work Describe your laboratory experience during your internship with XXX: sample type collected, sampling techniques, field measurements taken and equipment used. Describe a past situation in which you worked as a member of a team? What was your role in the team? Have you had a job/internship where you had to meet strict deadlines? What did you do to meet these deadlines? What do you consider when organizing your work? Give an example or two of the types of repetitive tasks you've had to perform, how you ensured a high level of accuracy while doing repetitive tasks. Describe the level of supervision you've received in your part-time job with XXX and the type of work you did independently. The lab has approximately a dozen people working on different research projects. Frequently equipment usage needs to be coordinated with other lab members. Can you give an example of working as a team member in a large group? Please describe your experience with and/or knowledge of Quality Assurance and Quality Control Analyses. How would you solve any personal conflicts with co-workers? What are your hobbies?

Updated on 6 April 2011

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