Interview Guide for Finance Roles: How the Best Do It

When I interview finance people, I look for a mix of technical and soft skills. Technical skills are the basics for any finance role. But if you find someone who can also communicate, collaborate, negotiate, advocate for good financial practices, and understand your overall business, then you’ve struck gold. Here’s what this perfect mix should look like:

Heavy analytical skills

This should be one of your top priorities when evaluating finance talent. They need to interpret financial data, spot trends, and make informed decisions. Strong analytical skills are key to gathering large amounts of information—especially numbers—and putting everything together to draw smart conclusions.

High attention to detail

Mistakes in this area can cost your company a lot of money, whether through poor tracking or exposing you to compliance and regulatory risks. They must be very careful and reliable, especially as they’ll be handling sensitive and important financial data.

Ethics and integrity

As they will be dealing with money and sensitive information, you need to trust them and be confident they will follow best practices in financial matters. They must be super trustworthy. Thankfully, interviews are the best opportunities to spot liars right away, so be extra careful.

Effective communication

They need to be really good at explaining complex ideas—not just to their peers, but also to people in other departments who might not know much about finance. They have to be able to adjust their explanations so everyone can understand.

Proactive problem-solving ability

This is something you always look for. Can they come up with good solutions and be creative in solving problems? Even more important, you don’t want someone who just follows instructions. You want someone who identifies issues, digs deeper, and proactively solves them.

Lifelong learning

You need someone adaptable, always looking to learn new things and stay current. Finance is always changing, so it makes sense to look for this mindset in a candidate. This means embracing new technologies, methods, and industry trends. Such people are valuable assets, ready to tackle any challenge they face.

Carefully building your interview process to fit your needs can help you find the perfect match sooner. Here are my six tips on how to get it right:

Tip #1

The first thing that will set you on the right path is having a structured interview process, making sure you evaluate all candidates the same way. Start by matching the job description with the requirements and identifying the main qualities you want to measure. You can use the ones I mentioned earlier.

Tip #2

I always include behavioral questions to see how candidates handle different situations. For example, ask them to describe a time they explained a complex financial idea to someone without a finance background. You could also ask about a challenging project where they had to create a model and how they solved it. Another good question is about a time they built a financial model for something they didn’t fully understand—how did they learn and get started to make sure they were on the right track?

Tip #3

You can test candidates’ technical skills by creating simulations with real-life scenarios and problems for them to solve, paying close attention to their approaches and abilities. Customize these exercises to the specific financial skills you need, whether they are more accounting-focused or modeling-focused. This way, you can make sure they have the basic knowledge required for the finance role you’re offering.

Tip #4

Another effective strategy is to conduct panel interviews with people from different departments, not just finance. This helps you see if the candidate is a good fit across various teams and perspectives.

Tip #5

We should never let culture fall behind. It can determine if someone has a future in your company or not. Think about your own culture and come up with questions to see how candidates align with your values, vision, and mission.

Tip #6

A good interview process should be thorough but not too long. You don’t want it to be so tedious that you end up with only desperate candidates. If your process takes too long, you might lose great candidates who get disinterested over time.

As in any field, hiring in finance comes with its challenges. This is a complex market, and you need to look out for a few things and know how to overcome them:

Finding soft skills

One of the biggest hiring challenges is finding candidates with the right soft skills. While technical skills are a must, it’s tough to find finance professionals who also have strong leadership and communication abilities. These soft skills are crucial for teamwork and fitting into your company culture. Look for candidates who show ambition, motivation, and the potential to be great leaders and communicators.

Defining needs and process

If you’re not a financial expert or it’s your first time hiring for a finance role, it can be tough to design the interview process and know exactly what you need. Clearly define the problems that need solving and the type of person who can solve them. The best way to go in these cases is to consult with experts or headhunters like Lupa to ensure you’re targeting the right qualities in your candidates.

Competitive market

The demand for top finance talent is high, and the competition can be tough and costly. To attract the best candidates, offer a compelling package that includes a clear path for growth. Ambitious finance professionals want challenging problems to solve and opportunities to learn and grow. Make sure your role offers these.

Assessing potential

It’s crucial to identify and assess high-potential candidates. Those with a strong desire to learn and grow will stay with your company longer and contribute more significantly. Develop ways to weed out less enthusiastic candidates and focus on those with a real appetite for learning and development. This will help you build a stronger, more dedicated finance team.

Finding top finance talent can be complex, especially if it’s your first time. But with the formula I shared, you’ll improve over time. Remember: Technical, analytical, and problem-solving skills are essential, but if candidates aren’t eager to grow with you, they may not be the best investment for your company.

Want to know more about how to make the best out of your finance interview process? I’d love to chat and share my insights on hiring the best talent in LatAm, not just in finance but in other fields as well. Reach out to me here.