If you’re preparing your Stock broker interview questions and answers, first of all, make sure you’re fully aware of the job’s basics, that we summarised in our FAQ articles “Broker vs trader: what is the difference between these two job titles“, “Stock market vs commodity market: the 3 major differences between them” and, obviously, what the main elements of a general Stockbroker job description are.
Specifically regarding the upcoming appointment, then, remember that it is vital to do an in-depth research before any interview, no matter which is the job you are applying to.
The most important analysis we could suggest you do regards the company website, their product, services, careers, but especially the “About Us” section: try and summarize it with your own words to make sure you understood all the most important bits. Visit their LinkedIn page and google a keyword search phrase like “press releases + Company Name”: you’ll find the most recent news and stories shared by the company.
After you feel more confident in knowledge about the Company, let’s focus on some of the Stock broker interview questions and answers about yourself, the ones that always seem the trickiest to answer to:
- “Tell me about yourself“. This may seem like an easy interview question, being it so open-ended. With this question, though, what the hiring manager wants is a quick, 2-3 minute snapshot of what makes you the best candidate to fit the job requirements for this position. Use an example or two of what you did to become the best candidate for that position, then ask if they would like more details and, in case, add some more examples of your background experience.
- “Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?” With this question, the interviewer wants to check that you’ve thought about your future and measure your ambition. The answer to this question, even more than all others, should be tailored to the organisation you are applying for. Check the corporate objectives before the interview and tell them how you’d like to help them achieve them.
- “What are your weaknesses?”. Don’t let this question scare you. Concentrate positively on how you’d like to improve your professional traits. Don’t try and pretend to show positive sides as weaknesses and know well which are the core competencies of this job: don’t highlight any weakness related to them.
- “What is your greatest strength/accomplishment?“. This is your time to pick the professional ones with the biggest impact and let them skills shine, with examples.
- “Why should we hire you?“. Show them how crazy they’d be not to hire you since you match all the job criteria now and in consideration of where they want to go in the future. Check if the company has other open vacancies before the interview and let them know if your skills match any other of those criteria. Have you been down a path already that they have just started? To offer experience, having learnt some lessons, is a very strong plus for a candidate.
- “Why did you leave your last job?“. Don’t say anything negative ever about any previous employer. Show how you’d like to grow with the currently interviewing company, instead.
- “What are your salary expectations?“. Always get prepared for this question, verifying the average salary for your position, title, experience and skills.
- “Do you have any questions?“. Don’t answer: “no, I think that’s everything”. It’s your moment to show your passion for the company by asking some questions that came to your mind researching before the interview, but don’t ask questions that you could easily find the answer to. If you feel brave, ask if there is any reason the hiring manager wouldn’t hire you. Don’t ask about time off, benefits and such.
- “Why do you want to work with us?” With this question, the interviewer wishes to see how much you know about the company culture and strong points and whether you can identify yourself with them.
- “What have you learned from mistakes on the job?” Come up with a small, well-intentioned mistake with a positive lesson learned.
- “Describe your dream job?” Relevance, relevance, relevance with the job you’re interviewing for.
If you wish to check some more stockbroker jobs to apply to, you can find them all here!
