27 Deloitte Financial Advisory Services Interview Questions & Answers
1. If working with a client of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and you discovered fraudulent activity, what steps would you take following your discovery?
How to Answer
Fraud is a serious matter that some auditors come across during their career. While some industries have specific guidelines regarding fraud reporting, talk to your interviewer about the steps that you are familiar with and explain to your interviewer that you always have your fraud detective hat on. As a consultant to clients at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, you will be expected to be the last line of defense against potential fraud.
1st Answer Example
"Throughout my career conducting financial audits, I've always adhered to the SAS 99 statements on fraud. As long as I took every step possible in evaluating the risks, verifying that information was correct and verifying actual fraud, I would ensure that my evidence was sound and approach management of the organization and the auditing team with the information that I gathered."
2nd Answer Example
"The potential discovery of fraudulent activity starts with a methodical approach to the audit, assessing all potential risks and gathering all evidence possible to ensure that fraudulent activity is actually taking place. Once this is all in place, I would take the proper measures to notify leadership of the activity and walk through all necessary steps of documenting the fraud activity and my notification of it to leaders."
2. Talk about a time you had to work with a very difficult person. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
How to Answer
At some point in any person's career, they have to work with a colleague or customer who is extremely difficult. Rather than looking to hear the fine details as to why this person was difficult, your interviewer will be looking to gain insight into how you personally handled the situation and others like it to ensure that a sound relationship was fostered even when you faced difficult circumstances. In your answer, some key things to focus on are your ability to be tolerant, understanding and a great communicator in these situations.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, I have a customer that flies off the handle very easily if things don't happen just right and I learned this from my first interactions with him. In seeing this happen from the start, I have always maintained a calm demeanor when he was upset and showed empathy by asking questions about his expectations and how to fix situations for him. To this day, I expect difficulty from him when we work together and the years we've had a working relationship together have better prepared me for more clients like him in the future."
2nd Answer Example
"A couple of years ago, a close colleague of mine had a very abrupt turnaround in her attitude and performance on the job. She was very curt and abrasive in conversations when she was normally very talkative and friendly on the job. After noticing some concerns in her work, I approached her with an open mind and asked her what was going on to cause these things to change. I showed concern and approached her as a friend and this approach prompted her to tell me about some issues happening in her personal life. By taking this approach, rather than getting upset or even made with her, I showed her that I cared and valued her as a person and my approach helped her open up and turn her life at work back around to the positive side."
3. As a consultant with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, the ability to give sound risk advice to our clients is always expected. What's the greatest piece of advice you've ever given regarding organizational risk?
How to Answer
Upon first hearing this question, you may be left empty minded given the large number of ways you can answer this questions while trying to please your interviewer. At the heart of this question, your interviewer is looking to hear what you feel is the most important advice you have ever given a company or a particular person regarding the mitigation of risk. Talk about why this advice was important, how you learned it and how you still carry it forward to this day.
1st Answer Example
"Throughout my career, I've always taken the time to network with other risk and compliance professionals. About five years ago at a national conference, I attended a breakout seminar on whistle blowing policies surrounding risk. I heard a colleague talk about a policy that their organization had adopted that removed all fear of retribution for employees that brought risk concerns forward to the risk manager. Upon returning from the conference, I approached our COO about adopting a similar policy and upon doing so, I considered this my greatest piece of advice ever. Right way upon communication, we had a few employees come forward with significant concerns that otherwise wouldn't have in fear of retaliation against them or a colleague."
2nd Answer Example
"What I learned early on in my career was that the need for having a long-term, extended outlook on potential risks and mitigation of those risks was extremely important. When I took my current job, my department was way too shortsighted in the risk prevention efforts. The best advice I've ever given was to our CEO to allow professionals in risk management to the table on financial planning and operational planning conversations for the future. If hired here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, this is one area of expertise that I could bring to your clients."
4. If a client you were working with here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services purchased a large asset, how would you explain to them the impact of that purchase on their financial statements?
How to Answer
When an organization purchases a large scale asset, like new equipment or property, it has an impact on their financial statement. As part of your role working with clients of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, your job will be to explain the impact of that purchase on cash flow, income statement and the overall balance sheet. For this question, walk your interviewer through how you would educated clients on large asset purchases to show you have a solid understanding of their impact on the finances of the company.
Answer Example
"I have a great example of this just happening recently with my current organization that purchased a $1,250,000 piece of manufacturing equipment. With our leaders, I explained that since the equipment was purchased in cash without financing, it would directly impact our cash flow statement immediately. On the balance sheet, it ended up being a wash with the cash side going down by $1.25 million and the asset side going up by that same amount with new equipment. The biggest thing that I had to reiterate to leaders was the impact of depreciation on the overall income statement in the coming years."
5. How do you feel that your education and career to this point has prepared you to work in the international tax realm here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services?
How to Answer
With the rise of corporations taking their businesses to a global level, firms like Deloitte Financial Advisory Services are often brought in to be the experts on international tax. Prior to your interview, your interviewer can tell a lot about your education and career and whether you have direct experience in working with international tax laws. Not having experience doesn't exclude you from candidacy for this experience, but if that is the case, your interviewer will be hearing how you'll apply what you've already experienced in your career to international practice. Put some thought to this question ahead of your interviewer to be able to paint the picture of yourself being well-versed in how to get educated in the field if you don't have direct experience.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I've spent the last 10 years working in private business for a large manufacturer that sees profits from a few countries from around the world. While this has somewhat exposed me to international tax laws, I know that I would be working much more in depth in this realm here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. If hired for this position, I know that I would face a learning curve with each new client I worked with that had to file and deal with tax laws from other countries. Because of that, I would take it upon myself to read and network with other professionals to become as knowledgeable as possible in the laws in different countries."
2nd Answer Example
"My experience in advising on high level tax law changes to corporate boards and c-level suites in the United States would be a great benefit to your international clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. As I have always had to stay on top of and educate myself in the laws here at home, I would continue to do the same at a much higher international level if hired for this position."
6. As a consultant here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, you will have the opportunity to work with many accounting departments on tax filing for their business. When called upon, how would you go about verifying the accuracy of an accounting depart
How to Answer
No matter the size of the business and their accounting department, human error can lead to costly mistakes down the road if accuracy is not verified on the financial statements and books of a company that you would be consulting in this role. In your answer, talk specifically about your methods for verifying data entry and make it clear to your interviewer that this a step that you do not take lightly or overlook.
1st Answer Example
"In any tax consulting project, data verification and sampling is of utmost importance to me and a step I would ensure happens with every client here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. Depending on the accounting and finance department's books and how they are kept, my data verification could be as simple as printing documents and verifying samples against filed information or running the data verification through a program. I have extensive experience running both methods of data verification and wouldn't hesitate to use either with the clients here."
2nd Answer Example
"I fully realize that my work in advising businesses on their tax filings comes down to verifying their income statements, balance sheet and cash flow statements. To verify, I would have to work with leaders in reconciling their financial statements with bank records, credit card statement, invoices, receipts and any other documents that show physical proof on financial statements. Realizing that this can sometimes be a difficult task with businesses that don't keep accurate records, have segregated finance departments or multiple physical locations, I would leave no stone unturned in this initial verification process with your clients."
7. At Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, you will have the opportunity to work with high level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in working with people at these levels?
How to Answer
As a business advisory and consulting firm, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services works with Managers, Directors, CEO's, CFO's, CAO's and leaders with other titles on all of our projects. Your role will likely involve working closely with these leaders. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are comfortable in working with the leadership team of the organization's clients by having you talk about your experience. Make sure that the examples you provide include some details on how you worked effectively to get the job done with the leaders you worked with.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, I work directly under our Chief Financial Officer and sit on a couple of different committees that our Chief Executive Officer is on. Under the direction of my CFO, we have a great working relationship. I am comfortable approaching him at any moment with questions or to bring forward new ideas. He is aware of my strengths and respects my opinions on matters in my wheelhouse, so he never hesitates to come to me with important things. I think the keys to our strong relationship are the respect we show for each other and our open lines of communication."
2nd Answer Example
"Throughout my career, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with employees at all levels of the organizations that I've worked with. To me, working effectively with anyone requires a personal touch and a respectful approach. Whether I work with front line sales staff or members of the C-Suite, I take the time to get to know the person, their job and how I can best be of help to them in my role. This approach really helped me build a relationship with a Sales Executive that a few of my colleagues had struck out with in recent interactions."
8. Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What would be your approach to help you learn the ins and outs of a new client?
How to Answer
Deloitte Financial Advisory Services contracts with businesses in different industries for their services and it is likely that your job would require you to learn the fine details of each business that you would work with. Demonstrate your ability to be flexible by giving examples of times you've had to do this during your career. As well, describe the approach that you would take to get the know the businesses you would be working with so you can apply your knowledge and expertise toward helping them.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I've been in corporate training and education for over ten years. In my current role, I have to use similar techniques working with different departments to try and tailor programs that meet their specific needs. I feel that my current approach of hosting an intake meeting with leaders would be effective in a consulting role with external customers. The current intake meetings that I lead are an opportunity for me to ask questions and learn as much as I can about my customers. In turn, it is an opportunity for me to lay the groundwork for the project and set expectations. Do you see this as an effective approach for this role?"
2nd Answer Example
"Having worked in quality roles for most of my career in both the private and public sectors, I think my career experiences have shaped me well for this role. Transitioning to a consultative role would definitely be a transition for me and the biggest transition will be this need to work in many different industries. For me, researching clients, their business and their industry will be the first step to my approach in learning about them. I want to make a great first impression when I am face to face with a new client and that first impression starts with my knowledge. Then, my openness and ability to communicate would take over when I am working directly with clients. I know the right questions to ask for laying out quality initiative projects and I know the right things to educate clients on."
9. What do you believe to be the number one quality that most influences the overall customer experience?
How to Answer
As a consultant in the customer service arena, you will be considered to be an expert on customer experience and customer satisfaction to the clients that you work with. While this question is certainly open ended, your interviewer is looking to hear that you have passion and belief in your answer because there is indeed no right or wrong answer to this question. Be sure to prepare for your interview ahead of time and be able to speak openly and passionately about what you believe is the most important factor for a satisfied customer.
1st Answer Example
"As I've worked in customer service my entire career in retail sales and in dining, I truly believe that the best customer experience is provided by happy and engaged employees. If employees are satisfied with their work and believe in the product that they are selling, they are able to speak to customers intelligently and wisely about the product and they do it with a big smile on their face. This factor is what helps keep customers coming back time and time again."
2nd Answer Example
"I'm a firm believer that a positive customer experience, no matter the business or industry, comes from the basic human need of trust. Any customer of any business is inherently putting their trust in the company, the product and the associate that they are working with that the will receive a quality product and quality service. In projecting this out to those that provide customer service, there are many factors to building trust with customers. Being knowledgeable, being friendly and considering the needs of the customer are of utmost importance to gain trust. These factors are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to building that trust."
10. We value accountability at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. If a customer sent a formal complaint about an interaction with you, how would you handle it?
How to Answer
Assure the interviewer that you are a person of integrity who will take responsibility for any shortcomings in the workplace. Briefly explain to the interviewer that you will handle Deloitte Financial Advisory Services customers with great care.
1st Answer Example
"I understand that Deloitte Financial Advisory Services has put a lot of work into building these long-term client relationships. If one of your clients complained about my communication with them, I would take full responsibility for my actions and issue an apology. I would also be open to feedback to avoid future incidences. Rest assured, in my 15 years of employment, I have not had any clients complain to my employer about my work ethic or delivery of service."
2nd Answer Example
"Constructive feedback is difficult to swallow at times, but it's helpful for me to remember that everyone receives constructive feedback from time to time. I will always do what is required of me to renew a client relationship."
11. With some of our clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services being hesitant to run an internal audit, what points would you use to sell them on the importance of conducting an internal audit?
How to Answer
At some point in your career, you've likely faced resistance to creating and running an internal audit process regarding accounting practices within an organization. It can be a very touchy subject for a variety of reasons. To help curb resistance, you will be relied upon to point out the importance of internal audits. From your own perspective, reiterate the key points that you would use to sell the development of an internal auditing process to the clients at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services.
1st Answer Example
"From my experience, increasing industry regulation and compliance with such regulation is a huge selling point to leaders for conducting internal audits. Oftentimes, leaders are well aware of impacts that regulations have on many aspects of their business, but financial records and book keeping often gets overlooked. With my experience and knowledge across many industries, I can speak knowledgeably to high level leaders about how industry regulations can impact accounting practices and audits are the best way to implement positive change."
2nd Answer Example
"Over the past 10 years, the impact of the digitalization of businesses has greatly increased the need for internal audits of accounting and finance departments. Many factors surrounding the digital impact on organizations have made life tough for accountants and educating leaders on these impacts is essential in today's day and age. Recently, I worked with an organization on an audit that revealed significant gaps in their web invoicing systems. Without the audit, the organization was risking losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax money."
12. In what ways would our clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services benefit from your knowledge and services?
How to Answer
This question is your chance to talk about the unique skills and knowledge that you would bring to Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and that is exactly what your interviewer is looking to hear. In your answer, keep your focus centered on how clients of the organization will benefit from the things that you bring to their table because Deloitte Financial Advisory Services is client focused in all that they do. To be effective with this answer, be sure to do your research on the clients at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and think about how your experience will be beneficial for them.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I have extensive experience in risk management in the healthcare industry. Having worked with some major players in the industry, your healthcare clients would benefit the most from the experience and solutions I could help provide them. Not to leave other industries out, I think my experience in the healthcare realm will also translate nicely to your clients in other areas of the private sector."
2nd Answer Example
"Having worked in accounting and tax law in a few different industries during my career to this point, I also have the unique experience of creating new organizational policies and procedures in my current role. In hearing more about this role, I think this experience would be very beneficial for your clients as I would be helping advise them in their practices and creating new policy would be crucial in that process."
13. An often difficult part about working for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and our clients is the need to be fluent and adaptable to the cultures of our clients. Why would you say that you'd be able to handle this aspect of the job with ease?
How to Answer
In the business consulting world, organizations work with clients that all have different backgrounds, leadership styles, cultures, industries and motivating factors. Consultants hired to come in to these organizations have to possess a chameleon-like ability to ingrain themselves in a new company's culture. For you to be successful in the role that you are interviewing for, you must possess this same ability. In your answer to this question, be sure to point out your fluidity to adapt to new situation in your work by giving an example or two of a time you had to do this to give your interviewer a sense of your ability to be flexible with clients.
1st Answer Example
"During my career to this point, I've been very fortunate to say that I've worked for one employer for over ten years and the experience that I've gained with them is a huge asset to me personally. But even though all of my relevant work experience is with the same employer, I've worked under six different department managers during my time there and each person had their own unique management style and expectations of me. As well, my organization has undergone three mergers in my time there and each merger brought a new and bigger organization to light with new values and culture. Whether it was a manager change or an organization change, I always prioritized openness and asking questions to get to know new processes better. I would bring this approach with each and every new client that I would work with in this role."
2nd Answer Example
"I would liken this role as a Client Manager to working with my customers in my current job. I approach each new customer with an open slated mind while getting to know their motivations, their needs and their expectations of me to help me get a better understanding of how I can best suit them. If hired for this position working with your clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, this approach would be vital because of the variety of businesses and industries that I would be working with."
14. How do you define working capital and why is it important for our clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services to take this into consideration when evaluating their finances?
How to Answer
While it will be important for you to explain your knowledge of working capital, your interviewer will really be looking to hear your thoughts on why it is important for clients to consider as part of financial decision making processes. Give an overview of your personal thoughts on the importance of considering working capital while hitting on its ability to maximize an organizations efficiency and profitability.
1st Answer Example
"While working capital is pretty simple in that is simply defined as an organization's current assets minus their current liabilities, many companies fail to see the importance in these simple numbers. My goal with clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services would be to work them toward a positive working capital ratio as that allows them to have the finances on hand to grow and prosper in to the future."
2nd Answer Example
"Working capital essentially tells me as a financial analyst about the organizations ability to meet financial obligations in the coming years and their ability to grow prosperously into the future. With accurate financial statements, subtracting liabilities from assets shows the overall health of the finances of an organizations and their ultimate direction for the future. I have a lot of great experience helping turn around organizations that have a negative working capital into a position position in a short amount of time. The clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services could benefit greatly from that work into the future."
15. Do you have any experience in financial modeling? What skills in financial modeling could you bring to the clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services?
How to Answer
In the corporate finance world at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, clients may look to you to be the expert to help them build forecasting models for the future. For this question, your interview is looking to hear that you have experience in financial modeling. Talk about your experience, what industry it was in and what tools you needed to help build as detailed of a model as possible. To seal the deal for this question, make sure to explain that your experience could be used across many businesses and industries with the clients you would be working with.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, my corporate finance experience has mostly fallen in the manufacturing industry and financial modeling for forecasting purposes has been a skill that I've been developing over the past ten years. To start, I consider myself a master in Microsoft Excel to build great financial modeling tools that utilize all necessary data from an organization's financial statements. Though my experience is in manufacturing, my skills in financial modeling are ready to be applied to healthcare, banking or any other industry with your clients."
2nd Answer Example
"I have experience creating financial forecasting models in a few different areas of business. I consider my most unique talent to be my experience in M&A modeling for organizations that are looking to grow their business. In my current role, I've worked with leaders of organizations to strategically plan new acquisitions and modeling M&A for them was an integral part of the process. On top of M&A, I have experience in the standard three statement model and discounted cash flow analysis."
16. Deloitte Financial Advisory Services values philanthropy and community giving. How do you choose to give back to others?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to know that you are socially responsible and a team player - even outside of the workplace. Your answer can be as simple as babysitting your grand-kids every Sunday, to a standing-volunteer gig, to charitable contributions.
1st Answer Example
"I work a lot but, when I do have free time, I spend that with my grand-kids. It helps to give my son a bit of a break as he is a full-time single dad. In addition to this, I volunteer at the local drop-in center every Christmas to help feed the homeless. Giving back is very important to me."
2nd Answer Example
"Volunteering and charitable acts are important to me. I spend time volunteering at the local drop-in center every Sunday."
17. Many organizations overlook some areas of their business that can benefit from a digital transformation. What is an overlooked area where you've seen a digital transformation make a huge impact during your career?
How to Answer
Digital technology has the ability to impact any level of an organization, but oftentimes some levels get overlooked. For this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you have the ability to look at these overlooked areas and find ways that a digital upgrade can impact them in a positive way. To be creative, don't leave any stone unturned in your answer.
1st Answer Example
"In my current role, one unique thing that I accomplished was making our environmental services digital and online. This transformation had many moving pieces. One that I am proud of having a huge impact was automatic notification of supplies being low around restroom facilities. Not only did this save labor time of someone checking supplies, but it also kept both employees and customers extremely satisfied at our facilities."
2nd Answer Example
"A couple of years ago, I was working with a large distributor on revolutionizing their technology usage all across the board. The one area that their management overlooked was with their delivery and fleet of trucks. With changes made to routing tracking/efficiency and vehicle maintenance diagnostics, this organization was able to save tens of thousands of dollars just in the first year of implementation."
18. A key component to success here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services is building solid relationships with new clients. How do you effectively get to know new people and lay the groundwork for a long lasting relationship?
How to Answer
The fast paced world of business consulting requires the ability to build relationship after relationship with all of the clients that you will potentially be working with. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to gain insight into how you build relationships with new people from the first time you interact with them. In your answer, talk about how you gain and build trust with new people and explain how the little things in your initial interactions go a long way toward building long lasting working relationships.
Answer Example
"I am a firm believer that success in any role I've played in my career was due in part to the relationships that I've built in those roles. Whenever I have the chance to work with a new colleague or a new customer, my approach is to create an initial connection with them to build trust. After that point, my interpersonal skills take over through active listening. I use my listening skills to learn about the motivating factors and needs of the person that I will be working with and this helps mold that respect and trust between us even more. I think this approach would be very critical in working with new clients on a regular basis here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and I'd love the opportunity to bring these skills to the table for you."
19. Where have you seen common failures or breakdowns in customer service and how would you address these issues with the clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services?
How to Answer
When a consulting company like Deloitte Financial Advisory Services is called, it is likely that that organization has seen some failure in the service that they have been providing to customers. In this role as a consultant, you will be asked to help diagnose the issues and help fix them for your clients. For this question, your interviewer is first seeking to see what you have seen in your career as common failures in customer service. Second, and most importantly, your interviewer is looking to hear how you would go about solving the issue with clients. Make sure to be as detailed as possible in this aspect of your answer.
1st Answer Example
"In today's digital age where people are looking for results and looking for them now, time is a huge hindrance in providing excellent service to customers and I've personally witnessed timing issues and helped diagnose them for my employers. Most important is setting realistic time expectations with customers that you are able to deliver on every time. In some instances, this has been easily remedied with simple education between departments. In other instances, it has been solved through the creation and implementation of timing policies for customers."
2nd Answer Example
"Having consulted now for five years and having worked across many industries, the most common failures in customer service stem from staff that are poorly trained and/or poorly equipped to do their job. Assessing the competency of employees is my first step when consulting a new business and based off my assessments, I can make recommendations for education and training for the staff. Often, general customer service training suffices. At times though, this training needs to be very industry or product specific and I've helped create several specific training programs for employers."
20. What steps would you take in creating a new audit process for a client here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services?
How to Answer
When Deloitte Financial Advisory Services is asked consult with an organization on their audit processes, you will be looked upon to be the expert in creating a solid auditing process for them. To get an idea of your knowledge and experience, your interviewer is asking you how you would go about creating a new process from scratch for an organization that you are consulting. While your discussion will certainly be high level without knowing much detail about the specific organization you are hypothetically working with, make sure that you hit the important aspects of creating an audit process.
1st Answer Example
"If asked to consult with a new client on their audit process, my first goal would be to determine the overall purpose of the audit. I would have to ask questions about any regulating bodies for the industry and internal quality perspectives that would guide my work. Only when those questions are answered can I move forward with assembling an audit team, giving the team purpose and setting expectations for the new process. With this great start, my leadership skills in the audit process would take over and greatly benefit your clients here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services."
2nd Answer Example
"Any solid auditing process starts with great planning. Planning includes outlining the scope of the audit, clearly defining what data and information is required to successfully perform the audit and selecting a team of individuals to be a part of the audit process. If hired for this position, you can rest assured knowing that I have great experience in planning for and creating auditing processes across many businesses and industries."
21. Give an example of a time you used data in analyzing risk for an organization. Did you utilize any tools in this process?
How to Answer
Gathering and analyzing data is an important step that any risk management professional must take during their evaluation processes. What's even more important than gathering and analyzing is putting the data to use to achieve results. For this question, talk in detail about a time that you used data in a working situation. Explain the tools, whether it was specific software or a spreadsheet, to help analyze and get results out of the data you collected.
1st Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I've spent a good portion of my career working in the manufacturing industry. In that industry, a good deal of my risk focus was on employee safety and lost time prevention. When I took my current position, I analyzed data over the past ten years to find trends on workplace injuries that led to work comp claims. By using a very intricate Excel spreadsheet that I created, I was able to find a few different problem areas. From there, I worked with management and our safety coordinator to implement new work practices and policies moving forward."
2nd Answer Example
"In my current role, I am using the Resolver risk management software and it has really been an effective tool in storing and analyzing data and then helping put the data to functional use. Last year, I was tasked with leading a team of individuals to assess risk of potential defective products that my organization was putting to market. My job was to research and gather data on potential lawsuit risk that the organization could be looking at while others focused on the internal pieces that would fix the problem. Resolver was a great tool for our whole project and luckily, my organization didn't face any lawsuits based on our quick work."
22. As we work with clients on assessing potentials mergers and/or acquisition, valuation is an important skills to possess. How would you go about placing a value on an organization for a client?
How to Answer
As you look to join the ranks at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, this question is giving your interviewer the chance to look into your technical skills that you could bring to their clients. For your answer, talk about your ability to take measure of cash flows, revenues, price/earnings ratios and other factors to value a company. Another aspect to keep in mind when answering question is the methods that are most common for a valuing a particular industry. Prior to your interview, try to do as much research as possible on Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and the typical clients that they serve.
Answer Example
"First and foremost, my valuation method would be strictly dependent on the business and industry that I was consulting in. A majority of my experience in mergers and acquisitions has come in the manufacturing industry. In manufacturing, I have used the discounted cash flow model to properly value small operations and an important factor in this method was future forecasting. In each situation that I used this method, my clients saw significant growth and value in their purchases based on the work that I had done."
23. What would you do in a situation where you just didn't have all of the information you needed from a client? What would be the steps that you took in ensuring you had all of the information possible in creating a financial analysis for a client?
How to Answer
Consulting with clients at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services will likely put you in a situation where you need to put on your investigative detective hat and do some extra digging to be able to provide great results to a client. For this question, talk about your interpersonal skills with your ability to work with others when needed. As well, talk about your ability to research and understand different financial statements and software programs to get the information that you need to solve a problem.
Answer Example
"Through my experience in working in corporate finance across many industries during my career, I am confident in my ability to troubleshoot issues I may have along the way when working with new clients. If I ever came across this situation when on a project with a client, I would start be using my best judgement and analytical skills to search for the information on my own in financial statements and accounting software of the client. If I was still left scratching my head, I wouldn't hesitate to sit down with employees in the finance department or leaders of the organization to pull the information that I would need."
24. Talk about a time that you successfully educated another individual or group in your area of expertise. What made your educational experience effective?
How to Answer
The role that you are interviewing for with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services will likely involve providing education to clients in your area of expertise. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are comfortable and effective in providing education by having you talk about a time that you have done so. In the example that you provide, try to point out some key items to making business education successful like developing a plan/goals, respecting differing viewpoints/opinions, making it hands on and making it fun.
1st Answer Example
"Probably the aspect that I love the most about my current job is being the lead for training new hires into our department. Because of my years of experience and my innate ability to effectively orientate new employees, my director asked me to take this duty about four years ago. My approach with any new hire is to customize their training based on their knowledge and experience so the training is effective for them. What works for one person may not work for another and I always need to be fluid with this. I also prioritize the need to make orientation and training a hands on experience for the new hire because classroom learning can only take a person so far in the learning process."
2nd Answer Example
"As you can see from my resume, I've spent the last seven years working in the corporate tax field. While in this job, I worked very independently for a private organization, so I've been out of the training and education side for a while now. During my first job out of college as a CPA though, I was very adept at providing education to the clients that I worked with on a daily basis. What I learned in that experience was the importance of putting material out there in a manner that the person being trained understood. As well, talking to clients and understanding my client's wants and needs were very important for me to be able to best educate them. I really believe that these skills would enable me to hit the ground running with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and your clients would benefit greatly."
25. What interests you in joining the business consulting world here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services?
How to Answer
Anytime the question regarding why you want to join the company is asked, it is very important to do your research on the organization and the position you are interviewing for so you can match your skills and desires to the job. In your answer here, be sure that you also speak to the potential move to a consultative type role if this will be the first time for you with a consulting organization. Be sure to highlight your qualities that make you an ideal fit for the job.
1st Answer Example
"At this point in my career, I feel like I have really maxed out my capabilities in my current role as the IT Director with my current organization. Over the past two or three years, I've found so much fulfillment in my work when I've been helping others and providing education to them that I've narrowed my job search down to the IT consulting field. The prospect of helping other IT departments grow and become more efficient under my consultation is an adventure that I would love to embark on here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services!"
2nd Answer Example
"As I've grown in my role in the Training & Education department with my current employer, I've gravitated toward leadership development and succession planning with my organization and I'd like to bring these skills to work here at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services as this position fits right in that mold. Using my experience and knowledge, you'll quickly find that I have a great ability to work alongside and train the top level executives with your clients in a manner that is professional and effective at the same time. My experiences in both healthcare and manufacturing sound like they'd fit well with your client base as well."
26. What roles are you comfortable assuming in working as part of a larger team?
How to Answer
Coming to work for a consulting business requires the ability to work as part of a larger team on the projects you will be heading. Teamwork in this setting requires versatility and your interviewer will be looking to hear that you have that versatility in your answer to this question. Many times, you will be taking the bull by the horns and leading the way. Other times, you will be the worker bee researching behind the scenes. You may be tasked with being the organizer of projects behind the scenes as well. Make sure that you highlight your ability to be flexible when working as part of a team here.
1st Answer Example
"I am really comfortable working in any role within a team and I think my experiences throughout my career demonstrate this well. At many times in my career, I've been the legwork of team operations and have easily taken direction on projects and been able to hit pre-established deadlines. As well, I've lead many projects and have shown my ability to lead others in a team effort and the ability to delegate tasks and set milestones for projects. If hired for this position, you can be rest assured that I have the ability to be a key team players with your clients in helping better their business."
2nd Answer Example
"From a very young age in my career, I've always been a natural leader in a team based environment. My excellent communication skills, honesty, critical thinking and decision making skills have proven time and time again that I can lead others in the most effective way possible. And while being a leader comes naturally to me, I can easily let others take the lead on projects."
27. At Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, our clients look to us to help find new and creative ways to save tax dollars. Have you ever had a unique situation where you helped an organization save tax dollars through your work and insight?
How to Answer
Deloitte Financial Advisory Services is a trusted advisor to their clients on their corporate and small business taxes and your potential work in this position will put you in a position to be creative with your clients. Prior to your interview, think of a time in your work history where you can demonstrate the situation for the organization and came up with a creative tax savings solution for them. Upon answering this question, make sure that your interviewer walks away from your time together knowing that you have the ability to create solutions for clients that make a real difference.
1st Answer Example
"Last year, I was working with an upstart small business in New York that employed around 20 people. Hearing that a big burden for him was providing health care coverage, which he chose to do to hire and retain great staff, I educated him on the savings he could see in starting an HSA associated with a high deductible plan. In the end, this plan was a win for the owner to see a ton of tax savings and the employees benefited with a great plan where the business was contributing towards their HSA on a yearly basis."
2nd Answer Example
"When working with corporation on tax advising issues, I always walk through business expenditures with a fine toothed comb because how large expenditures are claimed can really make or break taxes for years to come. When working with a client a few years ago, I noticed that they were deducting full costs up front when the depreciation method would have worked out much better for them in their financial situation. The only thing it took to convince them was a simple educational meeting."