What is the most attractive thing in your eyes about this role with Export Development Canada?

"Over the past couple of years, I've had an eye on pursuing a career with Export Development Canada because of your reputation as a forward moving financial institution and your commitment to the communities that you do business in. As a person that believes in togetherness and helping others out where possible, these are values that I hold very high and would bring to the team here."

For this question, your interviewer is looking to gain insight into what you know and like about Export Development Canada and how they will be able to help you meet your career goals. In your answer, try and stay focused on the alignment of your values with the organization's values and demonstrate that you've done your research on Export Development Canada and the job you are interviewing for. To try and maintain positivity in your answer, try not to talk bad about a previous employer as that can make you sound like a difficult employee and raise a red flag for your interviewer.

"As I enter the midway point of my career, my job search has been focused on finding an employer that I can spend the rest of my career with and someday retire from. Looking at the history, culture and growth of Export Development Canada, this is definitely a place that I'd love to be a part of as you continue to grow and prosper into the future."

"When I was planning my career shift to infrastructure investment, I was worried about the level of ethics in the financial industry. Working for a company like EDC dedicated to the development of local businesses and maintaining high values while serving the community is something not common in the finance industry, and it is very reassuring for me."

What approach do you take in giving financial and wealth advice to your clients? Why does this approach suit your clients the best?

"I am a firm believer in having a typed up plan that is very detailed for my clients. When coming up with a financial plan, I take the time to present my clients with a written plan and have them review it prior to meeting in person. This gives them time to review information and prepare questions for me ahead of time. My clients have always appreciated this approach and I've included a couple of examples in my portfolio for you."

For this question, your interviewer is looking to get down to the nuts and bolts relating to the exact method you approach clients with financial advice. Prior to your interviewer, be sure to put thought to your approach and be able to explain why this is both beneficial to your methods and to your clients. Whether you use verbal methods, printed document, email communication or any mixture of the three, be sure you can speak to your method confidently.

In working with financial data here at Export Development Canada, what are the steps you would take in the data validation process as part of your work?

"With any large analysis project and performing data validation, my first step is to create a detailed plan for the data needed. This plan will define the required data to be validated and set the way for the remaining steps. The next steps are to validate the information in the database and then the formatting of the data. Finally, prior to validating the data, sampling needs to be done to ensure that a small sample meets the requirements of the project. Being very proficient with many validation programs, I consider myself very proficient in both QuerySurge and Datameer but remain open to learning any new programs here at Export Development Canada."

Your job as a detailed and proficient Data Analyst requires you to take proper steps in the data validation process to ensure that data used is accurate and clean. Bad data in the financial industry can have a costly impact and your job will be to ensure that doesn't happen. For your answer to this question, discuss the importance and your method for both data screening and data verification as part of the validation process. Also, be sure to talk about any programs that you utilize during the validation process.

"Here at Export Development Canada, your Financial Advisors rely on the most accurate and up to date data to present to clients and I would take great pride in my job as a Data Analyst to provide the best data possible. To validate data, the two important steps I would take are data screening and data verification. I am very confident in my ability to work with algorithms that screens large sets of data for their accuracy. On top of that, I have worked with a few of the different data verification programs like Experian and Sage Intacct."

If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, how would you help make sound investment decisions for our clients?

"In my current role, we have a great team that considers many factors in our investment decisions for our clients. Our engineers have developed mathematical models that gauge the markets and their propensity to shift over time. We have a team of market experts that rely on the new and current times to predict future fluctuations. As the Portfolio Managers, we weigh information from all of these teams to make decisions moving forward and this allows for the greatest confidence in our overall decisions."

While certainly an open ended question for you to run with, your interviewer is really looking to get a sense that you are resourceful in your decision making processes and that you don't rely too heavy on quantitative or qualitative information to make decisions. In your answer, talk about the sound use of data while also relying on your experience and judgement to help in your decision making processes. As well, if you are open and experienced in a team based approach among fellow colleagues, talk about that as well.

"While all of our decisions for our clients are based on assumptions, my experience has taught me to weigh in many different factors when making investment decisions. Looking at historical data to predict futures carries some weight and can be accurate at times, but having firsthand knowledge of different businesses and industries like I do helps put that historical data into perspective when trying to predict the future. If hired for this position at Export Development Canada, I'll have that ability to make the best decisions possible for your clients."

"Though I haven't worked in an investment-related job before, my understanding that a solid financial model is key to reach reliable investment decisions. On top of that, I believe that in case of energy projects, my experience in this field will help better assess opportunities and challenges in the project at hand."

When would an investment in commodities make sense for a client that you were working with?

"In my experience, commodities have made the most sense to use as a hedge when I am concerned about a potential upcoming crisis. I've utilized the gold market at times and it was very effective during the recession back in 2008. Gold prices have always tended to rise when the markets fell and some very high profile clients I worked with at that time were very pleased with their results while others lost a substantial amount in the market."

Prior to your interview, it is important to prepare for very market specific questions like this one where your interviewer will be looking to get a sense that you have the knowledge about particular markets like commodities, annuities and private equities. When you answer a question like this, try to give your interviewer an answer that shows that you understand the basic details of the market, when it is useful and what its downsides are to prove that you know situations where it can be very beneficial to a potential client.

"Commodities are always an interesting consideration because of their spectacular performance at times. But, because they don't receive dividends and aren't a great hedge bet over time, there are only a few scenarios where I utilize them. Crude oil markets are a great example of a short term buy in commodities when a production increase or decrease is announced."

If you notice right now, the time on that clock reads 12:15. What is the angle between the minute and hour hands on that clock?

"With each hour on the clock representing 30 degrees of the 360 degree circle, I'd use a starting point of 90 degrees for an angle for this answer. But then, I have to factor the hour hand now moving a quarter of the way between the 12 and 1 on the clock. with a quarter of that move being 7.5 degrees, the angle between the hands falls at 82.5 degrees."

In any interview with a Financial Engineer or Quantitative Analyst, your interviewer will be looking to pose one or a few different math related questions to show you have the quick skills to come up with a correct answer. For this question, talk your way through how you solved the problem so your interviewer gets a sense that you have the ability to solved basic, and even advanced, math problems.

If hired here at Export Development Canada to work with our clients on wealth management strategies, what would you consider to be your preferred wealth management strategies?

"Having guided many previous clients on very successful wealth management strategies, those successes have always relied upon setting goals and creating budgets that guide people towards those goals. I take the time to know and understand my clients, their short and long-term goals and guide them through setting realistic goals and plans for achieving those goals. Along our journey together, I consistently evaluate progress towards goals and reevaluate budgets if ever needed down the road."

While this is certainly a very open ended question that you can run with, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are passionate about creating strategies for your clients in your answer. No matter how you answer the question, speak with knowledge and passion and always tie your answer back to doing what is best for your clients based on their situation.

"I would consider my forte in the field to be wealth preservation for late career individuals nearing retirement. I have a lot of experience in creating wills and estate plans, career exit planning and cash flow planning post-retirement for my clients. While I consider this my forte, I also love to work with individuals early and mid-career as well."

List the top 3 skills that you have acquired in your last role.

"In the past few years I was able to upgrade my education while still working full time. The biggest skill that I gained was my ability to multi-task as I worked the dual role of employee and student. I also have strong skills in a variety of Microsoft programs such as PowerPoint and Excel."

You have likely gained many valuable skills in your career. Share with the interviewer which skills you value the most. Be sure to include skills that will potentially benefit this potential new employer.

"There are many skills I gained in my most recent position as I had a great training program and my boss was a strong mentor. If I had to choose three top skills I would say that the biggest ones were effective multitasking, solid closing skills, and cold calling abilities."

"In terms of skills, my last role has definitely sharpened my Excel skills. On the other hand, it also helped me enhance my reporting skills, especially because I was reporting directly to management, so it has to be concise and clear. I also had to multitask in order to stay on top of the preparation for CFA level 1 and level 2 exams while keeping up with my responsibilities at work."

Tell me about a time where you had to analyze information in order to make a recommendation.

"I worked for a financial firm last year and had a client who was looking for investment recommendations. I gathered data on the stocks they were interested in, sorting through trends and historical data to determine the most promising returns."

Talk about your attention to detail and sharp focus on data and statistics. If the job requires you to take an analytical approach to solving problems, think back on your experience to offer up an example. Give as much insight into your process to show you are capable of taking an analytical approach to problem-solving.

"As a financial service professional, I am always analyzing information before creating a path of recommendation for my clients. I am highly skilled when it comes to data analysis. My abilities stem from my statistics and analysis related courses while obtaining my Bachelor's degree in finance."

"Where I spent the last ten years of my career, thorough analysis is an integral part of our daily jobs; it's part of the company's culture. For example, during the cost-cutting initiatives that we were getting recently, we had to analyze each measure quantitatively and qualitatively and to come up with recommendations about which one of these measures would be most suitable for the business unit in question."

At Export Development Canada we offer many different financial services. Which aspect of financial services are you best versed in?

"After researching your website I see that you specialize in Investment and Hedge Fund management. My specialty is definitely Investment management. Is there a certain specialty you are looking for in your next hire?"

Walk the interviewer through your expertise that best relates to the business they specialize in. This is where it's important to have searched Export Development Canada prior to your interview! Be sure to finish by asking the interviewer the services they prefer you be versed in. This way you can overcome any potential objections later.

"I have a wide range of expertise when it comes to financial services. I see that Export Development Canada is looking for a candidate who brings experience in X, Y, and Z. I have expert level knowledge in all of these areas."

"Where I spent the last ten years of my career, thorough analysis was an integral part of our daily jobs; it was part of the company's culture. For example, during the cost-cutting initiatives that we were getting recently, we had to analyze each measure quantitatively and qualitatively and come up with recommendations about which one of these measures would be most suitable for the business unit in question."

We are looking for the most motivated individuals to join the team here at Export Development Canada. Where would you like your career to take you in the next five to ten years?

"Now that I am to the midway point of my career, I am looking for my next move to be my final move in finding my work home until I retire. As a successful Financial Advisor today, I want to focus on continuing to grow my skills in advising clients on retirement and private wealth management and it sounds like I'll have that opportunity here at Export Development Canada. As I continue to grow in my skills and prove my worth to you, a long-term career goal is to be in management where I could oversee the work of Junior Advisors and mentor them towards success."

This common interview question put you in a tough spot where you should talk about your ultimate career goals while also balancing the needs of the position that you are interviewing for and the needs of Export Development Canada. Prior to your interviewer, try to research the job and Export Development Canada to the point where you can match your career goals with they Export Development Canada offers. While your interviewer is looking for a long-term fit for the position they are interviewing you for, it is okay to set your sights higher as long as your goals meet that of the organization's goals. If at all possible during your answer, point out that long-term success with Export Development Canada is vitally important to you.

"A career in risk analysis has been a dream for some time and this opportunity with Export Development Canada is really my dream job. If hired here, my goal for the next five to ten years would be to continue to hone my skills and help the work of the department to a point where it is growing and becoming more effective. Down the road, I'm really in a position to be an open book when it comes to where my career with Export Development Canada would go from there."

"Well this job will be a horizontal move for me. My priority in the near future is going to be about gaining experience and knowledge in this field as much as possible. After this phase, I believe things will take their natural course in case a promotion opportunity presents itself."

This position at Export Development Canada has generated a lot of interest from applicants. What do you feel is the one quality that sets you apart from others we are speaking with about this position?

"As I've talked about during this interview process and from what you can see on my resume, I have all of the technical skills needed to grow your financial advising practice here at Export Development Canada. What sets me apart from my competition is my drive to succeed in this industry and I'd love to bring that drive to Export Development Canada to help working with your highest profile clients possible. Growing up and continuing to this point in my life, I've always been a very competitive person. I've played many team and individual sports my whole life and my drive to win in those has definitely carried over to and been a huge benefit in my work as a Financial Advisor. I'd love to bring this competitive spirit to your team."

This question is the perfect opportunity for you to highlight the one key quality that makes you the best person for this position, so be sure to really think about what this one quality is ahead of your interview. While there are many ways that you can take you answer to impress your interviewer and seal the deal for you in getting the job, be sure to avoid making assumptions about the other candidates in your answer. As well, be sure to avoid anything in your answer that points to this job being convenient for you personally or the fact that you'll be getting compensated for this work. Those are quick ways for you to go to the bottom of the candidate ranking list.

"From what I understand about this role in Client Services with Export Development Canada, my day to day work will include a lot of client interaction and I really feel like the job description was written with my skills and abilities in mind. But the thing that will really set me apart for being the perfect fit for this role is my experience on the sales side of things where I spent five years of my working career in the retail sales industry. In sales, I have developed key skills like product knowledge and selling skills that would be very beneficial to this role."

"While I can't talk about other candidates, I know that my aspiration and my eagerness about this job are unmatchable. When I decided to make this career shift, I went to great lengths to make it happen, and I am definitely very eager to be successful in this job."

At Export Development Canada, we expect our Economists to give regular presentations and updates to our advisory staff. What experience do you have presenting in front of a captive audience?

"As I look back on my career as an Economist that has stretched over a couple of different industries, I am confident in lending a majority of my success to my ability to communicate and work with others. In my current role in the insurance industry, I am a regular guest at many corporate functions and agent staff meetings where I present on economic trends. During these presentations, I am charged with creating interactive presentations to help engage our audience and provoke questions from them. I am absolutely comfortable in being a subject matter expert in front of these groups and would look forward to being thrown into this role here at Export Development Canada."

While you likely entered the field of economics because of your analytical, mathematical and critical thinking skills, your interviewer is looking to gain insight into some of your interpersonal skills with this question. If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, you will be asked to present regularly to the Advisors and Portfolio Manager staff that will make some decisions based on your findings and you need to be comfortable in handling this aspect of the job. In your answer, use specific experience you do have in presenting to large groups and talk about the skills that you possess that will help you thrive in that position.

"In my current role, I work hand in hand with staff to walk them through my reports that I create to explain my findings and what it means in their daily work. In this role, I see myself as an adviser that is there to help educate and help our staff and organization prosper and I love that aspect of my role. If brought aboard the team here at Export Development Canada, I would see myself as that same educator that would present my findings to your team in a fun and useful manner."

"I am pretty much accustomed to making presentations, quite often to a large audience. Humbly speaking, it is something I'm skilled at. Normally, I take my time in preparing the presentation to make it as engaging to the audience as possible. During the presentation itself, I pay attention to all the tiny details starting with my intonation, my body language, the room setup etc."

Are you familiar with KYC and how it impacts our business at Export Development Canada?

"Over the recent years, my work as a Financial Advisor has moved to heavy load of phone and online work and steps in customer identification have included things I needed to be cognizant of. Even though I know even the fine details of my clients' voices, I must have clients confirm personal information over the phone before discussing details with them. This personal info can include full names, date of birth, address and social security number. Because money laundering and identity theft have become so prevalent in the past ten years, I take these important steps in my work very seriously."

Prior to your interview, it is important to know and understand the principles of KYC. To start, KYC stands for Know Your Customer and these are steps taken by financial institutions to establish customer identity and understand the nature of the customer's activity to further assess money laundering risks with that customer. For your answer to this question, give your interviewer the sense that you know the basic premise of KYC and how it impacts your work that you do while also highlighting the important elements of a KYC program like customer identification and ongoing monitoring.

"I am very familiar with the Know Your Customer ethical guidelines in financial advising and have received a lot of formal training surrounding it. When opening new accounts for clients and maintaining them down the road, the KYC Rule 2090 is essential for me and my firm to keep records of facts on each customer and know if any other people have the authority to act on the customer's behalf regarding their finances. I love the fact that the KYC standards have helped build robust client profiles within our systems and these help make my financial decisions with them much better."

Give me an example of a time that you had to solve a problem without having all of the necessary information at hand to do so. How did you handle that situation?

"Back when I first joined my current organization, I was taking a role that had been vacant for many months and I had to start with a backlog of work along with the regular daily activities. This customer service role included logging daily visitors and calls and the interim rep only kept brief notes. After taking the time to walk through training and getting running on my own, I realized that the current workload wouldn't allow me to catch up on the backlog of work that had been missed. While I had ideas of how to play catch up on the work, I approached my supervisor with a few ideas and we settled on having me log hours from home on our system as overtime to get caught up. I worked with our IT staff on getting set up on our network from home and was more that willing to help out with some extra hours."

For this question, your interviewer is looking to test your ability to be analytical and resourceful in a specific situation where you had to dig further to solve a problem. Prior to your interview, try to think of a time in the past where you encountered this specific situation and talk through it by laying out the problem and walking through the step-by-step approach you took to solve the problem. Try to be as detailed you can as you explain how you thought the problem out and worked hard to use the resources you could to help solve the problem. Your interviewer will be relying on these fine details to truly see how you will perform on the job with Export Development Canada.

"Working for a large financial institution, our advisory staff help cover for each other when we are on vacation, sick or simply out of office for the day. We typically team up in group of three to help provide coverage for each other. A couple of months ago, I fielded a call from a colleague's client while she was away on vacation and completely out of phone coverage. The client had several questions about their personal finances that I couldn't help resolve off the top of my head. I let them know that their advisor was away on vacation but I would take the next hour to research their questions and get back to them shortly. This was a very acceptable path of action to the client and I took the time to get their questions answered quickly."

What statistical analysis tools do you have experience working with?

"In my current role, most of my analysis is handled in SAS and I've really grown to appreciate the program's ability to to manage large data sets and create predictive modeling in the financial field. From a past job, I have experience on SPSS and also with the SQL programming language to build robust databases. Of course, I have received expert level training in Microsoft Excel and consider myself a master of the program."

As a successful and resourceful Data Analyst, your interviewer at Export Development Canada is expecting you to be knowledgeable and well-versed in the many tools available to you. In your answer, be sure to show diversity within particular programs like SAS and SPSS while also explaining that you are very proficient in Microsoft Excel. On top of the programs, talk about any experience you have with programming and database language like SQL and Python.

"Having been in the field for over 15 years, looking back at the technological advancements in the tools that we use is very amazing. I consider myself very fluent in both the Sisense and KISSmetrics programs. I also have a good amount of experience in Crystal Reports."

How can Export Development Canada motivate you on the job?

"I am best motivated through words of praise and recognition for a job well done. I do like to know that my efforts are noticed. In my current position, we have a leaderboard, and I do like that concept because it creates a healthy bit of personal competition for me as well."

Every employer should know how each of their employees is best motivated. Talk to the interviewer about the variety of ways in which you are best motivated on the job.

"I am a natural salesperson, so the best way to motivate me is through performance incentives. In my current position, I have been in the president's club for the past three consecutive years. I am highly motivated by the vacation that I am awarded annually."

"Of course, we are all working so that we can earn a living. But for me, once this need is covered, my main drive in my job is continuous learning, being exposed to new challenges, and feeling that I'm adding value to the team I'm part of."

Talk to me about a challenging situation you had to handle on the job that involved another colleague. How did you handle that situation?

"A couple of years ago, we had hired a new Junior Advisor on to our team and I was tasked with being his mentor. Having mentored several other thriving Junior Advisors prior to him starting, I was excited for the opportunity. Within the first week of him being on the job, I overheard a colleague of mine talking very openly about his disdain for the hire of this new Advisor and witnessing him personally criticizing him in a face-to-face encounter. Immediately, I spoke to my colleague in a private office about my concern over his actions and words towards the new Advisor. Having been a part of the interview process and his early mentorship, I knew that he had the skills to succeed and I reiterated that to my colleague. After agreeing to back off on any private criticizing of the new Advisor and a promise to help mentor him, I learned that direct conversations are the best way to handle workplace conflicts."

At the heart of this question, your interviewer is looking to hear how you use solid interpersonal and relationship building skills to diffuse a difficult situation with a coworker when on the job. No matter what situation that you talk about, make sure to focus your answer on a positive mindset and the steps that you walked through to turn a potentially hazardous situation into a good one. As well, talk about lessons learned from that situation that you keep with you to this day on the job.

"f"A couple of years ago, I approached a colleague that had missed a deadline or a big audit we were conducting and she completely blew up at my during our conversation. At first, I was very taken aback by her response because I had never witnessed that from her in many years of working together. While remaining calm, I allowed her the opportunity to vent to me and it turns out that she was going through a lot of things in her personal life that were impacting her work. While keeping our project deadlines in mind, I also took a personal approach in letting her know that she could bring these issues to me as both a colleague and a friend and we could work through them together in the future. This approach is vital to any conflicts that can arise with colleagues and one I don't hesitate to take when needed."

"I think what helps me the most in a challenging situation is to be able to keep my cool and not to let emotions take control of the situation. I remember when I took over the bid manager position, I had to coordinate the tasks of a large proposal team who develops the bid. One of the engineers was someone who couldn't handle pressure easily and who became very nervous and aggressive in such situations, which made it hard for me to approach him and coordinate his work with the rest of the team to meet the deadlines. I guess what helped me deal with this challenge is that I didn't take his behavior personally, I didn't allow myself to think that this is something against me, I put myself in his shoes, knowing his character, and I changed my approach in talking to him. Instead of sending him emails to follow up on his tasks, I would allocate 15 min to go talk to him, reassure him that I am on his side, and that I understand the pressure is not easy, and that he can get help from other colleagues if he needed. This increased the trust between us and made the communication much easier."

Accuracy is important to us at Export Development Canada. Do you always double check or proofread your work?

"Spelling and grammatical errors are a pet peeve of mine. I will triple check my work if there is time! I feel that it is imperative to submit error-free work."

Double checking and proofreading are essential parts of a job well done. Assure the interviewer that you are diligent when it comes to submitting good, clean, work.

"I do my best to put great work out, at all times. I believe in double checking my work although I must admit that I have fallen victim to the odd mistake like the best of us!"

"ALWAYS. Where I've been working for the last 10 years of my career, caution is part of the company's culture. On top of that, being part of multi hundreds of millions of dollar projects, it goes without saying that scrutiny and double checking are essential to avoid any costly mistakes."

Give an example of a time that you had to resolve a difficult situation with a client or customer. What were the keys to coming to a successful solution?

"Having worked in customer service for one of the areas largest auto dealership for the last six years, handling difficult customers was a situation I had to learn to handle pretty quickly. Just a few weeks ago, I was covering our front desk on a Saturday afternoon when our sales staff was still open for business. I recognized the person approaching the door as a customer that had recently purchased a new vehicle. He stormed through the door, placed his keys on the counter in front of me and said that he demanded a refund on his new purchase because the check engine light had already come on inside of the car. Knowing off the top of my head that his new vehicle was under a full warranty, I calmly let him know that his car was under warranty and that I'd have a member of our sales staff come out and take a quick look. I also let him know that our service department was not working that afternoon and, if needed, we could schedule him for a diagnostic test at his earliest convenience. After our salesman went out to take a quick look and not seeing anything obvious, we ended up giving him a loaner vehicle so his new car could be taken care of on Monday morning. He ended up leaving pretty happy that day and I know that my patience in hearing him out really helped."

In a front facing role with Export Development Canada where you will be interacting with clients on a daily basis, your interviewer wants to be ensured that you have the skills to resolve client issues with ease and they'll look to do so with this question. In your answer, let your interviewer know that you can take ownership of any situation by talking about a specific time where you did what was necessary to alleviate a difficult situation with a client. Talk about the resources that you used and your interpersonal skills that helped turn a potentially bad situation into a successful one.

"A couple of years ago, I was asked to work with a very high profile client for his financial advising services when he came to our firm because my CEO trusted I could handle what he felt would be a difficult task. From my first meeting with the client, he demanded that we provide more returns than the previous firm that he worked with and he was rather rude with our front desk staff. I took the approach of taking the time to listen to his needs and speak to him more about what my firm could provide. I laid out my experience and track record for him to help him build his trust in me. I knew that with him, I would need to take time to walk through my decision making processes for his investments and he really appreciated that. As of today, we are still working strong together and his wealth is growing."

How do you keep up to speed on changing trends and laws in the financial planning field?

"Being a certified financial planner, I love having the opportunity to take continuing education credits to help me become better for my clients. Last year, I attended a two day estate planning course that really helped me develop some unique strategies for clients over the past couple of month. If hired for this position, you can be sure that I'd look forward to continuing me knowledge throughout my career and I'm always open to new suggestions from my employer."

In the ever changing world of financial planning, staying on top of both legal changes and improving trends in the field is extremely important to succeed in this role with Export Development Canada. Talk to your interviewer about any educational opportunities that you have taken part in recently and any journals/publications that you subscribe to that help you stay on top of your financial planning game.

"Being an avid reader and lifelong learner, I subscribe to The Economist and Financial Advisor Magazine. Both publications have great content about large scale and small scale financial topics that impact the work that I do on a daily basis. I love to read before bed each night and I've found that things that I've learned in this 20 minutes each night was very beneficial to my clients."

Data Scientist is a fairly new role here at Export Development Canada. Why do you feel that you can make the jump into the financial industry as a data scientist?

"As you can see from my resume, I have a very strong educational and work background in data science. My work experience in the tech industry has helped me grow in many areas that can be beneficial to the team here at Export Development Canada. I think that my experience in mining and cleaning raw data, paired with my experience in machine learning, could significantly benefit your clients that are seeking new and improved market data."

As finance becomes more heavily reliant on data, the need for well educated Data Scientists is becoming a need at Export Development Canada. And while your background may not be filled with experience in the financial field, it will be your job to convince your interviewer that you have the skills necessary to be strong Data Scientist while also having some great knowledge of the financial industry. Be open and honest of where your strong point fall and where you feel you have the most to learn while being open to making that progress in the field with Export Development Canada.

"My passion and skills for mathematics and computer science drove me to a career in data science and analysis. Up to today, these skills have driven me to create a brilliant start up company that I sold almost ten years ago and then to a career with a large online retailer. Knowing that the financial industry is growing in data analytics, now is the time to strike when the iron is hot. As I've set out on a career search in the field, I have been greatly impressed by what I have learned about Export Development Canada and would look forward to help growing the data side of your business."

If hired for this role as an Economist with Export Development Canada, we'll want you to have the tools in hand that you need to succeed. What computer programs do you find necessary and useful in your work?

"Over the last five years, I've become very proficient in the use of STATA or data gathering, reporting and its overall ability to be compatible with other programs like Python. I also have experience with programs like SAS and SPSS for working with very large data sets. If hired for this role, I would be very flexible in my ability to learn the programs that would be required of me to use as I consider myself very proficient in learning new programs quickly."

As an Economist, you have a wealth of tools available to help you be efficient and successful in your work. For this question, your interviewer is looking to get an idea of what programs you have familiarity with and how you utilize those programs in your work. As you answer, be sure to cover general programs, statistical programs and data gathering programs that you are familiar with and don't hesitate to let your interviewer know that you are open to and eager to learn any new programs necessary for this role with Export Development Canada.

"I have a vast amount of experience with econometric programs like Octave and Matlab and I really love their ability to model and create visualization tools that I use with my colleagues that I advise. I have also dabbled in advanced algebraic programs like Maple and Maxima and have found them useful at times. In the financial services field, I could see these programs being very useful!"

At Export Development Canada, our clients are the lifeblood of our business and we do everything in our power to make them happy. What does the term customer service mean to you in your work?

"A pursuit of a career in the financial field really suited my two passions in life of mathematics and problem solving. In this role, helping clients solve problems in an efficient manner and with a smile on my face would be the drive to succeed that I need. At the end of the day, if I see that my work helped a client grow their wealth and achieve their financial goals, I know that it was a job well done."

No matter what position you are interviewing for at Export Development Canada, your interviewer is looking to hear what customer service means to you in your work and how you apply that philosophy in your everyday work life. In essence, they want to hear your story as to why solid customer service is important to you. Prior to your interviewer, be sure to really think about this question to apply what is important to you in how you go about your work. Whether you talk about problem solving or making people happy, this should be reflected in the work that you do.

"As a people person by nature, I have an innate ability to do what is needed to give customers the best experience possible when I'm working with them. This means that I reflectively listen to their needs and concerns and do what is necessary to help them based on what I heard. In my interactions with customers, I am positive, pleasant and nurturing by nature and I've found that customers are very receptive to my style off communication with them. If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, you'll quickly find that dedicated customer service is one of top qualities that I will bring to you team."

"I believe that happy customers are customers well served. In order to serve them well, we should listen to them and understand their needs and consequently tailor solutions that contribute to achieving their financial goals."

In your work as a Portfolio Administrator, what kind events cause you the most stress on the job?

"While overall market volatility does stress out a lot of Portfolio Administrators, I have a very good way of explaining this volatility to my clients to the point where it doesn't stress me out. For me, any stress that I feel is usually put on me by myself in having very high expectations for my work with clients. To help alleviate this stress, I've learned over time that the goals and expectations that I put on my work have to be realistic and attainable when they sometimes weren't early on in my career."

The high demands of a position as a Portfolio Manager or Administrator bring a lot of stress. Market volatility, greed, underperformance and tough clients can all contribute to a high level of stress in this field. For this question, your interviewer is looking to gain insight on how you handle these stress factors on the job by having you talk a bit about what types of things cause you stress. While you talk openly about what it is that causes you stress or discomfort, make sure that you also talk through how you handle that stress in a safe, healthy and good for business manner.

"In reality, our work as Portfolio Managers for our clients is almost like trying to do the impossible. We are relied upon to make sound decisions for clients based on insufficient information, all while trying to maintain confidence in our decisions. This in itself is a daily stressor on the job and one that I don't take lightly. To help myself with this daily stress, I've learned to accept mistakes as they happen, own up to them with clients and work hard to alleviate those mistakes to put my clients back in the best position possible."

If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, I want to be sure that I'm hiring a motivated individual. What motivates you in your daily work and your career?

"I find myself the most motivated on the job when I am being challenged and when I can continue learning new things. From what I've learned in talking to others that currently work here at Export Development Canada, the fast paced environment and continuous changes in the industry would keep me very motivated in my work and you'd never have to question if I were truly enjoying and being motivated in my work."

In the financial services field, you should have strong personal motivation to succeed in your work and your interviewer is asking this question to see what it is that make you tick while on the job. While being open and honest in how you stay motivated on the job, make sure that your answer doesn't include collecting a paycheck every week or two. While money is certainly a motivator in this field, make sure that you use it in an appropriate context if you decide to talk about the financial piece of this business as being a motivator. In the end, your interviewer is looking to get a sense of how he or she will be able to keep you hungry for more if you are hired for this role.

"At a young age, my father taught me to do what I love and love what I do and I know that as I approach the middle years of my career that I made the right career choice. The personal finance field has really blended my love of helping others succeed and my passion for statistics and computers. In this role with Export Development Canada, I'll be working with your clients everyday on helping them achieve financial success and that alone is all of the reason I need to get out of bed every morning."

"Besides the financial compensation, I would be motivated as long as I'm learning something new and adding value to the team I'm part of. It's also very important for me to be part of an organization that is congruent with my values. In my research about EDC, I was impressed to see their emphasis on values like inclusion, diversity and equity, their support of businesses, and organizations that represent all communities in Canada and their commitment to clean technologies."

What statistical models are you familiar with and which do you feel would best apply to the financial field here at Export Development Canada?

"As a data nerd, I love the realm of statistics and I am very familiar with all of the unique statistical models and how to best apply them to different situations. I've applied linear regression when predicting the outcome based on two historically known data points. I've also applied multivariate models when looking at the distribution of multiple data points. Having dabbled a bit in the market myself and now looking to bring my quantitative analysis skills to the financial field, I am very familiar with the Gaussian model for predicting market changes and would love to bring the knowledge that I have of this model to your team here at Export Development Canada."

Financial Engineers and Quantitative Analysts are relied upon in the financial industry to utilize complex algorithms and math to predict the trading market's immediate future. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to get the sense that you have the skills to apply statistical model in finance by having you talk about the models that are familiar with and have worked with in the past. While being honest about your experiences, be sure to point out that you are aware that some apply more to finance and the market to set yourself apart during this question.

"As you can see from my prior experience in data engineering and financial analysis, I have extensive experience in time series modelling that utilized both univariate and multivariate models. Multivariate time series modelling has proven to be very effective when looking at and predicting the S&P 500 performance and I think my skills in this arena would greatly benefit your team."

Export Development Canada Interview Questions

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1. What is the most attractive thing in your eyes about this role with Export Development Canada?
2. What approach do you take in giving financial and wealth advice to your clients? Why does this approach suit your clients the best?
3. In working with financial data here at Export Development Canada, what are the steps you would take in the data validation process as part of your work?
4. If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, how would you help make sound investment decisions for our clients?
5. When would an investment in commodities make sense for a client that you were working with?
6. If you notice right now, the time on that clock reads 12:15. What is the angle between the minute and hour hands on that clock?
7. If hired here at Export Development Canada to work with our clients on wealth management strategies, what would you consider to be your preferred wealth management strategies?
8. List the top 3 skills that you have acquired in your last role.
9. Tell me about a time where you had to analyze information in order to make a recommendation.
10. At Export Development Canada we offer many different financial services. Which aspect of financial services are you best versed in?
11. We are looking for the most motivated individuals to join the team here at Export Development Canada. Where would you like your career to take you in the next five to ten years?
12. This position at Export Development Canada has generated a lot of interest from applicants. What do you feel is the one quality that sets you apart from others we are speaking with about this position?
13. At Export Development Canada, we expect our Economists to give regular presentations and updates to our advisory staff. What experience do you have presenting in front of a captive audience?
14. Are you familiar with KYC and how it impacts our business at Export Development Canada?
15. Give me an example of a time that you had to solve a problem without having all of the necessary information at hand to do so. How did you handle that situation?
16. What statistical analysis tools do you have experience working with?
17. How can Export Development Canada motivate you on the job?
18. Talk to me about a challenging situation you had to handle on the job that involved another colleague. How did you handle that situation?
19. Accuracy is important to us at Export Development Canada. Do you always double check or proofread your work?
20. Give an example of a time that you had to resolve a difficult situation with a client or customer. What were the keys to coming to a successful solution?
21. How do you keep up to speed on changing trends and laws in the financial planning field?
22. Data Scientist is a fairly new role here at Export Development Canada. Why do you feel that you can make the jump into the financial industry as a data scientist?
23. If hired for this role as an Economist with Export Development Canada, we'll want you to have the tools in hand that you need to succeed. What computer programs do you find necessary and useful in your work?
24. At Export Development Canada, our clients are the lifeblood of our business and we do everything in our power to make them happy. What does the term customer service mean to you in your work?
25. In your work as a Portfolio Administrator, what kind events cause you the most stress on the job?
26. If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, I want to be sure that I'm hiring a motivated individual. What motivates you in your daily work and your career?
27. What statistical models are you familiar with and which do you feel would best apply to the financial field here at Export Development Canada?

Export Development Canada Interview Questions

1. What is the most attractive thing in your eyes about this role with Export Development Canada?

2. What approach do you take in giving financial and wealth advice to your clients? Why does this approach suit your clients the best?

3. In working with financial data here at Export Development Canada, what are the steps you would take in the data validation process as part of your work?

4. If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, how would you help make sound investment decisions for our clients?

5. When would an investment in commodities make sense for a client that you were working with?

6. If you notice right now, the time on that clock reads 12:15. What is the angle between the minute and hour hands on that clock?

7. If hired here at Export Development Canada to work with our clients on wealth management strategies, what would you consider to be your preferred wealth management strategies?

8. List the top 3 skills that you have acquired in your last role.

9. Tell me about a time where you had to analyze information in order to make a recommendation.

10. At Export Development Canada we offer many different financial services. Which aspect of financial services are you best versed in?

11. We are looking for the most motivated individuals to join the team here at Export Development Canada. Where would you like your career to take you in the next five to ten years?

12. This position at Export Development Canada has generated a lot of interest from applicants. What do you feel is the one quality that sets you apart from others we are speaking with about this position?

13. At Export Development Canada, we expect our Economists to give regular presentations and updates to our advisory staff. What experience do you have presenting in front of a captive audience?

14. Are you familiar with KYC and how it impacts our business at Export Development Canada?

15. Give me an example of a time that you had to solve a problem without having all of the necessary information at hand to do so. How did you handle that situation?

16. What statistical analysis tools do you have experience working with?

17. How can Export Development Canada motivate you on the job?

18. Talk to me about a challenging situation you had to handle on the job that involved another colleague. How did you handle that situation?

19. Accuracy is important to us at Export Development Canada. Do you always double check or proofread your work?

20. Give an example of a time that you had to resolve a difficult situation with a client or customer. What were the keys to coming to a successful solution?

21. How do you keep up to speed on changing trends and laws in the financial planning field?

22. Data Scientist is a fairly new role here at Export Development Canada. Why do you feel that you can make the jump into the financial industry as a data scientist?

23. If hired for this role as an Economist with Export Development Canada, we'll want you to have the tools in hand that you need to succeed. What computer programs do you find necessary and useful in your work?

24. At Export Development Canada, our clients are the lifeblood of our business and we do everything in our power to make them happy. What does the term customer service mean to you in your work?

25. In your work as a Portfolio Administrator, what kind events cause you the most stress on the job?

26. If hired for this role at Export Development Canada, I want to be sure that I'm hiring a motivated individual. What motivates you in your daily work and your career?

27. What statistical models are you familiar with and which do you feel would best apply to the financial field here at Export Development Canada?