If hired for this role at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, 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 John Hancock, 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 John Hancock, 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."

How can John Hancock 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."

At John Hancock, our Financial Analysts have to often work under a tight deadline. Talk about a time you had to work under a tight deadline in the past. How did you handle that situation and what made it a success?

"In my current role, I'm tasked with preparing some reports for our leadership team's bi-weekly meeting. Upon first taking that responsibility, I made sure that I kept myself organized during each work day and saving and prepping relevant information needed for their report. A couple of months ago, I was informed first thing in the morning that the meeting was being moved a week up to later that day due to some conflicts and vacation time for some of the team. Right away, I moved some things on my calendar to make this a top priority. From there, my regular organization of the materials needed made it easy for me to complete my job."

The financial field can sometimes be chaotic and stressful for analysts working on high-pressure deadlines and the work-life at John Hancock is no different. To test how you will perform in these situations if hired for this role, your interviewer will be looking to hear about a time where you did just that. No matter what the situation is that you discuss, be sure to show how you remained calm, focused, and on-task to get the job done. Try and stress how you are resourceful and willing to utilize a team effort if necessary.

"During my last semester of my MBA program last spring, I was nearing completion of my capstone project. The project was a case study of mergers within the manufacturing industry and was a great overall project to learn from. During the semester, my full-time job I was working to put myself through school was becoming much more demanding and parts of my project got postponed to a point where I was fearing not being able to complete it to the best of my abilities with the final due date approaching. Right away, I rearranged my work schedule to work half time and began plugging away at the final pieces of the project. To complete it, I had to sacrifice some outside weekend events with friends. While sad to do that at first, I learned some great lessons on time management, project management and sacrifice."

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 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 John Hancock 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."

This position at John Hancock 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 John Hancock. What sets me apart from my competition is my drive to succeed in this industry and I'd love to bring that drive to John Hancock to help work 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 John Hancock, 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."

At John Hancock, 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 John Hancock, 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 John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group, you'll quickly find that dedicated customer service is one of top qualities that I will bring to you team."

How would you define what working capital is for a company and what does its measurement mean?

"In my current role, we measure working capital to gauge the ability of a company to pay off its debts quickly. In working with many industries, from retails to the public sector, the determination of a company's ability to do so based on calculation can differ greatly from industry to industry. To calculate, a range of line items from the company are used to take their current assets minus their current liabilities. In the retail industry, seasonal spikes in business create the need for a much higher working capital and if hired for this role, I have a great understanding of each industries specific needs."

As a Financial Analyst with John Hancock, you will be asked to help measure working capital of organizations. In your definition that you provide to your interviewer, ensure that you give them at least the basic definition of the calculation being current assets minus current liabilities. Then, talk about real situations that you've used the measurement to make critical decisions in the work that you've done in the past. This will confirm with your interviewer that you have the ability to use the measurement in this job.

"In a very broad sense, working capital is found by subtracting an organization's current liabilities from their current assets. In my current role, I utilize a more focused calculation of adding accounts receivable plus inventory and then subtracting accounts payable. The more focused calculation give a better idea of total working capital for organizations when trying to get a better overall picture of their health and efficiency when projecting out towards the future."

If you were having an interaction with a client here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group and you weren't able to answer their question or solve their problem on your own, how would you handle that situation?

"In my current role in Customer Service with Metropolis' largest automotive dealership, I frequently get asked questions that our sales, finance and service staff have to give the final stamp of approval on in answering customers questions. In these situations, I have a great amount of knowledge where I can prepare the customer for speaking with the right person while also ensuring them that the sales, finance or service staff will provide the final answer. Then, I work quickly to get them to the right person."

As the forward-facing client services representative with John Hancock, you may be asked serious financial or market-related questions that either don't know or aren't qualified to answer. In those situations, you will be expected to explain to the customer how that question will be answered and then deliver a timeline on when it can be answered. In the end, the customer wants to know the clear path to ease their mind and it will be your job to do just that.

"In a situation where I didn't know an answer, I would ensure the client that we have the right staff in place that would be able to help them quickly and efficiently. I would communicate to the customer what the next step would be and if that would be me putting them directly in contact with someone or me taking their contact information and having someone get back to them. In the end, setting the right course and timeline would be important for every customer when I faced this situation."

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 John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group 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."

In this role as a Risk Analyst with John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, you will be expected to be the expert on changes in financial regulations that impact our business. How do you keep yourself up to speed on these changes currently?

"I have been a CFA member for over five years now and I really look forward to the quarterly CFA Digest publication, the CFA Magazine and their news brief email that comes out daily. I find these are great resources that cover things ranging from daily news that impacts our work lives to very big picture studies and findings as published in the digest. If hired for this role, I would continue to be an active CFA member and would continue to utilize their resources for my work."

In a rapidly changing field like finance, you are expected to keep up with the changes at the snap of a finger and to gauge your ability to do this, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you will have the resources needed. Talk about the groups or publications that you belong to where you get imperative news on the field. If possible, use an example of a time where you shed light to your organization on a new risk from one of those publications. As well, don't hesitate to mention that you enjoy reading and learning new things in the field.

"As a risk professional, I have been a member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals for many years. I have been certified by the Association for Financial Risk Management and I try to attend their national conference every year to network and learn from other professionals. The FRM group has enable me to keep on the forefront of changes in the financial management that impacts risk on an almost daily basis and the group helps me live and breath financial risk every day."

Pretend an old friend just awoke from a coma that lasted over 30 years. How would you describe the internet to them?

"Just like my role as a Risk Analyst, the most important thing that I could do in this situation would be to relate it to everyday things that the person would be familiar with. I would explain that the internet is a combination of television, mail, telephone, the local library and an old computer all put into one place. Each one of those components would help explain things like email, YouTube, and all of the other life-altering things about the internet. To really throw them for a loop at the end to blow their mind, I'd have to let them know that their local grocery store is also available too!"

A common tactic used in interviews for Risk Analysts is making you think on your feet. This brain teaser question, or any similar to it, will judge your thoughts processes to come up with an answer rather than what your final answer is as this is a very open ended question. As you provide an answer to this question, make sure that you explain why you are coming up with your answer and your thought process behind them. A solid thought process on your end shows that you can be analytical and while creatively solving problems using your critical thinking skills.

"I think that the best way to make it easy to understand would be to start explaining it in its simplest format and then expand from there. I'd draw two neighboring houses and show how the computers in each house can connect to send electronic mail, pictures, videos and information to each other. Then, I'd expand this out over the entire world where we are all connected with all of the feature of the internet. A simplified approach like this is also necessary in our work as Risk Analysts in the financial arena and it really helps people grasp new and very complicated things quickly."

In your experience as a Financial Analyst, what do you feel is the best metric to gauge a company's future stock performance?

"While there are many excellent metrics to consider for the future of a stock performance, the one that I weigh the most heavily is the price earnings to growth ratio. I prefer the PEG ratio because of its consideration of expected growth rate where simple P/E calculation doesn't consider that. This calculation is specifically great when looking at a wide array of companies within an industry to level their playing field."

As a Financial Analyst with John Hancock, you will be relied upon by clients to provide the best risk and reward opportunities for them to have the most successful investments While there are many great metrics to use and no right answer for this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are confident in why the metric is important by talking about the details of it. The confidence that you project to your interviewer will carry over to your work with clients and your interviewer will be keying in on this aspect of you answer.

"Being familiar with metrics like free cash flow, payout ratio, debt-to-equity and price-to-sales, all can be very useful depending on the situation. In a recent economic downturn like we've had recently, I've relied heavily on the debt-to-equity measurement to measure future performance. As we've seen with many large retailers recently, a simple look into their debt would've shown the potential for disaster in their stock."

If you noticed that a company's balance sheet was showing increased amounts of accounts receivables, what future impacts to that company would you consider to be feasible?

"An organization's lines on a balance sheet all have impact on other lines. In the case that I was made aware of an increase in accounts receivable for an organization, I would note that cash flow could be directly impacted and give a higher chance that the organization didn't have enough money to operate. As well, the reduced value of assets is a real possibility for that organization."

At the root of this question, your interview will be looking to hear that you understand how the different lines on a company's balance sheet are related to each other. In your answer, be sure to point out your understanding of this as your job as an analyst with John Hancock will rely on your ability to do so.

"In reality, an increase in amounts receivable can have both a positive and negative impact. In the short term, accounts receivable show up as current-period revenue and have a positive effect on income statements. But over the long-term, a large increase in amounts receivable has a negative impact on cash-flow for the company."

How do you stay on top of new trends in the financial services industry?

"I stay on top of financial service trends through a variety of blogs, news sites and financial magazines. My favorite finance news site at the moment is businessinsider.com."

The interviewer would like to know that your passion for financial services goes beyond your work hours. Do you keep on top of industry news and trends on your off time? Assure the interviewer that you are well immersed in the industry.

"I believe that it is crucial for me to stay on top of news in the financial services industry if I hope to be a success. I have joined multiple meet up groups to network with industry peers. It has really helped my network and given me insight into how other financial service professionals are making their careers flourish."

We are looking for the most motivated individuals to join the team here at John Hancock Bond and Corprate Finance Group. 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 John Hancock Bond and Finance Group. 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 John Hancock Bond and Finance Group. Prior to your interviewer, try to research the job and John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group to the point where you can match your career goals with the John Hancock Bond and Finance Group 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 John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group is vitally important to you.

"A career in risk analysis has been a dream for some time and this opportunity with John Hancock Bond and Finance Group 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 John Hancock Bond and Finance Group would go from there."

We pride ourselves on teamwork here at John Hancock Bond and this role in Client Services relies on teamwork. What are the top qualities you would bring to a team based atmosphere here?

"As with any team that I have worked on in the past, my priority is knowing that everyone has an important piece in the overall success of the team. In customer service, this is knowing who to contact with the right questions and who to guide customers to when needed. This ensures that our work is done efficiently on our end of things and that our customers are handled efficiently and effectively. If hired here at John Hancock, my first goal would be to get to know everyone on the team that I would work with, what their roles are and how to best communicate with them."

At the heart of this question falls your interviewers need to determine how well you will work with others on the team at John Hancock. You will be working with high level advisors and managers that are under a lot of pressure to perform in their jobs and your communications with them will either alleviate some of that stress or add to it. To ensure that your interviewer walks away from your conversation knowing that you are a team player that keeps the end goals of the company in mind, focus your answer on your effective communication skills, your knowledge of everyone's role on the team and your knowledge of what your role on the team will be.

"My top quality is my ability to communicate, both verbally and through writing. I have excellent interpersonal speaking and listening skills and my past colleagues have always appreciated this. Here at John Hancock, your clients would appreciate this in my work as well. I am a very efficient and effective written communicator as well and this would be very beneficial at a company like John Hancock, where your offices are spread throughout the country and I can imagine that email communication is vitally important."

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."

To get a sense of how you will handle internal auditing processes here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, what do you feel are important tasks to do once an audit is finished?

"The end goal of any audit is improvement and my role as the Auditor is to help bring as much value to the improvement as possible and this begins with my work following an audit. First and foremost, my top goal at the end of an audit is to deliver the results in a clear and quick manner and meet with all stakeholders to discuss my results. Having many years of experience as an Auditor, the one value I can add to John Hancock is my ability to help your leaders put action into place to improve. As you'll see from my letters of recommendation, many high level leaders I have worked with in the past have really appreciated my ability to do this."

You and your interviewer both know that the work isn't completed the moment that an audit has been completed and for this question, your interviewer is looking to hear what items you feel are a top priority in ensuring that the audit has a long-lasting impact. As you answer this question, be sure to discuss any unique tasks that you feel are a priority and value that you can bring to the team at John Hancock by talking about how they've been useful to others you've worked within the past.

"In my work, my most important task following an audit is to help the key stakeholders understand what needs to be improved and how to improve it. I do this through a thorough reporting process to them. Managers like visual aids and I am able to provide them. They also like to hear suggestions on how to improve and my time in the auditing field brings with me a lot of process improvement knowledge that can help your leadership staff here at John Hancock."

When it comes to financial services, which focus do you find the most rewarding?

"I find many areas of financial services to be intriguing. After researching your company further, I see that you focus on Capital Market Services and Brokerage Services. I really enjoy working in both areas but primarily Capital Market Services and restructuring debt."

There are so many areas of focus when it comes to financial services. Talk to the interviewer about the areas of finance that you enjoy working on the most. Be sure to acknowledge some areas of focus within John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group when you answer this question.

"One of the primary reasons behind my application to your company was that you offer Commercial Services. This is an area or strength for me that I look forward to evolving even further."

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 as 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 John Hancock.

"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 is the most attractive thing in your eyes about this role with John Hancock Bond?

"Over the past couple of years, I've had an eye on pursuing a career with John Hancock 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 John Hancock 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 John Hancock 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 John Hancock, this is definitely a place that I'd love to be a part of as you continue to grow and prosper into the future."

In this role with John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, we will rely on your organized and methodical approach to provide financial analysis reporting. What does your current reporting process consist of?

"In my current role, I utilize the Tableau program to provide live, up to date information to my clients. After using a simply built Excel program for many years, Tableau provides beautiful and easy to understand reporting that my clients can take and run with to make important decision. The connections and automations within the program have save me time and effort, allowing me to take on a much more robust client base. If hired for this role here at John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group, I also have familiarity with SAS and Spotfire and consider myself a very quick learner if I need to learn a new program."

Providing the clients of John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group with detailed reports will be a key part of this position and your interviewer will be looking to gauge your ability to be organized and detailed while also utilizing your critical thinking skills to provide the best reports possible. In your answer, keep a focus on the techniques and tools that you use to do your job in ensuring that clients are receiving the most accurate and detailed reports possible. As well, let your interviewer know that you are willing to learn new ways and new technologies to help onboard yourself to their team quicker.

"When I need to provide reporting to clients or my firm, I ensure that the reporting includes all key risks and valuation. Today, we as Financial Analysts have so many great tools available to us and my current preference is a statistical program like Crystal Ball. When paired with the advance Excel sheets that I have created, and have been commended, my clients are always happy with the insight that I am able to provide."

Our auditing process here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group is very detailed. Can you walk me through your typical audit workflow in your current role?

"To aid in auditing processes, I created a very detailed audit planning document that my department has been using for the past four years and it has had a dramatic impact on our audit results. The planning document provides a step by step approach to outlining our objectives, clearly outlining documentation needed in identifying the stakeholders and setting a plan for meetings to take place. In this role with John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group, I would look to use a similar approach. With the plan in place, I work side by side with the stakeholders in explaining the audit and what is needed from each person. I do communicate in many methods, including email, phone and in-person meetings when possible. My goal is ensuring that each individual understands the process and the end goal as clearly as they can."

For this question, your interviewer will be looking to gain insight into a couple different areas that you would bring to their team. First, they'll be looking to see that you have a firm grasp of what a solid auditing process looks like. Next, they'll be looking to see that you have the ability to communicate in a manner that is effective with the people that you'll be working closely with. Last, they'll be looking to hear that you have the critical thinking skills that are necessary to succeed in an auditing role in the financial field. As you answer this question, try to check off all three boxes for your interviewer.

"As a firm believer in a solid auditing software package, I currently utilize Onspring in my current role and couldn't be happier with its performance. This program details our ability to gather all financial documents in one central repository, walk through the steps necessary and planned for in our auditing process schedule necessary meetings, coordinate notes from my audit team and process final reports. If hired for this position at John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group, do you have a software package that I would be working off of?"

At John Hancock, we pride ourselves on providing the best overall customer experience. Talk about your customer service experience and explain why it will help our clients here.

"Over the past five years in my current role in customer service, my number one mantra has been to create the most personalized experience possible for each person. I have done this by taking the time to get to know the customer, find out what their needs are and creating an experience unique to them. Where my time in automotive sales has really prepared for this role with John Hancock Finance Group is in this approach. If hired for this role, I know that I will be relied upon to use open and honest communication skills, time management skills and to take a empathetic and personalized approach with each client and I can definitely be relied upon to do that."

In the financial services industry, overall client experience is a major predictor of business growth and the team at John Hancock Bond andorate Finance Group takes the overall client experience seriously. For this question, your interviewer will be looking for you to expand upon your customer service experience past what they can see from your resume. To seal the deal for your interview, try to talk about times that you have went above and beyond the call of duty to provide the best service possible for a customer.

"In my years in a front-facing customer service role, I've prided myself on being the face of the franchise. More often than not, my interactions with customers can be the difference between a repeat customer and a person who never comes back again. To ensure repeat customers, I make sure that I am knowledgeable about our products and services, I'm proactive with their needs and I'm always accountable for any mistakes that are made on my organization's side of things. If given the opportunity to join the team here at John Hancock Finance Group, I will work hard to be highly educated in your services and be proactive and accountable in every interaction that I have."

If hired for this position at John Hancock, what factors would you consider part as part of an organization's long-term liability?

"While long-term liabilities aren't an immediate issue on a companies working capital, they can become an issue if long-term liabilities pile up too high for some organizations. While often overlooked, items like mortgages, fleet vehicle loans, and annuities can add up over time and are always items that I consider when looking at the overall health of an organization."

To begin for this question, make sure that you can define a long-term liability as obligations that are due beyond one year and into the future. Then, consider major factors like bonds, mortgages, leases and other items that factor in to an organization's long-term liability. Last, try to explain why the measurement of long-term liabilities are important is an important factor in considering the overall financial health of an organiation.

Have you ever run into a situation where a company had a positive cash flow but was still in critical financial trouble?

"If hired for this position, you can rest assured that I know all considerations necessary when looking at cash flow for an organization when determining their overall financial health. A cash flow statement can often show positive cash flow when they take on new cash from loans or long-term debt. While these items do show up as positive on the cash flow, they don't accurately reflect the profitability of the organization."

At the heart of this question, your interviewer is looking to dive in and take a look at your critical thinking skills. While positive cash flow is usually a very good sign of a company's overall ability to settle its debts and handle future financial challenges, there are some situations where all isn't as it seems when looking at a company with a positive cash flow. Whether you have run into this situation or not, it is important for you to point out that you are aware of situations where a positive cash flow can be misleading.

"I have come across this situation with a company that was selling off a large chunk of inventory. At the same time, the company was delaying their payables. This showed a very skewed positive cash flow but the real story behind the curtains showed a company that was in serious trouble of keeping its doors open."

In working with financial data here at John Hancock, 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 John Hancock Finance Group."

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 John Hancock Finance Group, 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 screen 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."

Among the common issues that are faced by Data Analysts in their work, which one or two problems do you feel really challenge analysts in the financial industry?

"From my two years of experience as a Data Analyst in the financial industry, of course the common issues of overlapping data and duplicate entries did come up. But I've found the biggest issue to be the collection and implementation of real-time data to be the biggest hurdle. With markets continually changing on a daily basis, I've had to be diligent about updating reports for my advisors that I work closely with because what may be valid and real one day may be out of date the next."

While the challenges faced by general data analysts makes for a pretty long generalized list, this question is allowing your interviewer the chance to see your critical thinking skills by having you talk about which challenges you feel will be critical in the financial field. While there isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer in this question, make sure that you are able to speak intelligently about your answer and provide ways with how you can meet the challenges in your work with John Hancock Finance Group.

"Having some very close contacts that are already working in the financial field in data analysis, I understand that manual data tracking can be a pain point due solely to the time needed to complete. Being highly educated in automated processes and utilizing machine learning in other industries, I think the knowledge I could bring to the team here at John Hancock Finance Group would really help advance your data analysis practices within my first six months on the job."

John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group Interview Questions

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1. If hired for this role at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, I want to be sure that I'm hiring a motivated individual. What motivates you in your daily work and your career?
2. How can John Hancock motivate you on the job?
3. At John Hancock, our Financial Analysts have to often work under a tight deadline. Talk about a time you had to work under a tight deadline in the past. How did you handle that situation and what made it a success?
4. What statistical analysis tools do you have experience working with?
5. This position at John Hancock 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?
6. At John Hancock, 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?
7. How would you define what working capital is for a company and what does its measurement mean?
8. If you were having an interaction with a client here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group and you weren't able to answer their question or solve their problem on your own, how would you handle that situation?
9. 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?
10. In this role as a Risk Analyst with John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, you will be expected to be the expert on changes in financial regulations that impact our business. How do you keep yourself up to speed on these changes currently?
11. Pretend an old friend just awoke from a coma that lasted over 30 years. How would you describe the internet to them?
12. In your experience as a Financial Analyst, what do you feel is the best metric to gauge a company's future stock performance?
13. If you noticed that a company's balance sheet was showing increased amounts of accounts receivables, what future impacts to that company would you consider to be feasible?
14. How do you stay on top of new trends in the financial services industry?
15. We are looking for the most motivated individuals to join the team here at John Hancock Bond and Corprate Finance Group. Where would you like your career to take you in the next five to ten years?
16. We pride ourselves on teamwork here at John Hancock Bond and this role in Client Services relies on teamwork. What are the top qualities you would bring to a team based atmosphere here?
17. Talk to me about a challenging situation you had to handle on the job that involved another colleague. How did you handle that situation?
18. To get a sense of how you will handle internal auditing processes here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, what do you feel are important tasks to do once an audit is finished?
19. When it comes to financial services, which focus do you find the most rewarding?
20. 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?
21. What is the most attractive thing in your eyes about this role with John Hancock Bond?
22. In this role with John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, we will rely on your organized and methodical approach to provide financial analysis reporting. What does your current reporting process consist of?
23. Our auditing process here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group is very detailed. Can you walk me through your typical audit workflow in your current role?
24. At John Hancock, we pride ourselves on providing the best overall customer experience. Talk about your customer service experience and explain why it will help our clients here.
25. If hired for this position at John Hancock, what factors would you consider part as part of an organization's long-term liability?
26. Have you ever run into a situation where a company had a positive cash flow but was still in critical financial trouble?
27. In working with financial data here at John Hancock, what are the steps you would take in the data validation process as part of your work?
28. Among the common issues that are faced by Data Analysts in their work, which one or two problems do you feel really challenge analysts in the financial industry?

John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group Interview Questions

1. If hired for this role at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, I want to be sure that I'm hiring a motivated individual. What motivates you in your daily work and your career?

2. How can John Hancock motivate you on the job?

3. At John Hancock, our Financial Analysts have to often work under a tight deadline. Talk about a time you had to work under a tight deadline in the past. How did you handle that situation and what made it a success?

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

5. This position at John Hancock 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?

6. At John Hancock, 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?

7. How would you define what working capital is for a company and what does its measurement mean?

8. If you were having an interaction with a client here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group and you weren't able to answer their question or solve their problem on your own, how would you handle that situation?

9. 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?

10. In this role as a Risk Analyst with John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, you will be expected to be the expert on changes in financial regulations that impact our business. How do you keep yourself up to speed on these changes currently?

11. Pretend an old friend just awoke from a coma that lasted over 30 years. How would you describe the internet to them?

12. In your experience as a Financial Analyst, what do you feel is the best metric to gauge a company's future stock performance?

13. If you noticed that a company's balance sheet was showing increased amounts of accounts receivables, what future impacts to that company would you consider to be feasible?

14. How do you stay on top of new trends in the financial services industry?

15. We are looking for the most motivated individuals to join the team here at John Hancock Bond and Corprate Finance Group. Where would you like your career to take you in the next five to ten years?

16. We pride ourselves on teamwork here at John Hancock Bond and this role in Client Services relies on teamwork. What are the top qualities you would bring to a team based atmosphere here?

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

18. To get a sense of how you will handle internal auditing processes here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, what do you feel are important tasks to do once an audit is finished?

19. When it comes to financial services, which focus do you find the most rewarding?

20. 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?

21. What is the most attractive thing in your eyes about this role with John Hancock Bond?

22. In this role with John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group, we will rely on your organized and methodical approach to provide financial analysis reporting. What does your current reporting process consist of?

23. Our auditing process here at John Hancock Bond and Corporate Finance Group is very detailed. Can you walk me through your typical audit workflow in your current role?

24. At John Hancock, we pride ourselves on providing the best overall customer experience. Talk about your customer service experience and explain why it will help our clients here.

25. If hired for this position at John Hancock, what factors would you consider part as part of an organization's long-term liability?

26. Have you ever run into a situation where a company had a positive cash flow but was still in critical financial trouble?

27. In working with financial data here at John Hancock, what are the steps you would take in the data validation process as part of your work?

28. Among the common issues that are faced by Data Analysts in their work, which one or two problems do you feel really challenge analysts in the financial industry?