How to Answer: When you make a mistake, who usually notices? You or the auditor?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Accounting Clerk job interview.
11. When you make a mistake, who usually notices? You or the auditor?
How to Answer
Hopefully, you catch most of your mistakes. Interviewers understand that we're all human, and it's likely that an auditor will catch one of your mistakes at some point in your career too. Think through your career. What's been the average? Do you routinely catch errors in your work? Odds are, you do! Go ahead and share how often you catch your own errors to ensure the auditor doesn't need to find them for you.
If you make a lot of errors, this may be a good way for you to explain how you correct the mistakes before they leave your desk.
Written by Samantha Hamilton on February 4th, 2019
Entry Level
"In college, I was late to class one day because I got caught up at work and came in the middle of class. My teacher was talking about the book we were supposed to be reading and they were explaining that we'd be switching books because most of the class had already read it. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't pay attention and went home and read the same book again instead of picking up the new book at the front of the classroom. I wrote a paper on the wrong book and got an F. I learned to always pay attention. Instead of rushing out of class thinking I knew what was going on, I'd ask the teacher what I missed due to work."
Written by Samantha Hamilton on February 4th, 2019
Answer Example
"When I was very new to this career,I thought I'd entered all the journal entries correctly so I got cocky and didn't double check my work before passing it to my boss to submit for the general ledger. She caught a mistake and asked why I didn't check my work. I was so embarrassed that I never made that mistake again."
Written by Samantha Hamilton on February 4th, 2019
Experienced
"I was handling the documentation process for an audit one year and it was my first time doing it by myself. I was thrilled and stressed and I rushed through everything. I went to the internal auditor's office, handed in our files, and sat down with my laptop to review everything. When they went into the shared drive where everything was supposed to be posted, only half the data was there. I was so rushed that I didn't double check to ensure that the data had loaded properly. Half the data had to be reloaded while they reviewed portions they had. It was mortifying, so I always ensured my data loaded properly from then on."
Written by Samantha Hamilton on February 4th, 2019