HR

Tell me about yourself

How to answer “Tell me something about yourself”

Specifically for CA freshers

This is the most famous interview question that will be asked in each and every interview that you ever give in your life. Some variations include “introduce yourself”, “tell me about your journey till now”.

This question should be rehearsed yet appear spontaneous. It should not sound robotic.

For a CA fresher, the typical introduction goes like this

“Hello Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity to introduce myself. Myself Mohit Kumar from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. I have completed my 10th and 12th from KV Public School scoring 86 and 89% respectively. I have done my articleship from AB & Associates, a mid sized firm of Indore having 4 partners. I have worked in Audit and Direct Tax.
Uhhh thank you.”

While there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong about this introduction, a closer look will reveal that there is plenty to be improved

1. This is how 90% of introductions sound like – very bland, stale and typical. You need to make it unique (we’ll tell you how)

2. It starts by “thank you for giving…”. You don’t need to say this. You’re just wasting time by adding fillers like this. Your introduction should be the most power packed 2-3 minute description of yourself so why waste that time?

3. Never say “myself”. Use “I am”

4. You should mention factors that stand out – the % in 10th and 12th in his case are on the lower side compared to what most CAs would have – you can skip it. If you’re a district/state topper or have received 95%+, you can mention it

5. Do not call your firm “mid-sized” even if it is mid sized. Use a better description like “renowned firm in Indore”

6. You have to explain your experience better. Everyone has worked in audit and tax – what have you done differently?

7. You ended it abruptly. You need to have a proper conclusion

Sometimes the interviewer may start with
“Mohit, can you introduce yourself?”
In this situation, do not start your answer by saying “I’m Mohit”. The interviewer already knows your name.

So how should I answer this question?

This question is an opportunity for you to showcase a lot of qualities about yourself
1. Your communication skills
2. Your work experience
3. Your interests
4. Your technical knowledge (we’ll cover how you can do this)
5. Your knowledge about the company

Some other advantages to a well prepared answer –

1. You can drive the questions that come next.
2. You can make a good first impression
3. You can use this as an ice breaker
4. You will be more confident throughout if you answer this well

How do I make it unique?

Here is a way –
If you’ve researched thoroughly on the Hindenburg Report against Adani, you can post a summary of your analysis on linkedin. It doesn’t matter if nobody reads it – that wasn’t the purpose.
Now you can use these lines, which will become the highlight of your introduction

“I love studying the financial health of companies, and analysing stock market and macroeconomic trends. Recently, I published a detailed analysis on the Hindenburg allegations and Adani’s response. What I found was that while Hindenburg is a short seller, and they’re doing it for financial motives, the responses of Adani have not covered some key allegations regarding round tripping and inflating revenue through clandestine shell entities. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the short and long term”

Amazing! Now there’s a high chance there will be follow up questions on this topic

Should I mention family background?

If your parents are working in some important positions, you can mention that – people tend to associate the success of parents with the potential of their children – this is a subconscious bias. If you come from an underprivileged background e.g. your parents are farmers, you can mention this – this will show that you can perform well in hard situations. Whether it’s Shark Tank or an interview, these stories are great to hear.

It is usually a good idea to mention something about your parents background. This gives a human touch that allows you to be remembered. You should know your parents’ business/job in detail. If your father runs a trading concern, you need to know about the product and the operating cycle. You could be asked follow up questions like how will you improve the controls on Procure to Pay in his business. If your mother is a manager at a bank, expect questions like “what are NPA provisioning norms”

This the direction you want the interview to take, because you know this path well – this will take off the pressure from answering pure technical questions (you may or may not know their answers)

Should I mention why I chose CA?

If you have an interesting story behind why you chose CA, mention that. Being a good storyteller is an art that will help you in interviews, as well as in life.

For example: “My parents are civil engineers and they wanted me to do engineering as well. I was bad at physics right from 8th standard and told my parents agar main engineer ban bhi gaya toh bahut kharab engineer banunga. They eventually let me pursue CA”
Adding humour can reduce the pressure, but it must be done carefully

What are your long term goals? What is your 5-year plan? Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

This is one of the most joked about HR questions – obviously you don’t know where you’ll be. The interviewer also would not have known 5 years back that this is where he would be. But, the reason why companies ask this is to see whether your long term goals match with theirs. Your answer should reflect where you would be if you joined that company and stayed there for 5 years. This is the practical and simple way of answering this question. Do not say things like “I want to start a business and feature on Shark Tank”

Example 1: If you are giving an Infosys interview for the an FP&A role, say this “I see myself in a senior finance role at a reputable company like Infosys where I would have independent responsibility over a P/L and Balance Sheet. I would be a key stakeholder and lead the Finance function in enhancing the profitability of whichever project or projects I am a part of. I would also be leading a team where I would have the responsibility of grooming and mentoring my colleagues in achieving their goals. I also want to enhance my knowledge and skills – I know Infosys provides excellent opportunities for availing courses. I would utilise these to become better at my role both in terms of technical ability and knowledge, as well as in terms of soft skills like managing people better.”

Example 2: If you are interviewing for an Audit role at SR Batliboi (EY India), say this “I see myself as the Manager or Senior Manager at a Big 4 Audit Firm, preferably an EY affiliate. I want to see myself be responsible for managing audits of large listed Indian companies like ITC Limited [change the company name based on which Big 4 firm you are interviewing at. ITC is audited by EY, so you can mention that in an EY interview]. I want to gain expertise in auditing and Financial Reporting, and build networks which will allow me to eventually bring in clients. This will help me achieve my dream of becoming a Partner. It has always been my dream, since I started CA, to become a Partner at a Firm like EY so I will be working towards that”

What are your hobbies? What extracurriculars are you interested in?

Do not mention hobbies such as “watching movies”, “listening to music”. This is an opportunity for you to show your interests outside of studying.
Acceptable responses
Reading Books
Travelling
Any sports

Great responses – You can use this structure to answer questions, even if you don’t have any so-called good hobbies such as reading.
(This situation would be true for most CAs. You’re expected to study and do articleship at the same time, but at the time of placements, suddenly there is a need for hobbies!)

Wrong – I love watching movies
Right – I love watching crime thrillers. CA has helped me appreciate the legal angle to these movies. According to SA 500, written evidence is more reliable than oral evidence. Exactly the same thing happens here! Recently I saw “An Action Hero”. While I don’t want to give out spoilers, the intersection between perceived facts, legal evidence and the reality was very unique.

If you are made the CFO of this Company for 1 day, what changes will you make?

If I’m a CFO for just a day, it would probably not be wise to make too many changes. You’re more likely to break things that are working rather than improve things. A CFO is a job with a lot of responsibility so it is extremely important to know the in and out of the business, both in the strategic front, as well as the nitty gritty.

Having said that, I would like to work towards suggesting a few themes to the broader finance team on which they can come back with concrete implementable ideas.

The first major theme would be automation. Even today, a lot of routine work is done repeatedly manually. This increases the time we take, as well as the scope for errors.

The second theme would be integration. We often find that the same tasks are being done by different teams working in silos. They are not able to contribute to each other. There should be closer integration of different functions and levels within the organisation

The third theme would be collaboration. Traditionally, businesses have tried to engage in cut throat competition. Whether this is trying to beat the competition, or squeezing suppliers and customers for margins. Improving stakeholder relations can deliver long term value to the organisation