HKCAREERS
General Interview Skills Course
40 Sample Questions and Answers
We listed out 40 frequently asked interview questions. For all the behaviour and CV-based
questions, please limit each answer to 2-3 minutes. The behaviour or CV-based questions
will be asked in ALL phone in/HR in, please prepare a written script in advance so that you
only have to fine-toned the answers for each upcoming interview. In addition, please avoid
using “over-complicated” sentence structure since it looks like you are reciting a written
script.
Also, for all the behaviour questions, please prepare 5 to 6 “stories” in advance as most
behaviour questions required you to demonstrate certain skills through describing your
experience(e.g. leadership experience, team work experience, how to handle conflict with
colleagues …), it is very difficult to make up some stories from scratch during interview, so
please prepare in advance and you can instantly fit in those “stories” in your answers. The
combinations of stories are usually [ 2 Internship Experience + 1 Case Competition + 1
Society committee experience + 1 Project experience + 1 International experience
(exchange or international conference) ]
In addition, for all the CV based questions, you can follow a standard flow which are:
[Content of the CV items e.g. job duties of the internship] + [what have you learnt from
this experience] + [how can you apply what have you learnt into this new position]
1. Tell me about yourself
Hidden question: Who do you think you are? And will you know what to include and what to not
include in your introduction?
• For position that you have relevant experience: Basic info (name, uni, major etc) + 1 or at
most 2 relevant experience (focus on the highlighted job duties and what you have learnt
from that experience)
• For position that you have NO relevant experience: Basic info (name, uni, major etc) + 2
required personalities (use any previous experience to demonstrate, etc internship, case
comp, society members)
Example: I will describe myself as a detail- oriented person and someone who pursue great
self learning skills. During last summer, I joined the ABC case competition and I have to self
learn Bloomberg Terminal from scratch in 2 weeks’ time. I have visited Bloomberg lab in my
University frequently, and then ………(describe the learning process). Throughout my
University life, I have trained myself to be equipped with great self-learning skills which are of
paramount importance to _________ (the position that you are interviewing). In addition, during
my last internship, I have handled a lot of data management tasks ……
2. Why are you interested in this industry?
Hidden question: How much do you know about this industry?
• Good Prospect + Personal interest + Personality fitting the industry + (optional) experience
aroused your interest in this industry
Example: Real Estate is one of the pillar industries in Hong Kong, which contributes to more
than 6% of the domestic GDP. Most of the big property developers in Hong Kong are blue
chips company and conglomerate, which operate various businesses across different industry
e.g. ……….. they has property development project in Mainland China with the vision to
expand footprint internationally, thus I believe one will have a stable and promising prospect in
developing their career path in this industry. In addition, I have been keeping a close eye on
the property market since……. Etc
3. Why did you apply to this company/ position/program
Hidden questions: Do you know much about this position? Do you know much about what you
are getting into?
• Most people only mentioned why they are interested at this industry, but remember the key
word is “company/position/program”, you need to give company specific/ position
specific/program specific answers.
• Sometimes you can even compare this company/position with other company/positions
○ E.g. Hang Lung MT program places all MT in Mainland China for 6 months which give
MT great exposure to Mainland China’s property market
Example: Among all the banking positions, I am particularly interested at becoming a
Relationship Manager in Corporate Banking. As mentioned previously, I am a sociable person
and keen at the job duties of pitching various financial products (e.g. syndicated loan, FX
products) to corporate clients. The Management Trainee Program of ABC Bank offers MT
rotation opportunities in RM Team and Credit Analyst Team. It equips MT with credit analytical
skills and relationship management skills which are essential to the work of a RM. In addition,
we can rotate to both CBD2 and CBD3, which mainly serve local blue chips clients and large
mainland based corporations, allowing us to have a greater exposure to…
4. What is your strength and weakness?
• Strength: easy to answer, nothing special, just choose the strength that you think they want
•
the most
Weakness: Hidden question: Am I right in thinking X about you? And are you going to give
me the same old evasive and lame answers that everybody else did, or are you going to
level with me?)
⮚ The weakness that you choose should be the LESS important qualities/
characteristic that they need, but not an old evasive and lame answers such as
“overly-detail minded”
⮚ How did you improve it in the past and that you will continue to improve it
Example: I surely think that I have room for improvement in leadership skills. During my
university life, I participated in a lot of case competition and projects. However, my role in these
activities is more like a team player who performs analytical and co-ordinating tasks, instead of
a leader. However, recently I have been trying to improve my leadership skills and participated
in …… in addition, in future, I will grab the opportunities to improve my leadership skills in the
MT program, so that I can also contribute more to the company………..
5. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? What
is your ideal career development plan?
Hidden question : Are you after this job or just any job? How soon will you need a new
challenge? Do you have a realistic sense of what we can offer you?
● Short term (2-3 years/ within MT program) + Medium term (3-5 years) + Long term (10
years+ ) - but need to depend on which field/position, some fields/position take longer to
become industry expert
○ Short Term - focus on learning the technical/ industry specific knowledge
○ Medium Term - take up more leadership roles in order to contribute more to the
company, besides owning sufficient industry/technical knowledge required, you also
should train up, coach and guide junior stuffs
○ Long Term - involve in strategic planning and contribute more to the society by
providing product/services that benefiting the general public
Example: It’s my passion to develop my career path in Aviation industry. During the first 2
years, I would like to fully utilize the job rotation opportunities that the program offer to have an
all-rounded understanding toward the frontline and back office operations of the company. After
2 years, I believe I will have a clear mind regarding what areas I would like to focus on and
become expert of. In medium term, say like in 3 - 5 years, besides accumulating more
experience in that area and master the duties with sufficient technical knowledge, I would like
to take up more leadership role in ………...
6. What will your skills and ideas brings to this
company/ What can you bring to the company?
Hidden question: What will we be buying from you? Do you understand the skill set required in
this positions?
● Need to link your answer to the skill sets/knowledge required by this position in order to
show that you understand fully the job duties
● More relevant internship experience OR unique skill set (e.g. VBA, Bloomberg) OR
Passion in this industry (e.g. actively research and update with this industry/position) OR
Unique experience in your life (e.g. skydiving lovers so that you love facing challenges)
Example:
● I understand that this position requires us to perform a lot of research related tasks,
through my internship experience, I have learnt a lot of relevant skill sets which is
applicable to this position……………...
● I understand that this position requires us to develop relationship with tenants, especially
the multinational brands which fit the corporate image of K11. Although I have not worked
in retail leasing in the past, I have been passionate about this industry since I joined New
World Challenge…….
7. What have you achieved elsewhere?
Hidden question: What’s the very best that we can expect from you? Is it what we need?
● Not just talking about describing your achievement but also how can you apply what you
achieve into this position
Example: I have got into semi-finalist of QP competition, we conducted a comprehensive
business proposal for ……….. I understand that being an industry analyst in investment
banking division, we have to conduct a large part of offer document/ prospectus which involve
various analysis such as peer comparison and industry overview. I believe what I learn from
the QP competition ……………...
8. Tell me about a time you worked in a team/ How do you
define good team work?
Hidden question: no one achieves anything on their own- and you know that, right?
● All positions require certain level of teamwork, the best examples to give is usually either
internship experience or society committee experience
● Good team work = interacting with others + compromising when necessary/ when suitable +
understand the difficulties that others face and try to help as much as possible
Example: During last summer, I worked in FX product marketing team of ABC bank. Compared
with front office where Relationship Manager works more independently, I think the product
marketing team works more on team based projects. I was lucky enough to be involved in the
planning process of ABC events which ………… through out these experience, I realised the key
of being a good team player is not just about following the instruction of the leaders, but more
importantly, to understand what the team truly needs and bring new ideas to the team in order to
create synergy, a good team should demonstrate how 1+1 can achieve more than 2
9. Give us an example of you leading a team. How do you
define your leadership style?
Hidden questions: can you become a leader in future or you lack that ability to lead?
● The best example to give is usually Uni project experience or society committee
experience. It is difficult to use internship experience for demonstration because usually
during internship you are following the instruction of seniors to learn various skills and
knowledge instead actually leading anyone (except the internship program etc)
● Good leadership = different definition in different field/position/company ( E.g. result
oriented VS warm leader to help team members grow and learn )
Example: I believe a good leader should learn how to listen. What I learnt from being the group
leader of ABC case competition is that, it is almost unavoidable to have conflict or difference in
opinions among team members. As a leader, it is easy to have the sense of superiority and
dominates the decision making process. I believe in real working environment it is even easier
for the business leader to do so as there are difference in ages, experience…………………...
Thus one should learn to listen first and understand the rationale behind your team member’s
actions or opinions before making decision.
10. Tell us one of your biggest setback at work/ in life? How do you
deal with stress and failure/ How did you overcome your biggest
failure/hurdle in life?
Hidden question: When the pressure increases, will you turn into a monster, a useless blob of
jelly or someone who sets a good example?
● Need to be major setback which has some implication instead of minor issues (e.g. got a
poor score in a subject)
● But try not using example where you made mistake or you cause the setback
● Describe the setback + what did I do to make things better + what have I learnt from this
setback + how can I apply this experience in this position/ program
Example: I believe it’s unavoidable for a human to have stress and failure in life, for me, my
biggest setback comes from my poor relationship with some committee members of ABC
society. Initially our team works as a whole, but in the middle of planning our biggest event of
the year, conflict occurs since some committee members escaped from their duties…………I
consider the failure of the event my biggest setback because despite my effort to improve the
relationship with those 3 work mates, we failed to turn things around. What I learnt from this
incidents is that we need to listen and compromise when necessary even sometimes our
workmates’ idea or approach is not…………….
11. Where else have you applied?/ Who else are you
interviewing with? Do you have any offers?
Hidden question: Will you choose us even if you are offered the position? Will you play us up by rejecting
our offer so that we wasted a headcount?
● DO NOT tell them you are not applying for anything else because it sounds too fake. Instead, tell
them that you are very interested in this industry and therefore you applied various MT/Intern
programs in this industry. Even if they further ask you which program you applied, just honestly tell
them some examples, e.g. DBS, Citibank, Standard Chartered… etc, don’t be afraid because it will
show that you are lacking confidence or you are lying
● However, DO NOT tell them you already have good offers because it means you are less likely to
accept their offer, even if you tell them you prefer their offers, in most cases it seems awkward e.g.
tell EY partners that you prefer EY although you got both PwC and Deloitte offer, tell interviewers that
you prefer to accept HSBC com bank rather than JPM sales and trading offer
● However, you can tell them you have an offer that is obviously less preferred than the one that you
are interviewing with e.g. you have EY audit offer but you are interviewing with HSBC com bank final
round
● Explain that why you prefer this firm and why you will take this offer over other competitors
Example: I am particularly interested at working in corporate banking division and thus I applied all the MT
programs of major banks. Currently I received no offers yet but a few applications have been proceeded
to later stage e.g. AC or Panel Interview. I sincerely value the interview opportunities that HSBC com bank
give me, among all the company, …….. etc
12. Give us an example of you working with people with different
background? How would you cope with the difference in background and
working style?
Hidden questions: are you adaptive? Are you open-minded?
● A lot of MNCs or International banks ask this question as they prefer more “international”
minded candidates e.g. Bloomberg extremely prefer candidates with international exp
● Local students seldom have these kind of experience so usually need to make up a good
story. The most common one is usually “project experience with other exchange students”.
However, you can use exchange experience/ international conference/
overseas
volunteering work etc
● Formula:
○ The detail of your experience + what is the difficult part that you find + how do you
overcome the difficult part of working with people from different background
○ The detail of your experience + why do you enjoy working with people of different
background + what do they bring to you
13. Talk me through the gaps in your resume/ career
history
Hidden question: Did stay at home watching TV for six months? Why do you choose to do
semester internship/ working holiday?
● More personalised explanation
● Any unique experience/ situation that trigger your decision in deferring
● More common explanation which make sense
○ It is a valuable one off opportunity so that you choose to defer study in order to grab
this opportunity to learn and grow
○ What you learnt from that experience is more than other similar experience (e.g.
semester internship VS summer internship - longer period so experience more actual
work)
14. What are your hobbies and interests?
Hidden question: Do you have other passion rather than work and study? Are you a boring
person?
● Formula : describe the interest + your achievement + what you gain from it ( e.g. certain
kind of attitude, unique friendship)
● In a lot of large foreign companies, they prefer more all-rounded candidates, thus you have
to prepare 1 - 2 interest/hobbies that sound interesting/unique
● Do not mention some very common hobbies e.g. eating, shopping (unless you are
interviewing with retail leasing), sleeping, playing computer games (unless you are
interviewing with IT related role)
15. Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult person?
How do you handle conflict with colleagues/people?
Hidden question: You know that everyone’s difficult sometimes, right? It is unavoidable and
often you cannot change the person, how would you handle it though?
● Formula : describe the experience + why do you think that person is difficult/ the reason of
the conflict + solution/ way of handling + what you gain from it and how to apply it to your
future jobs
● Need to change approach based on the firm that you are interviewing with
○ e.g. P&G, BCG, Citibank want value holders and leadership style people, your answer
can focus on how to handle the difficult person and change their mindset and
behaviour/ when you handle conflict with people, you will hold on to some principal
values such as integrity….
○ e.g. Big4, chinese banks, property developers prefer more obedient and team player
type people, your answer can focus on how do you compromise when necessary for
the benefit of the team, or when you handle conflict with senior colleagues, you will
express your opinions but choose to believe them as they are more experienced and
have more information than you…...
16. Tell me something about yourself that isn’t on your
resume
Hidden question: Are you a quick thinker? Are you a well-rounded person outside of work?
● Be creative - traveling experience (e.g. Middle East, Africa), exotic sports (e.g. Skydiving),
interest and hobbies (e.g. cooking), generated some new business ideas (e.g. especially
for firms that want creative people such as New World, P&G, DBS)
17. Do you know anyone at this company?
Hidden question: You know this is Hong Kong and we have to report to compliance regarding
connected parties’ hiring right?
● Some students think that if you know someone from the company/ management level of
the company, you will have advantage in passing that interview. In fact, it is wrong in most
cases
● Some companies have very strict policies regarding this kind of issue E.g. BOC strictly
prohibited close family members working in the same divisions. Some companies may be
less strict but still need to conduct extra due diligence (means much more troubles). In
addition, some interviewers really do not like connected parties. Also how do you know if
the interviewers are friends of the person that you mention? What if he is the enemy of the
interviewer??
● Honestly if your connection is really that powerful to help you pass the interview (e.g.
father/uncle being the ED of JPM), they would have done “things” in advance and
interviewers won’t ask question like this.
18. Why should I choose you over other candidates?
Hidden question: You probably have the skills to do this job, but so many others also have similar skills?
SO why you? Also are you confident enough or you don’t really have faith on your ability to get this job
● This question is similar to Q6 - What will your skills and ideas brings to this company/ What can you
bring to the company?
● You need to describe your relevant skills set/ personalities/ experience, BUT most importantly, you
need to be confident, there are two approach in answering
○ If you can think of some unique about yourself which can be linked to this position/company,
then it is the best, e.g. someone apply Swire MT and when the senior asked this question, the
candidate use his unique educational background (UK undergard + Peking Uni master) to link
with the company (UK Company + strategic direction in expanding into Mainland market)
○ If you cannot think of anything unique about yourself, just combined your interest in this
industry/company + your skills set fit this position + your personality fit this position
Example: I have all of the skills and experience that you’re looking for and I’m confident that I would be
the most suitable candidate for this project management role. It’s not just my background leading
successful projects for top companies — or my people skills, which have helped me develop great
relationships with developers, vendors, and senior managers alike. But I’m also passionate about this
industry and I’m driven to deliver high-quality work……………
19. When is the last time you changed your
communication style with senior management?
Hidden question: Are you adaptive? Can you fit in a corporate culture easily?
● Formula: describe the initial experience → the difficulties/ the challenge/ the reason attribute to the
change of communication style → the result: you adapt to new environment and culture quickly
● E.g. directly talk to senior colleagues → send email or use internal chatting tools as they are often
busy and may find that it is too annoying to directly talk to them
20. Your boss overslept and is now late for a client meeting. He calls and
ask you to tell the client that he is struck in traffic - in other words to lie for
him. What do you do?
Hidden question: How do you make difficult decisions? Who’s more important - a client or a boss? Do you
value team or the rules? What are your standards?
● In the international corporation these days, Compliance/legal > Client > External parties > Colleagues
● However, even with the principal above, the best answers are those which can make a “balance”, it is
safer to not go for extreme (e.g. I will definitely tell the truth to the client…….). Instead, try to think of
an answer that you do not have to tell lies to client but able to explain the situation in a reasonable
way e.g. Suggest to your boss that may be just explain to client briefly without detail as it will make
our image worse if the client found out we lied such as if the client is coming to the office via the
same highway, and then tell the client that your boss is facing unexpected coincidence and apologise
for the inconvenience caused ……...
● **** for this kind of scenario questions, it is wise to start with “I will handle this situation BASED on
various scenario, if the …………”
21. What was the last big decision you had to make?
Hidden question: How do you think through problems? Is your approach appropriate for this
role?
● Formula: briefly describe the decision that you have to make → the constraints/problem that you
are facing → how do you overcome those constraints (e.g. self-research, seek help from
colleagues) → the final decision that you made + contingency plan → your self- evaluation on the
whole thing → what can you improve if you have to make big decision again next time
Example: Last year I was applying for the student exchange programme. I received two offers, one
from a university in UK, and one from University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is one of the Public IvyLeague schools in US and I must choose one destination among these two schools. While exchanging
in UK provides a chance for me to travel in many European countries with other schoolmates
exchanging there, which I have been longing for, University of Wisconsin-Madison, though being
known of ‘in the middle of nowhere’, is a much large scale school with excellent business
education… Now I had already came back from the states, and I really enjoyed my exchange
experience. I enjoyed the courses at school, travelling to different cities and see myself differently.
Working in an global bank like BOAML, we have to face challenging scenario often, ranging from
handling clients’ irrational request, solving compliance issues, internal conflicts with other teams or
vendors, planning and executing new projects with limited resources, thus it is important to identify the
goal and all the pros and cons of each option available to identify the best option.
22. Tell me about a time you’ve missed a deadline.
Hidden question: How do you prioritize tasks, organize your work and handle time pressure?
● The focus is not how you missed/work until last min of the deadline, the focus is “why” you
missed the deadline, thus you have to explain carefully the reason that you missed the
deadline. BE CAREFUL not to describe in a way that you pursue a careless personality or
you are disorganized, BLAME the external environment (e.g. very tight deadline, teammates
could not complete some parts of work)
● Then you have to explain what have you learnt from this experience, and how do you avoid
missing a deadline in future
● MOST importantly, demonstrate that you are able to handle time pressure and can do multi-
tasking
23. Tell me a big change you’ve had to deal with.
Hidden question: When the change happened, did you shrink from it or did you lean into it? Do you still
have the energy for change? What mark would give your adaptability, out of ten?
● E.g. Internship experience → from a student to a white collar
● Formula: what is the big change? → how you find it difficult to cope with at the beginning → how you
solve the issue and adapt successfully (e.g. through the help of colleagues? Adjust your mentality
Example:
1. … during the internship, the group decided to adopt the scrum framework in the XYZ project. I was
required to learn the new project management methodology in a short amount of time. To tackle this
challenge, I took a weekend-long online workshop called “master of scrum”………. I find that when there
is a major change in the workplace it's best to take the learning curve on as a positive challenge. I created
a ppt to introduce to my co-workers about scrum and encourage them to do the same course and it was
really helpful for them as well.
2. During the coronavirus outbreak, my company implemented work from home policies and we had to
change the way of communication and reporting. Being an intern, it was already hard for me to adapt to
new team culture and handled all the work tasks, having to work from home meaning I have less chance
to receive guidance from seniors and build relationship with my team …. I learnt I have to be very
proactive under crisis and changes because ….
24. Tell me about a time you’ve had to persuade
someone to do something
Hidden question: People are tricky creatures. Do you know how to handle them?
● Easier to “create” the story: project experience
● Most charming experience: Internship experience (but need to make sense, as sometimes
it sounds too fake for an intern to persuade boss in doing something)
● Focus on show that you are creative + good communication skills + proactive
Example: Persuade classmates to start a business together 🡪 Focus on the fact that you are
good at understanding people’s concern and address the issues with solid evidence
25. Give me an example of something you've tried in your
job that hasn’t worked. What did you learn from it?
Hidden question: Are you too afraid of failure to be innovative
● Formula: describe the experience → why do you think you will fail? → how would you
improve it next time?
● Remember one thing - failure is unavoidable in real business environment, what really
matter is how you can keep improving
Example: In my summer internship in ABC telecommunication company, I worked on a performance
evaluation report and suggested the management to to test the new month-by-month payment plans.
Unfortunately, my boss gave feedback saying the new plan is not cost-effective for the business, meaning
they disagree with my view. I tried to conduct more research and peer comparison analysis and gave
more evidence to prove my point of views. However…….. What I learnt from this experience is that idea is
cheap but the key is about execution. I understand in banking industry, nowsadays there are a lot of
fintech initiatives, being a project manager, I believe besides considering the potential benefit of the ideas,
we also need to take into account the adaptability, resources limitation and…. …
26. Tell me about a time a client was especially unhappy
and what you did to resolve the situation
Hidden question: Can you handle conflict in a professional manner?
● In most business field, customer is the King, thus you have to apologize + try your best to retain
customer loyalty + maintain company image
● However you have to stand on your own ground when it comes to compliance issue 🡪
legal are more important
Integrity +
Example: I worked for a project of IT auditing and has to check if the information technology general
controls of the clients comply with the standards and procedures. However, after we provided the
results to them, the client is not happy about it. I found out that the clients were unhappy because of the
misunderstanding towards the services and the scope, which were not same as their expectations.
Then, I tried to understand what they thought and then modified my work again in order to align with their
expectations and gave them a satisfied work. It turned out that the clients were satisfied with my work
under fair amount of efforts.
I think the Main point is to understand the problems arised from the clients, I have to understand their
needs and clarify the requirements if there is any misunderstanding, and then work on how to resolve
and address the problem accordingly. It is important for us to have a clear picture of what we are doing
in business world, especially in large companies like UBS, we must be clear about the services and
products we provide to the clients. If clients were not satisfied, we have to patiently find out the problems
and solve them accordingly to provide the best services to our clients.
27. Tell me about a time you made an important decision in
the absence of a manager. Why did you reach that
decision?
Hidden question: Can you think independently or do you need constant handholding
● Similar to question 21, but add one more focus → that you made this decision on your own
28. Can you tell me about a recent situation where you
took the initiative and made something happen?
Hidden question: Are you a proactive person? Or do you just listen to order like a robot?
● Formula: describe the experience → why do take the initiatives? → what is the result and
achievement? What did you learnt?
● The key is to show that you have someone who is dedicated to contribute to the team and
someone who want to bring extra values to the team despite being a junior staff
Example: I was a data science intern at ABC Group and I got chances to handle tasks related to
division round the world. I was once required to collect sales and online promotion data from the new
concept store in Central and report the conversion rates to the store representatives on the next day by
submitting a visual dashboard. By looking at the documents I knew that they had just implemented a
new online promotional system and expected a xx% increase … So I told my manager that I would also
like to provide them an extra analysis report which includes some further investigation and advice so
that the heads can take action to improve the conversion rates. I also explained to my manager the
importance of including these analysis in the report and got his approval.
I studied the stats for promotion page click rates and view times and suggested strategies such as … I
completed the report and the dashboard on time and sent the documents to my manager.
Finally the store heads replied to us and thanked us for providing important insights for their
improvement. My manager was also impressed by my work and asked me to handle another vendor
project related to customer retention. I believe one can grow and learning through contributing more and
I value such opportunity to be able to push beyond the basic requirement
29. How to deliver the best to clients/ How to handle the
client’s request on top of other pressure?
Hidden: you know this is a sales related role and you have to serve clients right?
● These questions will be asked in a lot of interviews of sales related role
● Elements : understand the client’s need + work as a team to deliver service to client + response as
quick as possible + equip yourself with professional knowledge + fix your mistake/ company’s mistake
as quick as possible + go for extra miles to serve the clients + build LONG TERM relationship with
client instead of pitching a deal/product
● Better use example to demonstrate the above elements
Example: When I was working as a part time sales in Marathon, a sportwear shop, …… I learnt that
good client relationship building is not just about selling a product but about delivering your promise,
keep in touch with client even after sales and collaborating with other colleagues.
30. Who and how will you build relationships with when
you are new to the office/ How will you build relationship
with clients?
Hidden question: are your teammates the only ones important?
● Most people only answer to build relations with teammate which is wrong
● You may choose to build your relationship with teammates but remember then you have to build
relations with other counterparties as well E.g. Teammates + teams in other division (e.g.
counterparties within the company) + clients + other counterparties (e.g. regulators, vendors)
● Explain why you need to build relationship with these people and most importantly, why in this
priority?
● Building relationship = BOTH personal and work relationship 🡪
relationship after working hours?
besides at work, how do you build
31. How do you handle large and complex data?
Hidden question: are you a logical person?
● This kind of questions is to test your logical flow
● Logical Flow:
○ Top down: starts with the big picture and understand the principle → breaks down the big data
into smaller segments with the help of various tools/ MI → conduct further analysis based on the
large and complex data → seek help from senior colleagues for more information/ assistance →
drive the result
○ Can also use bottom up approach
Example: To deal with large and complex data, I would first know the system which holds the data, such as
Bloomberg, excel or vba etc. By knowing which system the data use and how the system work, I shall be able
to figure out what the requirement is and what part of it requires more knowledge from me. I will then do some
self-research or self-study to get more idea regarding the unknown part, such as the usage of the data, or the
best practice of the data source. It can be done by online searching or reference from the job manual. If there
are still parts that I have doubt, I will certainly seek for external advice from colleague, boss or relevant
department staff depends on their availability, so that it wont bother them too much. After I gathered sufficient
information, the next step I will take is obviously implementation. After the job is being done, the follow up
step will be self-evaluation for the job performance. Lastly, I will seek for comments from peers or the seniors
who have the experience of handling similar issue, to compare my method of problem and their ways and
adopt the better one or the better part of them. For further enhancement, I will also learn more about
particular system or software in my free time to get myself prepared for similar issue in the future.
32. How do you explain a difficult concept to your
colleagues/bosses/clients?
Hidden question: do you understand how to work with people from different divisions?
● This kind of questions is to test your logical flow
● Logical Flow:
○ Depending on whether the audience has relevant knowledge regarding the concept or not
■ → if yes, then you can provide in-depth explanation by using more data/ analysis/ information
and go the extra mile to explain the implication of the concept so that you can have a bigger
picture and use the info for further processing
■ → if no, then you may explain the concept by using chart/ graph/ flow chart/ picture to simplify
the concept so they can first have a basic understanding of the concept
Example: I think my method of explaining is highly depending on who is the audience, and their level
knowledge regarding that product or concept. For example, in the business environment, the way that I
explain concepts to clients and colleagues are different, also if they are not very knowledgeable regarding the
product of concept, extra care is needed. For client with lower educational level or not quite familiar with
financial products, I may have to explain the concept to them with lots of charts and graphs or even some
analogy to let them have a basic understanding about the product or idea, also, lament terms have to be used
to make sure that they wont be confused by the financial jargons or technical term. Also I will do more
summarization just to grasp the gist of the idea without going to further of it. For clients with high education
level or with high understanding for relevant financial product, I would go deeper for the illustration, to let them
know every single details of the product while giving them the impression that I knowledgeable in this aspect
which I believe that will provide them more confidence in making business with our bank. Lastly for
colleagues, as most of them are with tight deadlines and huge workloads, keeping the conversation quick and
precise will be my aim. I would go through the basics of the idea, and let them ask me questions regarding the
parts that want to understand more.
33. What will you do if your boss asking you to handle a task
which you have no fundamental knowledge and sufficient
information?
Hidden question: how’s your self-learning ability? Do you know when to ask for help?
● Elements: seek help from/ discuss with senior colleagues + research + review past records/ relevant
info in common drive/ company database + work with other experts from other team/ division
● Need to give example on each element that you describe
Example: For issues that I do not know, I will first identify the problem/issue to see what the requirement is
and what part of it requires more knowledge from me, such as whether it has to tackle a very complex
problem or to deal with a new type of client/ deal. I think it is important to break down problem into smaller
pieces, which makes it easier to handle and I shall have a clearer picture about what I need to learn After
that I will do some self-study or analysis, such as doing some searching or reading the job manual, so to
try to have more understanding and have the knowledge to solve the problem. However, if that does not
work well, which is still have doubt. I will go and seek for advice from external such as colleagues or boss
or relevant department staff depends on their availability. After I gathered sufficient information, I will
immediately go to the implement part. After the job is being done, the follow up step will be self-evaluation
for the job performance. Lastly, I will seek for comments from peers or the seniors who have the
experience of handling similar issue, to compare my method of problem and their ways and adopt the
better one or the better part of them. For further enhancement, I will also learn more about particular
system or software in my free time.
34. How do you solve a problem?
● This kind of questions is to test your logical flow
● Elements: Identify the issues → understand everyone's interests → list the possible solutions
(options) → evaluate the options → select an option or options → develop contingencies, monitoring,
and evaluation method
● Need to give example on each element that you describe
Example: I will always follow a 6 steps flow. Firstly, I will identify the problem/issue to see what the
requirement is and what part of it requires more knowledge from me, such as whether it has to tackle a
very complex problem or to deal with a new type of client/ deal. The second step is self-study or selfanalysis, by doing some searching or reading the job manual, tries to have more understanding about the
issue and have the knowledge to solve the problem. However, if that does not work well, which mean that
I still have doubt. I will go for the third step, seek for advice from external such as colleagues or boss or
relevant department staff depends on their availability. Fourthly, after I gathered sufficient information, I
will immediately go to the implement part. The fifth step will be self-evaluation for the performance of
solving the problem and the last step is to seek for comments from peers or the seniors who are
responsible for the issue.
35. If you were an animal what would you be?
Hidden question: Are you a creative person? Are you a quick thinker?
● Think of an animal which is NOT too common
● WRONG choices: dog because they are loyal, bee because they are hardworking, ant because they
are good at teamwork) → these animals are too WAY TOO common
● The key is to make the story INTERESTING while able to link the animal with a personality required
by the position
36. Why Integrity is so important? What’s your ethnical
stance?
Hidden question: You know integrity is the most important quality to possess in business world right?
Example: Integrity is of the most importance from my point of view. Integrity means more than being
honest and ethical. It means not to engage in any improper action and to hold to this standard in future
career. One without integrity could hardly make anyone to trust oneself. It is the cornerstone of our
interpersonal relationships, business partnerships, governance and even financial system….. If
disintegrity exists in a large scale, not just that one will be without creditworthiness, but also making a
chain of breakdown of the financial system….. Indeed, upholding integrity is not easy under every single
circumstances. But it is not like an universal principle like never lie, it is more about a principle to your
inner self that you should always do the right thing.
37. Do you have any creative ideas? Did you initiate any
innovative measures at work/ in life?
Hidden question: Did you add on your creativity?
•
Does creativity = crazy ideas? 🡪
•
Business creativity needs to be both innovative and practical, you can think out of the box but must
also highlight a practical implementation plan
•
Example:
1. …… Normally in these competitions, all group would only use a powerpoint for presenting. To
show our sincerity, we used three days to build a website. None of us has study HTML
beforehand, only me and two of my group mates had self-study Python to better prepare for
this competition. We break our own limit and start to learn building a website with the help of
github. As we have limited statistical knowledge, simply using Excel would limited our
performance. Therefore, we used external tools that we are familiar with, like Python, power BI
and tableau to enhance the visual effect. Beside animated, interactive graphics, as I have
background in designing with photoshop and AI, I tried to make the application interface to
present our final product.
1.
WRONG!
…. So I came up the idea of pitching the benefit of Chinese medicine to foreigners. I
understand it will be a tough process as not only do we have to translate all the Chinese
documents into English. There are a lack of scientific proof and …..
38. What books and newspaper do you read?
Hidden question: Do you like to learn?
● Prepare one to two books that is field specific so that you can impress the interviewer and show
him/her that you are really passionate in developing career path in this field e.g. Cryptoassets: The
Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
● Need to explain why this is a good book and what have you learnt from it
39. Sell me this pen
Hidden question: Do you understand the logic of selling? Are you a nature sales?
● Formula for selling: describing the product outlook → highlight the unique part of the product (if no
unique part then can skip this session) → describe the purpose/usage of this product → explain why
the client need this product → describe its benefit over other similar product/ competitor’s product →
ask if the client got any questions regarding this product/ feedback
40. How many traffic lights are there in Hong Kong?
Hidden question: Are you smart? Are you a quick thinker?
● Logics: how many districts in Hong Kong → each district how many street? → each street how
many traffic lights? → the calculation is no of district X no. of street per district X no. of traffic
light per street → Higher level answer can even divide the district into “commercial centre”,
“residential centre” , rural areas (has less traffic light)
● For ALL these kind of brain teaser questions, the answer is NOT the key, the KEY is to describe
the thinking process/ logical deduction process to the interviewers
Other Brainteasers Questions:
• Mathematical questions: please calculate 4.8 x 9.8
• Advanced mathematical questions: The amount of water flowing into a tank doubles every minute.
The tank is full in an hour. When is the tank half full?
• Problem solving question: How would you sell shoes in Africa where they do not wear shoe?
• Creative style question: What will you do if a dog is chasing you? Please use an animal to
describe yourself
• Q&A Session