When an interviewer asks about your weaknesses ...

For some graduates, it's the toughest question in a job interview:

Tell me, what is your biggest weakness?

How should you answer? And what do potential employers really want to hear?

There was a time when saying you were a perfectionist or a workaholic were the only acceptable answers to the question about professional weaknesses. However, unless you really are a perfectionist or a workaholic (and have supporting evidence), those answers are now considered insincere.

We asked employers in the tax profession to explain what they really want to learn when they ask this question.

Taking control of interview nerves

When you’re in your final year of study, you’re likely to begin lining up job interviews.

At this stage, you may be nervous. But don’t let those annoying butterflies stop you from showing interviewers that you’re the right candidate for the job. Be prepared, stay focused and tackle those interviews with confidence.

Here are some tips that may help.

'Why do you want a career in tax?'

You've finished your postgraduate tax degree and have landed an interview with a leading tax firm for a dream position that could launch your career.

Then comes the inevitable question: ‘Why do you want a career in tax?’

Here are three responses you can use to impress your future employer more than just: ‘Because I want to make heaps of money.’

Preparing for your job interview

So, your initial job application has succeeded and you've scored the important first interview.

If you’re unsure what to expect now, don’t panic. Here are some tried and tested techniques to help you nail the interview process and embark on the first step in your tax career.

Do your research

Apply your well-honed research skills and check out the organisation you’re meeting with.

Beginning with its company website, learn about the services it offers, the specific areas it operates in and who its clients are. Many corporate websites also have FAQs in the ‘Careers’ section.

You can even get some background information on the person you’ll be meeting with, by looking up their personal profile on the company website and on LinkedIn. This will help put you at ease and will demonstrate your genuine interest in the organisation during the interview.

Understand what they’re looking for

Go back and read the advertisement for the position you applied for. Make sure you have a good understanding of what the role entails and the key skills the organisation is looking for.

This will help you to prepare answers to potential questions – and identify queries of your own.

Brush up on industry news

At your interview, be prepared to show your knowledge of current business, industry and social issues that might impact your work.

Again, this will demonstrate your interest in the position and the sector – and can set you apart from other candidates.

Know yourself

If you're able to clearly explain what you’re looking for in a role and you’re confident in your strengths, you're bound to make a good impression.

Run through your resume and practice describing your long-term career goals and areas of interest.

Try to come up with specific examples, such as work experience you've done or industry events you've attended, to show your passion for the industry.

If you can highlight what you've learnt from these experiences, you’ll come across as confident, motivated and keen to learn.

Questions and answers

Preparing and rehearsing your answers to common questions will help you at your interview, in case nerves kick in or you’re not sure what to say. If you've already thought about your answers, you’ll always have a good fall-back response.

At the same time, remember that you’re also trying to find a job that’s a good match for you. Develop three to five questions you can ask the interview panel about the workplace culture, training and career opportunities and the type of person they want to hire. Then, on the day, be open and honest about yourself to ensure the job you land is the right fit, for both your personality and your goals.

Preparing well for your interview and putting your research ability, industry knowledge and people skills to work will help you to make a good impression on the day.
Good luck!

Give yourself the edge with free Student Membership

If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey.

Find out about Student Membership.

Take control of those first-interview nerves

You’re nearing graduation and have lined up a number of job interviews. It’s understandable that you’re nervous, but don’t let those pesky butterflies stop you from showing your interviewers that you’re the right candidate for the job. Be prepared and stay focused so you can tackle those interviews with confidence.

1. Know the role

Make sure you fully understand the context of the role for which you’re interviewing. This knowledge not only puts you at an advantage for the interview, but also demonstrates that you’re interested in this specific job – not just any job.

With this in mind, do the following:

• Research the company. Get a handle on what the company does, how long it’s been doing it, what the company culture is like and what its values are.
• Research your interviewer and the hiring manager. A trusty Google search and LinkedIn are great places to start.
• Read any materials your interviewer may have provided, such as the job description or information on company structure.
• Research the industry as a whole and the company’s competitors.

2. Find out about the interview process

Learn as much as you can in advance. How many rounds of interviews is the company conducting? Who will you meet throughout the process? Will you have to undertake any tests? If you’re working with a recruiter, a good one will provide this information immediately. If not, don’t be afraid to ask for more information so you can eliminate as many surprises as possible.

3. Prepare answers to likely questions

Most entry-level interviews focus on similar themes. It’s a good idea to give some thought to how you’d respond to the following:

• Tell me about yourself: This is a starter question aimed at relaxing you and getting you talking. Make sure you use it to focus in on the things you want to say.
• Why did you choose your field of study? The interviewer will be looking for your passion and commitment to your chosen field.
• Tell me about some work you’ve completed in this field: This question gauges your textbook and practical knowledge. If you haven’t had the opportunity to work in your field, get proactive and seek out an opportunity. Whether volunteered or paid work, this experience will speak volumes to potential employers.

4. Have questions of your own

With the research you’ve done, you should be able to ask some questions that demonstrate a greater depth of understanding of the company and the industry.

5. Take a deep breath

On interview day, take your time answering questions – don’t panic if there’s a short silence between the question and your answer. Also, make sure you’re answering the right question. If you don’t understand what they’re looking for, ask the interviewer to repeat or clarify the question.

The interview process isn’t just about whether the company is comfortable with you as an employee. It’s also your opportunity to understand whether the job and company are right for you.

Landing that graduate position

So you’re hunting for that elusive graduate position, wondering what employers in the tax industry want and how can you impress them. Here are three pieces of advice, plus some career words of wisdom straight from the horse’s mouth.

1. Having a good personality matters

If you’ve managed to graduate with your degree firmly in hand, you’re probably more than up to the technical side of the job. What employers will be keen to establish is whether you’ll be a good cultural fit. Try to establish a good rapport with them and let your personality shine through.

2. Don’t place too much emphasis on your tax education

Trust us, your employer understands you only completed one or two tax courses and have largely forgotten what you learnt. There’s no need to talk up your skill set given they’ll be enrolling you in taxation education if they decide to hire you.

3. Exaggeration is acceptable – lying isn’t

Interviewers expect you to talk yourself up – it demonstrates you’re keen to get the position – but they won’t appreciate being seriously misled. Make sure you don’t cross the line by pretending to have a Master of Taxation when you actually don’t.

Here’s what two respected tax professionals look for in their job applicants.

Daleen Van der Merwe, HR manager at DKM

“When employing graduates, we pay more attention to whether their attitudes and personality are such that they will fit into our existing team, rather than focusing just on their academic record. They need to be the type of person who is prepared to ask questions and be ready to learn. They also need to be comfortable with starting at the bottom and have realistic expectations.
“We’ve found that those who’ve done extra study, such as a Master of Taxation, straight after their undergraduate degree are overqualified and inexperienced. We prefer that people come to us and then do the CTA1 program while working here.”

Martin Booth, partner at Moore Stephens

“I used to focus heavily on the academic side, but then found that I also had to give thought to cultural fit – is the person going to have the ability to get along with other staff? Are you going to be confident putting them in front of clients? That said, you still need to have a fairly good CV behind you.
“If someone took the initiative and did the CTA1 at their own expense before applying for a job here, that would certainly be to their advantage. The issue many employers have with Gen Y is not so much a lack of skills as an attitude of entitlement. So someone who is going to invest their own time in broadening their skill set, either before or after being employed here, would always be looked favourably upon.”

Give yourself the edge with free Student Membership

If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey.

Find out about Student Membership.

Acing your interview: Commercial awareness

A job interview is about more than just how you and your skill set will fill an available role. Many employers will want to know how commercially aware you are – and that requires some preparation.
Here are some common topics you should cover, and the research you’ll need to do to ensure you are adequately prepared to answer all types of questions.

About us

It goes without saying that you should investigate the organisation that may well become your employer. This research will give you an idea of what the organisation does, as well as how they want to be viewed in the marketplace.

The company’s website is an obvious place to start. Check their ‘About us’ page, but also any newsletters, media releases and blogs from recent months to get an idea of their history and the kind of activities they engage in. Employers will appreciate a candidate who is well versed in their company’s ethos and has a firm grounding in how they operate day to day. Consider who their typical clients might be, who their direct competitors are and what the key differences between this company and their competitors are.

Also try to get a sense of their culture. You can do this directly by speaking to people who work there. This is easier if there is already someone within your network employed at the company – you can take them out for coffee and have a chat – or there may be opportunities at networking events to find someone from the organisation.

Indirectly, take a look at networking platforms like LinkedIn. Do employees tend to stick around in their roles? Are they promoted from within? Have they been given educational opportunities while at the organisation? What do they have to say about their managers and colleagues?

Public knowledge

How people outside the organisation view it is also important. You can get a sense of this from the company’s social media engagement. What sort of messages are they trying to send? How do they engage with the wider community, and vice versa? Are they socially savvy? Do they even have a social presence?

News and media coverage over the last year may also give you some insight. Use a search engine to trawl through news coverage of the organisation from the past year. Is the coverage positive or negative? If the coverage is largely different from the messages on the organisation’s website, that will also tell you a few things about your potential employer.

Industry insider

Getting a feel for the industry in general is also a good idea so you have context for where the organisation sits. Media coverage is a good indicator, but delve a little deeper for insight from industry associations, journals and conferences. If you’ve started early by getting involved in the industry as a student and attending networking functions and industry events, you’ll have firsthand knowledge to draw on.

You may also find that competitors have a thing or two to say about the organisation. Although you need to view these comments with a contextual lens, you can often get a sense of how your potential employer is regarded within the industry.

Dedicated research will allow you to see the current issues and changes affecting the industry, as well as how your potential employer compares to its competitors. Being commercially savvy means knowing why you’re interested in the industry – and why you want the job on offer.

Give yourself the edge with free Student Membership
If you are a tertiary education student, The Tax Institute can help you progress in your career journey.
Find out about Student Membership.