Financial Planner interview questions and answers
Ask these sample Financial Planner interview questions to assess candidates’ skills and make better hiring decisions.
Are you a candidate?
Crush your interview with our guide
Financial Planner Interview Questions
Financial Planners advise investments, cash flow and debt management practices. They’re familiar with all kinds of financial transactions and products to make sure they present the most profitable solutions to their clients.
Candidates for this role usually hold an Accounting or Finance degree and a professional licence (e.g. Series 7 and 66), along with relevant work experience. Additional certifications like CFP, although not required, could help you screen candidates. Professionals who invest time in updating their knowledge (through either formal degrees or following industry developments) indicate they’re engaged in their field.
During your interviews, look for candidates who have strong analytical skills and the ability to make objective decisions. Pose hypothetical scenarios to your candidates and test how they address finance-related issues. It’s a good sign if they ask follow-up questions to gather as much information as possible instead of jumping to quick conclusions. Opt for candidates who present their ideas with confidence, taking risks and opportunities into consideration.
Operational and Situational questions
- If hired, what are the biggest economic risks you would advise us on?
- What kinds of investments would you recommend to increase our revenues within the next five years?
- If you want to prevent a manager from making an investment, how do you ensure they understand the risks?
- Is a positive cash flow enough to tell whether a company is profitable?
- We are planning to expand our business with two new stores/offices. What are your main responsibilities in this project?
Role-specific questions
- What is your client portfolio?
- How often do you evaluate the financial results for a company of our size?
- What information do you use to forecast next year’s financial status? How do you organize your data and how do you present your results?
- How do you check your work for accuracy? (e.g. ensuring correct data entry in large spreadsheets)
- What financial analysis software do you use?
- What metrics do you check when reviewing a department’s budget?
- What are some ground rules you follow in designing investment models, regardless the client’s financial status?
Behavioral questions
- Describe a situation when you undervalued potential risks from an investment. What happened and what did you learn from that experience?
- How do you ensure you’re up-to-date with finance industry developments and regulations? What resources (e.g. newspapers, blogs) do you follow?
- Describe a time when your advice to senior managers resulted in higher revenues.
- What’s the most difficult loan/debt problem you’ve faced with a client? How did you address it?
- How would you explain complex financial concepts in simple terms to managers who may not understand industry-speak?