Tricky interview question: Why do you want to work in operations when you could get paid five times more as a corporate banker?
The question
A candidate for a management-trainee position at a commercial bank was asked to choose between three departments that interested him: finance, corporate banking and operations. He chose operations.
The interviewer then said: "Why didn't you choose corporate banking or finance, which might give you five times the salary of yours in operations?"
The candidate's reply
I chose it because I would love to learn more about the operational side of a financial institution, rather than learning the financial side, which I don't have much interest in.
How he would have responded in hindsight
Financial and corporate are very attractive to me as well. Because I will be a trainee, I will have lots of opportunities to learn from different departments during my progress, so I am sure there will be chances to experience the other two sectors, and I might like to work in them in the future.
How would YOU have answered?
Use the comments box below to suggest a better response to the interview question above.
