Testing Financial Analyst Skills

Overview of the position

Financial analysts scrutinize organizations' finances to uncover trends, evaluate risks, and predict potential results. They gather data from multiple sources, including company financial records, bank statements, stock and bond performance statements, and external macroeconomic data or industry research. By analyzing this data, they can advise and guide company decision-makers and report on business performance.

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Key skills and abilities

Analytical skills
Problem-solving skills
Data processing skills
Time management skills
Data sourcing and research
Financial modeling
Preparing documents and completing forms

What makes a dependable financial analyst?

As the job title implies, analytic ability is fundamental to people who are great financial analysts. That means they are able to collect data, assess its quality, and use cutting-edge methods for manipulating it.

They need to have a careful eye for detail and be proficient in technology to do the job well.

A good financial analyst will be a great sleuth, having enough curiosity and instinct for searching out facts and patterns. For their work to be useful, they must be able to verbally and visually communicate in all formats.

While ability is helpful, character is consequential. A financial analyst must have high integrity and be exceptionally trustworthy and discrete.

With the Hire Success^® auto-baseline builder, you can define your ideal financial analyst candidate so that the system can instantly show you top candidates and offer guidance on where potential red flags may exist.

What makes a dependable financial analyst?

Which tests can you use to assess financial analyst skills and personality?

When hiring for a finance or accounting position, it's beneficial to conduct several types of pre-employment tests. This allows you to fully gauge a candidate's financial analysis abilities and assess important character traits. The following combination of tests can help you identify quality financial analysts:

Personality test

This test helps you evaluate character traits like ability to work on teams, emotional intelligence, adaptability, work ethic, reliability, how people handle stress, and how well they will fit into your culture.

Logic test

Some important financial analyst skills to assess include a candidate's ability to use reason, make comparisons, recognize patterns, solve problems, and draw sound conclusions.

Excel skills test

For this role, you'll want an Excel test for financial analysts that will help you find candidates with above average proficiency in using spreadsheet applications.

Custom job assessment

Many employers need to test for company or industry-specific skills. An online job assessment maker should be versatile, easy to use, and secure so that you can customize assessments. Learn about the Hire Success^® Custom Test Builder.

When to test candidates for a financial analyst position

You should use pre-employment tests to assess financial analyst skills early in your hiring process. This is beneficial for two main reasons.

First, you can quickly screen through candidates to find those most qualified and likely to fit into your organization. You can speed up your hiring process and concentrate your resources.

Second, you can use the results to suggest questions and point out areas for deeper exploration when interviewing a candidate.

What risks can you avoid by assessing financial analyst skills before hiring?

Hiring a financial analyst is an important decision that can have a significant impact on your company. By using pre-employment tests to assess your financial analyst candidates, you can avoid problems such as:

Failure to get timely and useful business insights
Missing details when dealing with numbers leading to errors
Skills that are not sufficient or not up to date with the latest technologies
Inability to effectively communicate with management
Poor cultural fit and conflict in the organization
Integrity issues that open you up to theft or fraud
Lack of industry-specific knowledge

Why to assess financial analyst skills before hiring.

Hire a financial analyst that you can count on

Hire Success^® can help you assess financial analyst skills in a way that is both comprehensive and efficient. You can improve your hiring process and increase your success rate with the right program. Request a customized quote from Hire Success^®.