I help a lot of applicants prepare for interview by the Prudential Regulation Authority (the PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) as part of the senior management function approval process. Here are some points that might be helpful if you\u2019re called for interview.<\/p>\n
1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Check the application documents at least ten days before the interview<\/strong> \u2013 the application pack will make up the bulk of what the regulators know about you and it\u2019s likely that some of the interview questions will be driven by what\u2019s in the application documents. My experience is that there are usually points that are inconsistent, unclear, out-of-date or not covered in full in application packs (and I\u2019m thinking, here, of the pack as a whole, not just the Form A). The points I see most frequently are L&D plans that are too brief or cover too short a period, inconsistencies in responsibilities attached to the role and competency assessments that don\u2019t consider all of the skills required to perform a role. Checking the application documents at least ten days before the interview should give enough time to tell the regulators about any points that need to be updated, clarified or corrected. And it\u2019s good interview prep too.<\/p>\n 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Set aside time to prepare for the interview<\/strong> \u2013 it might seem obvious, but you need to block out time to immerse yourself in the application and what the regulators will want to find out and test. It\u2019s very, very hard to do that when you have the day-job to do as well. Be rigorous and block out prep time.<\/p>\n 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t get too hung up about the agenda<\/strong> \u2013 the regulators usually send an agenda before the interview but my experience is this is usually too general to be helpful: \u2018governance\u2019, \u2018culture\u2019, \u2018the business model\u2019 and \u2018the Consumer Duty\u2019 are often as specific as it gets although there are occasionally useful steers. Regardless, focus on the things you\u2019d ask if you were a regulator interviewing someone with your background, taking on a role with the responsibilities you\u2019ll have, at the firm you\u2019ll be at.<\/p>\n 4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prepare your answer to the likely first question<\/strong> \u2013 this is often along the lines of Tell us about your background and how you come to be [specify intended position]<\/em>. This question looks easy but a lot of people are lulled into a false sense of security and head down rabbit holes. The answer needs to have enough \u2013 relevant \u2013 detail but not too much. It shouldn\u2019t be too long. And it will set the tone for how you\u2019re regarded for the rest of the interview. Practice it and variations.<\/p>\n 5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Go deep and go wide<\/strong> \u2013 SMF interviews generally involve big, open questions \u2013 e.g. What are the key challenges for [firm] and its business model over the next twelve months?<\/em> \u2013 but you need to have a lot of detail at your fingertips to answer a question like this with authority and it\u2019s very hard to be convincing if you don\u2019t have that foundation of deep knowledge to draw on. I suggest prep involves deep dives around specific questions in order to inform answers to the broader questions.<\/p>\n 6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Think about the questions you don\u2019t<\/em> want to be asked<\/strong> \u2013 there\u2019ll be a few and you probably won\u2019t want to prepare for them. However, looking them in the eye can de-fang them quite effectively. Running through those points with someone \u2013 Compliance; Legal; Risk; the CEO or Chair \u2013 can be helpful too. And if there\u2019s a problem point, it might be sensible for that to be raised with the regulators beforehand, rather than you having to explain it during the interview.<\/p>\n 7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s ok to go back to an answer you gave earlier in the interview and clarify or expand on what you said<\/strong> \u2013 it shows you\u2019ll make an effort to ensure the regulators have the right information and understand the point you\u2019re making (see senior manager conduct rule 4). And if you remember something crucial after the interview, it might be appropriate to send a follow-up email correcting or adding to what you\u2019ve said to ensure the regulators have the right information and haven\u2019t been misled.<\/p>\n 8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have examples to hand<\/strong> \u2013 examples make something you\u2019re talking about come to life and they show your experience. Ideally, have a couple of examples for each of the topics you think may be covered at the interview.<\/p>\n Preparing for an interview takes time but there\u2019s no substitute. And you can go to the interview confident that you\u2019re in the best position to give it your best shot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This article is intended to provide general information about current and expected topics and perspectives that might be of interest. It does not provide or constitute, or purport to provide or constitute, advice relevant to any particular circumstances. Legal or other professional advice relevant to any particular circumstances should always be sought.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I help a lot of applicants prepare for interview by the Prudential Regulation Authority (the PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) as part of the senior management function approval process. Here are some points that might be helpful if you\u2019re called for interview. 1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Check the application documents at least ten days before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11,46,51,47,48,91],"class_list":["post-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-fca","tag-interview","tag-interview-preparation","tag-pra","tag-senior-manager-interview","tag-smf-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418,"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions\/418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ruthfinch.com\/website\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}