Interviewing for Finance/Accounting position--what to expect?

[disneyhopeful]

Hi, all! I am a college senior who is currently in the process of interviewing for a full-time finance/accounting program. I applied through my school's career services, and after some correspondence with the very nice HR, I was told that I will be interviewing with a senior manager next week. I was wondering if anyone has gone through the same process and would know how to better prepare for the interview?

I've never worked in entertainment before, as I am from/go to school in a state that doesn't have a huge entertainment industry, but I have had prior experience working for a large public accounting firm. I am fairly confident that I'll be able to handle most technical aspects of questions that I may be asked, but I was wondering if there is any other way that I can "wow" the hiring manager? I have been looking over Disney's most recent 10-K to get a more solid idea of the company, its processes, and its more relatively recent news, but is there more that I can do to prove my interest/dedication?

Disney has honestly been a lifelong goal for me, and I'm happy to even have gotten this chance to interview, so I just want to do my best, regardless of the outcome. Thanks!

 

[MichWolv]

Hi, all! I am a college senior who is currently in the process of interviewing for a full-time finance/accounting program. I applied through my school's career services, and after some correspondence with the very nice HR, I was told that I will be interviewing with a senior manager next week. I was wondering if anyone has gone through the same process and would know how to better prepare for the interview?

I've never worked in entertainment before, as I am from/go to school in a state that doesn't have a huge entertainment industry, but I have had prior experience working for a large public accounting firm. I am fairly confident that I'll be able to handle most technical aspects of questions that I may be asked, but I was wondering if there is any other way that I can "wow" the hiring manager? I have been looking over Disney's most recent 10-K to get a more solid idea of the company, its processes, and its more relatively recent news, but is there more that I can do to prove my interest/dedication?

Disney has honestly been a lifelong goal for me, and I'm happy to even have gotten this chance to interview, so I just want to do my best, regardless of the outcome. Thanks!

If it's not too late, I might be able to offer some tips. I don't have experience on the inside of Disney's corporate accounting, but I can figure out some of the issues they'd likely face. When's the interview?

 

[disneyhopeful]

If it's not too late, I might be able to offer some tips. I don't have experience on the inside of Disney's corporate accounting, but I can figure out some of the issues they'd likely face. When's the interview?

I have not had the interview yet, but it'll be coming up shortly. I will take any advice you may have; thanks!

 

[NYwdwfan]

I don't have experience with Disney but 2 interview questions you should always be prepared to answer are:

What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?
What is something nobody knows about you?

My former CFO used to ask a complex multiplication question in our accountant interviews - the goal was not to see who could answer it correctly (one person in 5 years was able to) but to see how people handled being flustered. He accepted people asking for a calculator, or estimating, but he did not develop a high opinion of those who said "I can't do math in my head".

Good luck with your interview! Researching the company is a great first step. And if you're hired can you please greenlight rebuilding 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?

 

[MichWolv]

Hi, all! I am a college senior who is currently in the process of interviewing for a full-time finance/accounting program. I applied through my school's career services, and after some correspondence with the very nice HR, I was told that I will be interviewing with a senior manager next week. I was wondering if anyone has gone through the same process and would know how to better prepare for the interview?

I've never worked in entertainment before, as I am from/go to school in a state that doesn't have a huge entertainment industry, but I have had prior experience working for a large public accounting firm. I am fairly confident that I'll be able to handle most technical aspects of questions that I may be asked, but I was wondering if there is any other way that I can "wow" the hiring manager? I have been looking over Disney's most recent 10-K to get a more solid idea of the company, its processes, and its more relatively recent news, but is there more that I can do to prove my interest/dedication?

Disney has honestly been a lifelong goal for me, and I'm happy to even have gotten this chance to interview, so I just want to do my best, regardless of the outcome. Thanks!

Without knowing more about the program, it's hard to figure out what areas to be ready for, but I'll give a shot. Just so you have a little context on where my thoughts come from, I spent 11 years with Arthur Andersen, including 7 in audit, and 4 as technical accounting guru at world headquarters, and 6 years working for the Securities and Exchange Commission. I've been an accounting and financial reporting consultant for the past 7 years.

Some of the technical accounting issues that I would guess Disney would be dealing with are:

Capitalization of film costs -- always a touchy issue in that industry.

Revenue recognition -- there's a new revenue recognition standard that was recently issued and will be effective in 2017. A company the size and complexity of Disney has no doubt started planning for that new standard. It will likely affect the way they recognize revenue from film and TV exhibition, character licenses, and other areas.

Foreign exchange -- I'm not sure what kind of hedging Disney does or how much FX exposure the company has, but with the dollar strengthening so much lately, Disney may well either 1) be affected in terms of FX gains/loss or simply reduced profits when translated into US dollars, or 2) be considering new strategies to manage FX exposure.

You can find additional issues that Disney is dealing with in terms of corporate accounting and financial reporting by looking at recent letters to a and from the SEC. These are available at www.sec.gov. Choose "Company Filings", then search for "Walt Disney Co". That'll pull up a list of all of the Company's filings. Search for filing type "Corresp" (short for correspondence). That'll pull up all of the comment letter responses that Disney has sent to the SEC answering questions the SEC asked of Disney.


Of course, all of the above is relevant only to top-level consolidated financial statements. If the program you are interviewing for is focused at a different level (for example, film production), or is more operational in nature (daily transaction processing, for example), the stuff above won't be directly relevant to the job, although it might still help in the interview.


Good Luck!

 

[disneyhopeful]

^^ Good luck! If appropriate, please let us know how it goes.

Without knowing more about the program, it's hard to figure out what areas to be ready for, but I'll give a shot. Just so you have a little context on where my thoughts come from, I spent 11 years with Arthur Andersen, including 7 in audit, and 4 as technical accounting guru at world headquarters, and 6 years working for the Securities and Exchange Commission. I've been an accounting and financial reporting consultant for the past 7 years.

Some of the technical accounting issues that I would guess Disney would be dealing with are:

Capitalization of film costs -- always a touchy issue in that industry.

Revenue recognition -- there's a new revenue recognition standard that was recently issued and will be effective in 2017. A company the size and complexity of Disney has no doubt started planning for that new standard. It will likely affect the way they recognize revenue from film and TV exhibition, character licenses, and other areas.

Foreign exchange -- I'm not sure what kind of hedging Disney does or how much FX exposure the company has, but with the dollar strengthening so much lately, Disney may well either 1) be affected in terms of FX gains/loss or simply reduced profits when translated into US dollars, or 2) be considering new strategies to manage FX exposure.

You can find additional issues that Disney is dealing with in terms of corporate accounting and financial reporting by looking at recent letters to a and from the SEC. These are available at www.sec.gov. Choose "Company Filings", then search for "Walt Disney Co". That'll pull up a list of all of the Company's filings. Search for filing type "Corresp" (short for correspondence). That'll pull up all of the comment letter responses that Disney has sent to the SEC answering questions the SEC asked of Disney.


Of course, all of the above is relevant only to top-level consolidated financial statements. If the program you are interviewing for is focused at a different level (for example, film production), or is more operational in nature (daily transaction processing, for example), the stuff above won't be directly relevant to the job, although it might still help in the interview.


Good Luck!

Thanks!

I'm actually interviewing for an entry-level job--I think it's more operational in nature, at this level--so I think I may be expecting more behavioral-type questions, but I will definitely be looking up your suggestions for my own knowledge.They do desire prior Big 4/top public accounting and/or Fortune 500 internships for this position, so they want people who are serious about this career. I do agree that it still may help in the interview (after all, more knowledge will never be a bad thing) to show that I am serious about and dedicated to this type of work and my (hopeful) future career in the company, where the things you've noted may become more applicable.

 

[MichWolv]

I'm actually interviewing for an entry-level job--I think it's more operational in nature, at this level--so I think I may be expecting more behavioral-type questions, but I will definitely be looking up your suggestions for my own knowledge.They do desire prior Big 4/top public accounting and/or Fortune 500 internships for this position, so they want people who are serious about this career. I do agree that it still may help in the interview (after all, more knowledge will never be a bad thing) to show that I am serious about and dedicated to this type of work and my (hopeful) future career in the company, where the things you've noted may become more applicable.

Sounds about right. One other thing I can recommend, not from my accounting knowledge, but general management experience. That you like and know Disney is good, and you want to show that, but don't come off as a "fan-boy/girl", as that will be off-putting.

Good luck.

 

[disneyhopeful]

@disneyhopeful did you delete your experience posts? It looks like it. Sorry to hear it wasn't the best experience, but sometimes we judge our interviews harshly. You never know. Good luck!

Yes, I deleted them. I decided that venting on a public forum probably isn't the best way to approach it, and it wouldn't change the outcome, either.

I haven't heard back since my interview (nothing about further steps, but I haven't gotten a rejection, either). Does anyone know whether Disney sends e-mails letting applicants know the outcomes of their interviews? Honestly, I have a tiny bit of hope that maybe it hadn't gone as poorly as I had thought, but I would rather receive a rejection than being left hanging for weeks/months.

 

[LilWalt]

I applied for the Underwriter position at Partners FCU. I don't have Credit Union experience but 11 years of lending experience with my NMLS license. I also did lending with a large RV dealer as well. Me and my wife have always talked about moving down there and working for Disney. I applied just to see what if.