What Is Your Background Working in Various Industries?

Interview Preparation
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#1

For this answer, you want to think about the role and company you’re interviewing for. If you’re interviewing to be a private, or internal, accountant, hiring managers primarily want to hear about your experience and interest in the company’s industry. But if you’re interviewing for a public accounting role, they’ll want to hear about your experience across industries since you’ll likely have clients of different types.

In either situation, be sure to emphasize your experience in and tailor your answer to the industry or industries relevant to the role. If you aren’t sure what those are, this is a great opportunity for you to ask the interviewer.

One answer might sound like:

“While my experience has ranged across manufacturing, energy, and financial services, I found myself most interested in manufacturing due the complexity of the work. In my last job, I prepared taxes for a number of manufacturing clients and got to learn about the many intricacies of that industry—so much that I became the go-to person to ask when my colleagues had questions about manufacturing clients. And the large manufacturers that your website mentions as clients are actually what initially drew me to this role.”