FINANCIAL ANALYST: Job Applicant

FINANCIAL ANALYST: ROLE PLAYING SCRIPT FOR JOB APPLICANT,
Ms. Tuli, Bentley University, fall 2007.

It is October 2007. You will graduate with a BS from Bentley in the spring of 2008 with a 3.8 GPA.

You’ve done outstanding work while studying at Bentley University. Over two years, you did an internship in the loan department of a downtown Boston bank. You worked on an analysis of several businesses applying for loans and participated in presentations to the head of the loan department about those companies. You got excellent reviews for your hard work, attention to details and teamwork in helping the loan department. In fact, one bank executive was so pleased with your work that he offered you a position when you graduate next spring.

During college, you also volunteered two summers at a community center, Sandra’s Lodge, tutoring low income and homeless women in budgeting, financial management, and financial literacy. You were a hit with the staff and the clients of the center because of your ability to communicate about money matters in clear and useful ways.

Your goal is to get a job as a financial analyst after graduation with Worldwide Finance (WF) because of its world class reputation in financial services and because your experience in analyzing the finances of companies applying for bank loans gave you an appreciation for the financial conditions of prosperous companies . WF employs hundreds of financial analysts to consult with their Fortune 50 partners. Every year, WF hires 10 people graduating with BS degrees to meet the needs of the ever-growing demands of their business partners. You know that these positions at WF are highly sought after and that your competition is fierce.

You’ve done your homework. www.wageproject.org tells you that the financial analyst position that you’ve been offered has a salary range of $47,000-$60,000 with a median salary of $53,000. The benefits package for this position is worth another $24,000.

You’ve determined that your target salary is $53,000 which you firmly believe, given your internship experience, your tutoring at Sandra’s Lodge and 3.8 GPA is certainly justified.

You know that living in the Boston area will be expensive, that it will be costly to get your clothes and some furniture from your parents’ home in Connecticut to a Boston apartment, and that you have hefty student loans to pay off. The minimum salary you can possibly accept is $49,000 and that would mean living VERY modestly.

You were thrilled yesterday when Mrs. Powers told you that she was very impressed with you and offered you a job. She asked you to come back today just to settle a couple details like salary and starting date and then sign a contract.

You have the last appointment of the day. Mrs. Powers must leave in 15 minutes give a speech in Boston.

Can you and Mrs. Powers come to an agreement about a starting salary which you accept? ? Make notes on what you consider your persuasive points. Decide the sequence in which you will present these points. Make notes about the language you will use. Make notes about likely objections and what you will say.

Use every minute of that time to get her to your target salary. It's your last chance to start out with the best salary you can get. Remember, $53,000 is what you believe you're worth in that job.

Go for it!