Societe Generale

Question 1

History of Societe Generale

Answer 1

• Société Générale S.A. is French multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Paris, France.
• The bank was founded by a group of industrialists and financiers on May 4, 1864
• It set up a permanent office in London in 1871
• Employ around 3200 FTEs

Question 2

What are the total assets of Societe Generale in 2019?

Answer 2

Total Assets: 1.3 TEUR

Question 3

What is the net profit in 2019?

Answer 3

3.2 BEUR

Question 4

Who is the CEO?

Answer 4

Frederic Oudea

Question 5

Who is the CFO?

Answer 5

William Kadouch-Chassaing

Question 6

Who is the CRO?

Answer 6

Sylvie Rémond

Question 7

1. Are you accustomed with what we do?

Answer 7

You represent the Corporate and Investment Banking division among other business units of Societe Generale UK such as: Wealth Management, Asset Management, Clearing and Settlements, Equipment Finance etc.
You provide investment advice to clients on how to raise capital from equity markets, or provide funding solutions to corporations.

Question 8

2. Tell me a little about yourself

Answer 8

My name is Dragos Iorga. I am 26 years old. I’m from Bucharest, Romania. I’ve been living in The Netherlands for 6 years. I have a bachelor degree in Economics from Utrecht University and a master degree in Actuarial Science from University of Amsterdam. I’ve worked as a Risk Consultant for the Dutch banking sector in Amsterdam for 2 years.

Question 9

3. Tell me about your experience at ING

Answer 9

S: My internship at ING was my first experience in a corporate environment. I was extremely motivated to prove myself and do a good job. When I started the software development center was at its inception. They’ve also just suffered some restructuring among the teams. They had large expansion plans, namely to reach 500 FTEs from 100 FTEs within two years. Given that the center was in a continuous change, things were a bit messy. The CEO of the hub complained that the accounting department was having issues with building their financial statements, because the center was not their only responsibility, they also had to build statements for the bank itself and that was a higher priority for them
T: So the CEO asked me to start fresh and re-check all the data.
A: I’ve received the journal of accounts with payments and receivables and I’ve rebuilt the financial statements from scratch, and was asked to extract as much information from the data as possible
R: I’ve realized the importance of work ethics, because I knew the CEO needed reliable numbers in order to justify a budget to his management, and I’ve also learned how to be pro-active and take action; I was given a task to do, but of course questions and mis-matches appeared, and I couldn’t bother the CEO all the time with my questions. I took the initiative and got in contact with the accounting department to clarify any concerns I had. I got along very well with the accountants. One of the senior accountant invited me to build the monthly statement together with her.

Question 10

What is Management Accounting?

Answer 10

the provision of internal accounting information in order to aid managerial decision-making

Question 11

4. Tell me about your experience at NN

Answer 11

S: NN Investment Partner needed an intern for their Reporting and Performance Measurement team.
T: We were producing various reports about the investment funds under the management of NN where we would present key investment figures, comparisons with the benchmark fund, performance indicators, fund asset composition etc.
A:
R: This time I’ve learned how to work in a team, because there were a lot of knowledge-transfer sessions, we would have meetings together, we would work under the 4-eye principle, we would ask each other to fill in someone’s place in case someone would have to leave earlier from work etc.
I’ve also learned the importance of detail and high-quality work, since I was in contact with the clients directly. I was given full responsibility of some clients very soon. I was responsible for the Asian clients who were very demanding: they asked a lot of questions, they had late minute requests.
By the end of the internship I was building new reports from scratch, based on the client’s requirements. I’ve also simplified the production of some reports, by taking a step back and thinking about what exactly is the process and what do we need to present. I was trying to look pass the technical steps presented in the working procedure. I was able to reduce the production of some reports from 3h to 1h.

Question 12

5. Tell me about your experience at Avantage Reply. What did you like most about this position?

Answer 12

S: Avantage Reply is a mid-sized consultancy company with a unique selling point. It was due to this selling point that I’ve decided to work for them. Avantage Reply is part of larger group called Reply, an Italian company, very famous in Italy, which is a technology company. Reply has a network of around 80 companies specialized in a specific domain but mostly related to technology. Given this vast network of companies, Reply can meet the needs of any client no matter the technology. For delivering a project, multiple companies work together to combine their knowledge and skills. And this is how Avantage Reply was working: by leveraging the technological capabilities of Reply, whether it was related to cloud computing, data warehouse development or app development. So you had finance and risk professionals working together with developers.
T: My tasks mainly involved working for the client. In addition I was also responsible for hiring junior consultants and for marketing across Dutch universities.
A: I’ve been on 5 client projects in total. I’ve conducted several interviews and was in contact with the student unions.
R: My contract got extended in almost every project that I was part of. We’ve successfully hired two new junior consultants. I’ve rebuilt the marketing strategy of the company, by increasing our exposure in fewer universities, rather than having little exposure in more universities. I’ve learned how to be organized and schedule my time in an efficient manner.

Question 13

6. Tell me about your Master studies

Answer 13

S: As I started my bachelor program we had the liberty of choosing our courses based on our interests. I decided to pursue courses that were more related to finance rather than economics. The more and more I progressed in my studies, the more I realized that mathematics sits at the core of finance and that the next step for finance is technology and quantitative analysis.
T:
A: After taking all financial mathematics courses provided by Utrecht University, I decided to pursue for my master, Actuarial Science and Mathematical Finance.

R:

Question 14

7. What are your biggest weaknesses?

Answer 14

I’m a perfectionist. I tend to spend more time on a deliverable than most people have patience. But this is something that I am working at. I am trying to be more practical and less pedantic

Question 15

10. Why do you want this job?

Answer 15

I enjoy working in a project-based environment. I think the work never becomes repetitive.
I like working on improving business processes
I think there is a lot of room to grow, and would like to develop my project management skills. (These are useful skills to have in any career).

Question 16

11. Why should we hire you?

Answer 16

I have experience working in a project-based environment.

I have excellent organizational skills. I can prioritize and organize my time in an efficient manner. (I have written my bachelor thesis while working full time. Started my master studies while also working full time. When I worked as a consultant I had additional tasks that I was responsible of: recruitment of juniors and marketing across Dutch universities)
(At my work I used to split my time in morning and afternoon work. If there was work related to reading, understanding, analysis I would do it in the morning. If I had to interview someone, prepare a document, produce a report I would do it in the afternoon, so I was able to successfully dose my energy.)

I am accustomed with working under different project methodologies Agile or PRINCE2.

I have experience in satisfying multiple stakeholder requirements

I have experience in delivering change initiatives related to processes and systems

Question 17

12. Why do you want to work at this company?

Answer 17

It’s one of the largest and oldest banks in the world. It’s the third bank in France by total number of assets. It’s a major step for anyone to work in such a big bank

Question 18

13. Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills.

Answer 18

It was during a Data Warehouse development project. When we decided that we will develop a data model instead of running the project the classical way where you organize workshops and collect data from all the different systems, we had this major issue that there was no one to validate the work that I was doing. And the project manager and project supervisor started to worry that they should give up on the data model. But I insisted that they should let me continue and asked them to trust me and my work. Finally they managed to find a database developer and we went through the data model together and he was very happy with it. Two months later the database was developed

Question 19

14. What’s a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work.

Answer 19

It was spring and we started the hiring process of new junior consultants. We’ve interviewed all the candidates, one was a hell yes and there was a second spot that needed to be filled in. My manager decided not to choose any one of the remaining, but I made a case for hiring one of the juniors as I thought he was very intelligent and creative. After my insistences, I’ve convinced the partner to hire him, and it turned out that he became the partner’s favorite consultant, after me of course.

Question 20

15. Can you tell me about a difficult work situation and how you overcame it

Answer 20

We’ve decided to built a data model for the entire reporting process. I started working on it. During the development of the model I initially received positive feedback. Two months later after development, the project manager, who knew data modelling, said that the model is not correct and that I need to start from scratch. So I re-started with the model, with the same deadline as before. I worked weekends in a row to solve it

Question 21

16. What do you consider to be your biggest professional achievement?

Answer 21

A project that we had with a Dutch investment bank. They wanted a presentation on FRTB. I told my manager we need to understand the concepts, and then simplify it for the presentation. My manager wanted the presentation in two weeks. I said ok. Second week arrived I was still only half-way. He was a bit furious but I said to him, if we want the client to get out of the presentation with something to remember I need more time for the presentation. He finally agreed. In the meantime I prepared a portfolio of some vanilla and exotic derivatives, as the investment bank was trading a lot with exotic derivatives. Finally, the client said that they do not want a presentation, they want our help understanding the regulation. Luckily enough, I was extremely prepared and we had three 4-hour sessions. I consider it my biggest success, because of the treatment we received from the client. They took us to the top floor, served us drinks. They were extremely pleased with my work.

Question 22

17. Why do you want to leave your current job?

Answer 22

I did not want to leave but the office closed down. We had two juniors and a partner that haven’t had a project for almost a full year. Management first cut the funding for the office space, everyone had to work from home. I was at the client so I wasn’t impacted that much. And in August I found out that the partner is leaving the company and that the office will close down in November. I received a permanent contract and would have been under the supervision of our UK and Luxembourg office, but for two years I had a very unhealthy work-life balance so I decided to go on a sabbatical and travel for 1 year and rest.

Question 23

18. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision. What did you do?

Answer 23

Initial deadline for a presentation for a client was two weeks. I told my manager, if he wants a general presentation with high level information I can do it in two weeks. If he wants the client to walk out of the presentation with the feeling that he understood something, I need more than two weeks. I need a month. And he agreed. So I spent time understanding the regulation, and in the end the client said they don’t want the presentation, they need help with the understanding of the regulation. Good thing I was prepared.

Question 24

19. If I were to ask your previous boss about you what would his opinion be about you?

Answer 24

He would say that he respects me a lot, and that he values a lot my work ethics and my committment

Question 25

20. If I were to ask your co-workers about you what would their opinion be about you?

Answer 25

They would say that they respect me a lot, that I am a hard-worker, and super friendly person with a dark humour.

Question 26

21. If I were to ask your father about you what would his opinion be about you?

Answer 26

He would be very proud of me. He admires me the most for having completed the master in Actuarial Science while I also worked full time for the first period.

Question 27

24. What makes you unique?

Answer 27

I am highly analytical but at the same time I am good at grasping the overview picture.

Question 28

25. How do you handle stress?

Answer 28

I’ve dealt with a lot of stress in my life. I was working full-time, the master program started, and my housing contract was close to expiry with no option to roll-over. I was very stressed in that period. I did manage in the end to find a place to live in Bijlmer.

Question 29

27. Describe a time you went above and beyond at work.

Answer 29

When I developed a fully operational data model for the entire regulatory reporting process of the bank.

Question 30

28. What do you really think about your previous boss?

Answer 30

Highly strict, highly knowledgeable, a good mentor. He knew what were my weak spots and pressed me on exactly those points so I would overcome them.

Question 31

29. Do you think you could have done better in your last job?

Answer 31

There is always room for improvement, but I think I did a pretty good job.
I need to work more on my soft skills. One client complained to my supervisors that I am too stubborn and too bossy and that I don’t listen to people.

Question 32

30. What character traits would your friends use to describe you?

Answer 32

They would say that I’ve changed a lot, that I am more serious and more down-to-earth rather than the rebellious person that I used to be.

Question 33

31. What will you miss about your previous job?

Answer 33

My colleagues

Question 34

32. Why did you choose London?

Answer 34

At the moment I am sending applications for London and Amsterdam because they are two cities that I like and I have a lot of friends in both cities.

Question 35

33. Describe one of your key projects. SocGen

Answer 35

a) S: Bank underwent a massive remediation program across the entire bank. They had major data quality issues, lack of documentation, lack of training of people, lack of communication across departments, and lack of employees. They hired around 7 or 8 consultants from our company, including on key management positions.
T: I initially was allocated to assist in the annual report production of FINREP. Then after 3 months I was moved to the COREP team.
A: I helped the client identify production-related issues, I’ve built financial and risk management knowledge among the team members, I’ve designed a control framework to ensure high quality of the data, I wrote working procedures.
R: By the end of the project, client had new working files that involved less manual work, had a level 1 control framework designed for their report production, had documentation that described in detail the report production process, had a better understanding of financial products and risk indicators.

Question 36

33. Describe one of your key projects. Mizuho

Answer 36

b) S: Client had a major slowdown for its report production. People had to work over-time to keep up with the deadlines for the regulator. The slowdown was mainly due to data being stored in multiple systems, slow download, in the end had to reconcile it plus the fact that some of it was located in London. They made the decision to build a centralized database in Amsterdam.
T: The data warehouse had to satisfy the production of around 200 reports. We decided for a bottom-up approach rather than top-down. Instead of searching for the golden source for each set of data (loan data, counterparty data etc.) we started from the reports. My task was to build a data model that would satisfy all 200 reports.
A: I came up with the idea of choosing a set of key reports, the most data demanding and cover the entire balance sheet of the bank. Every regulation concerns a certain part of the balance sheet, whether it’s asset, liabilities, equity or counterparty data. So I chose a report for each part and integrated them into one single data model.
R: After 6 months of work, a database developer validated the data model and was successfully implemented in the bank’s local server.

Question 37

33. Describe one of your key projects. VanLanschot

Answer 37

c) S: Client wanted a presentation on the just published regulation on market risk, so-called FRTB (The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book).
T: Deadline was to build the presentation in two weeks.
A: One week passed and I told my supervisor: look, if we want the client to walk out of this presentation with the feeling that he understood the key concepts of the regulation, I need more time. Then I also came up with the idea of building a portfolio of derivatives (the bank was trading exotic derivatives) and compare the capital requirements depending on the variation of the underlying asset. Instead of 2 weeks, it took me a month, and the client announced that they do not want a presentation. They want someone to explain to them the regulation.
R: I was really prepared. The client was extremely happy. We got the best treatment from them. For me this was the best project that I participated in.

Question 38

34. What negative thing would your last boss say about you?

Answer 38

That sometimes I am too stubborn.

Examples: Presentation for a client. Insisted to prolongue the deadline in order to present high quality work

Question 39

35. How was life as a consultant?

Answer 39

Had to be on top of everything related to policy and regulation
I enjoyed the fact that it was project based. The job never got boring.
It was challenging because there was always the pressure of getting your contract rolled over.
Managing the client was also challenging. Because you couldn’t be the problem solver. You needed to help the client become the problem solver. You are there only to aid them.

Question 40

36. Project management skills

Answer 40

I have not managed personally any project but I have worked very closely with project managers and managers and I understand the challenges that they have to deal with: They have to have a good overview of the entire project all the time from finish to beginning; he needs to have a team that he can trust; team members must be able to communicate with him efficiently and clear and honest, so that the pm knows all the risks and issues that the project is facing; he needs to be able to set realistic deadlines; he needs to identify which person is good at what task; he needs to allocate tasks; he needs to always have solutions when asked; he needs to manage his time efficiently

Question 41

37. Excellent interpersonal skills

Answer 41

I managed to develop my interpersonal skills a lot throughout my working experience. I have dealt with a lot of people and a lot of teams.

Question 42

1. Able to deal with ambiguity and to seek out, assimilate and analyse information on a wide range of topics

Answer 42

During the data warehouse development project, I have dealt with major ambiguity. There was no one able to provide an idea about how to build a data model that would service 200 reports. And I manage to come up with an idea. I have read literally hundreds of pages of regulation and then translate the requirements into a data model.

Question 43

39. Commercial acumen

Answer 43

Ever since I was a third year student I understood the importance technology and quantitative analysis would play for the financial sector. I’ve directed my studies towards finance and from finance I have reached mathematics and from mathematics I’ve reached risk management. I knew that risk management would become paramount and so it has been, with most regulation and policy being connect with risk and risk management

Question 44

40. Coordination skills

Answer 44

During a project when I was working in partnership with another consultancy company I managed to take the lead and organize ourselves efficiently. We had a lot of meetings and we were given a lot of information in a short amount of time, so in order not to lose sight of everything that we had to do, I took the initiative to set up a task catalogue for each one of us, set deadlines, define the scope of the project, keep track of developments.

Question 45

41. Ability to work autonomously and be responsible for following matters through to completion

Answer 45

During my employment at avantage Reply I’ve mostly worked autonomously. That was a principle of our working methods. Management would not interfere with your way of thinking and would let you learn and pay for your own mistakes. Of course when I was in rough spot I’ve asked for guidance and received it, but most of my work as a consultant I’ve done independently.

Question 46

42. Solution and delivery focused, service-oriented and proactive

Answer 46

During my internship at NN and during my employment at Avantage Reply I have dealt with deadlines constantly. I’ve learned to be pragmatic but at the same time offer to the client a high quality product

Question 47

43. Team player with excellent emotional intelligence, enjoys sharing information, works collaboratively, sets and supports high standards of performance in self and others

Answer 47

I like working in a team, I like to be helpful, to be reliable, I am not competitive with my colleagues, I am competitive with myself and that motivates people to do the same

Question 48

What sort of activity have you had at Avantage Reply?

Answer 48

My work was mostly related to regulatory reporting. After the financial crisis in 2008 the basel committee published a lot of new regulatory requirements and banks have had to perform a lot of data intensive reporting. My task was usually related to simplifying the reporting processes, ensure high quality data and help with the reporting production.