Scotiabank Interview Questions

If you are looking for Scotiabank Interview Questions you have come to the right place.

We all know interviews are stressful and competition is intense.

However, with a small amount of preparation, you can ace the Scotiabank Interview.

Here we will discuss how to successfully answer Scotiabank Interview Questions.

Scotiabank Interview Questions and Answers

1. What can you tell us about Scotiabank?

About Scotiabank

• Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas.
• The bank provides a broad range of banking services including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, and capital markets.
• The bank has over 90,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.2 trillion (as of July 31, 2020).
• Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS).
• The bank acquired ING Direct for C$3.13 billion and renamed it Tangerine in April 2014.

2. Why do you want to work for Scotiabank?

Possible Answers are

• Say you would like to grow your career in the banking industry and you feel Scotiabank is the place to do it! With Scotiabank being ranked as the World’s Best Emerging Markets Bank by Global Finance magazine to being rated as the Best Bank for Small Business by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, say you feel you could learn a lot by working at Scotia.
• Say as Canada’s third-largest bank by deposits and market capitalization, you feel there are lots of opportunities to learn and grow your career at Bank of Nova Scotia.

3. What is your greatest strength?

• The best way to respond to this question is to describe your skills and experience that directly correlate with the job you are applying for. Therefore review the job description and reassure the interviewer that you have the experience and skills to do the job.

4. What is your greatest weakness?

• You should not deny you have a weakness or state strengths as a weakness (I am a perfectionist, or I work too hard and neglect my friends and family).  State a weakness that is required for the role but not a dealbreaker if you don’t have it.
• When you state your weakness make sure you say what you are doing to overcome that weakness. For example, I have a fear of public speaking and I have enrolled in a public speaking class to overcome my fear.

5. Where do you see yourself in five years?

• Take a look at other Scotiabank jobs and find a position you can see yourself doing in five years. This will make you sound like a good fit for the industry.

Questions About Your Previous Work Experience

6. Tell us about your previous work experience.

• Reread the job description and list the experience required for the position. Match the experience you found in the job description to your own. Finally, reassure the interviewer that you have the experience required for the job.
• Note all experience is good but related experience is better.

7. Why is there a gap in your resume?

• Honesty is the best approach when answering this question.  Being honest about your situation gives the employer a sense of integrity and confidence.

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DID YOU KNOW…

Source: Scotiabank’s Annual Report 2020

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8. Why did you leave your last job?

9. How would your previous manager describe you?

• Successful employees are strong communicators, leaders, organized, team players, work well under pressure, and are good listeners.

Behavioural Interview Questions

10. Name a time you disagreed with a coworker or manager and what was the outcome?

• It is only natural to have a conflict at work.  What is important is how you and your colleague come up with a positive outcome.

11. Can you tell me about a time when you received negative feedback from your manager? How did you handle it?

• Everyone gets negative feedback from a manager as it is an important step to grow. In this case, state the negative feedback, and what you did to improve.

12. Have you ever been in a situation where you had a big workload and felt overwhelmed? How did you deal with that? 

• State a situation at your last job where you felt overwhelmed. Then state how you prioritized your tasks and completed your workload on time.
• It is also okay to state how you asked for help and how you helped other team members when they were overwhelmed.

Additional Scotiabank Interview Questions

13. Who are Scotiabank’s competitors?

• Top competitors include Toronto Dominion Bank, Desjardins, CIBC, Bank of Montreal, HSBC, and RBC.

14. What motivates you?

15. What are your salary expectations? 

• This is a stressful question because if you ask for too much you will not get the job, and if you ask for too little they will gladly underpay you.
• Be sure to research salary expectations for your role before you go into the interview. There are plenty of sites that will discuss salary ranges.
• If you don’t know what to say then ask what the salary range is?  You can then counter with the high end of the range. 

Questions to ask on a Scotiabank Interview

16. Do you have any questions for us?

The best questions by the interviewee are the ones that emerge from the conversation during the interview.  However, one should have prepared questions just in case.

• What do you like best about working here?
• How would you describe your ideal candidate for this position?
• What about this position is the most important?
• How would you measure my success and what could I do to succeed in your expectations?
• Which part of the position has the steepest learning curve? What can I do to get up to speed quickly?
• What opportunities will I have to learn and grow?

How do I prepare for a Scotiabank Interview?

1. Learn as much as you can about the company and ask yourself why you want to work there.  Why would you rather work at Scotiabank than at any other bank?
2. Review potential interview questions and think about how you will answer them from your experience.  
3. Think about where you see yourself in the future.  Scotiabank will prefer to hire people whose career goals align with the banking industry. Tip have a look at other jobs at Scotiabank and find a position you can see yourself doing in 5 years.
4. Make sure you know where you are going and how long it takes to get there. Go online and work out the easiest way to get to the interview, then be sure to add on extra time so you are on time. The last thing you want is to arrive late.

See Also

• Job Search
• 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions (affiliate)

Please note we cannot guarantee the questions asked during the interview as we are not affiliated with the company mentioned in this post. These practice questions are designed to increase confidence. Worknearyou.ca takes no responsibility for the success or failure of your interview.