Analytical skills and attention to detail 

Q. When have you had to pay close attention to detail? 

Q. When have you demonstrated analytical skills when tackling a problem?

The work carried out by City firms can require individuals to review, process and advise on vast amounts of complex information. Strong analytical skills and attention to detail are therefore of vital importance – whether you are drafting contracts, inputting figures into financial models, drafting emails to clients or proofreading documents for supervisors – as even the smallest mistakes can have far reaching consequences. 

For example, mistakes could result in financial losses for a client and liability for the firm, whilst having a negative impact on the firm’s client relationships and broader reputation. Mistakes can also negatively impact your personal brand by leading to supervisors perceiving you as unprofessional and unreliable. 

How can you demonstrate analytical skills and attention to detail? 

Avoid making broad, unsupported statements about having great analytical skills and attention to detail, as this won’t come across as credible. Instead, think about times where you’ve had to really concentrate to analyse information effectively and ensure that the work was completed accurately. 

This could include, for example, times where you had to maintain detailed spreadsheets to keep track of budgets and spending (e.g. as a university society treasurer), review vast amounts of information and distil it into a report or assignment (e.g. for a dissertation or group project), or produce documents where mistakes could have resulted in liability (e.g. legal documents or financial accounts). 

Then explain the measures you put in place to ensure accuracy. For example, did you set aside sufficient time to enable you to distance yourself from the work before checking it one final time, or did you seek feedback from others so you could benefit from fresh pairs of eyes?