FHLBank San Francisco Interview Questions
& Process

After an initial phone screening, three rounds of Zoom meetings were scheduled for the next day. The first round was supposed to be with two interviewers, but it ended up being just one person reading my resume line by line out loud, starting from experience over 10 years ago… The second interviewer joined about 30 or 40 minutes into this, and was equally unprepared for anything except to say my experience wasn’t the same as theirs, and therefore was I really qualified for this job? Talking to managers in the other two rounds it became clear that everyone had different ideas about what the role and responsibilities should be, with one interviewer seeming to want a technical expert that already specializes in FHLB members, with another wanting someone to wear a lot of hats and manage multiple projects. At the end of the day, I could see why this role had been posted for the better part of 6 months, and I doubt it was ever actually filled despite the insincere “we’ve chosen another candidate” response back several weeks later.

The initial phone screening was brief, but there was a significant delay before the in-person interview. I was asked standard questions and met with several team members. They allowed time for my questions, and everyone was friendly. However, each interviewer asked similar questions, which they did warn me about. The office atmosphere seemed very quiet, with people focused on their desks, which wasn't ideal for me. After the interview, I wasn't sure if I wanted the job because I felt there wasn't much room for career advancement.

The interview was remote via Zoom and I spoke with the Senior Director of Financial Reporting and the Director of Accounting Policy. It was a good conversation with questions that were focused but not too hard. They made it clear they really needed someone with strong SEC reporting, including XBRL, experience because the reporting is complex and they have a tight deadline for SEC and regulatory reporting.

I had a face-to-face chat with the IT Managers, and it was pretty chill and laid-back. I met with two technical managers, and they were both really easy to talk to and seemed like good people. The conversation was more like a chat and not so much a strict technical rundown.