1. What is a Financial Analyst at and Huntington?

As a Financial Analyst at and Huntington, you are stepping into a pivotal role that directly influences the bank’s strategic growth, risk management, and product innovation. You will act as the analytical engine behind critical business decisions, supporting portfolio managers, regional branch leaders, and corporate finance teams. Your work ensures that the bank remains competitive, secure, and aligned with its core mission of looking out for people.

The impact of this position extends across various products and users. Whether you are joining a regional branch to assist with specific portfolio management or entering the Finance Rotation Analyst - Data and Analytics program in Columbus, your insights will shape how and Huntington allocates resources, evaluates market opportunities, and serves its commercial and retail customers. You will analyze complex financial data, streamline reporting processes, and provide actionable recommendations to senior leadership.

Expect a role that balances rigorous data analysis with strong interpersonal collaboration. and Huntington values professionals who are not only analytically sharp but also highly teachable and adaptable. You will be expected to translate dense financial metrics into clear narratives, making your ability to communicate just as important as your technical acumen.

2. Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for your interviews at and Huntington requires a balanced approach. While technical competence is important, your interviewers will place a heavy emphasis on your background, communication style, and cultural alignment.

Focus your preparation on these key evaluation criteria:

Resume and Experience Articulation Your interviewers will closely scrutinize your past experiences, whether they are from previous professional roles or your college background. You must be able to walk through your resume clearly, explaining the impact you made in each role and how those experiences prepare you for the responsibilities of a Financial Analyst.

Culture Fit and Teachability and Huntington places a premium on finding candidates who are eager to learn and easy to work with. Interviewers evaluate this by observing your conversational tone, your openness to feedback, and your enthusiasm for the role. You can demonstrate strength here by showing genuine curiosity and highlighting past instances where you successfully learned a new skill on the job.

Behavioral and Leadership Skills You will be evaluated on how you handle teamwork, navigate challenges, and communicate with stakeholders. Interviewers look for candidates who can seamlessly integrate into existing teams, such as working alongside branch managers and portfolio managers. Prepare concrete examples of how you have collaborated with others to achieve a shared goal.

Analytical and Problem-Solving Aptitude While initial rounds are highly conversational, you must still demonstrate a solid foundation in financial principles and data analytics. Interviewers will assess your ability to think critically about business problems, structure your analysis logically, and draw meaningful conclusions from data.

3. Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Financial Analyst at and Huntington is generally straightforward, focusing heavily on getting to know you as a professional and a person. You will typically begin with a brief phone screening with a recruiter. This initial call is relaxed and free-flowing, designed to review your basic background, discuss your college or work experience, and outline the expectations of the role.

If you advance, you will move to the hiring manager round. This is often a 1:1 interview that maintains a highly conversational, laid-back atmosphere—sometimes even taking place over coffee or in a comfortable branch setting. The focus here is on your resume, your extracurricular activities, and your general fit for the team. The final stage usually involves an onsite or virtual panel where you will meet with 2 to 4 cross-functional team members, such as portfolio managers or directors. These sessions remain largely behavioral, with interviewers taking turns diving deeper into your background to gauge your teachability and teamwork skills.

This visual timeline outlines the typical progression from the initial HR screen to the final panel interviews. Use this to pace your preparation, focusing first on perfecting your resume narrative and behavioral stories before brushing up on specific financial analytics concepts for the final rounds. Keep in mind that timelines between these steps can vary depending on the specific branch or team.

4. Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed in your and Huntington interviews, you need to understand exactly what the hiring team is looking for across several core competencies. The process is less about intense technical grilling and more about proving you are a capable, collaborative, and driven professional.

Resume and Background Walkthrough

Your resume is the primary roadmap for most of your interviews at and Huntington. Interviewers will literally go down your resume line by line, asking you to elaborate on specific projects, academic achievements, and past responsibilities. They want to see that you can confidently and concisely explain your own history.

Be ready to go over:

• Academic and Extracurricular Impact – Brief explanation of your college experience, especially if you are a recent graduate or applying for a rotation program.
• Previous Work Experience – Clear descriptions of your daily tasks, the tools you used, and the value you added to your past employers.
• Transitions and Motivations – Why you chose your specific major, why you left a previous role, and why you are interested in banking.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through your resume, focusing on the experiences that best prepare you for this analyst role."
• "I see you were involved in [Extracurricular Activity] in college. Tell me about your leadership role there."
• "Can you explain the gap between these two positions on your resume?"

Behavioral and Team Collaboration

Because you will be working closely with portfolio managers, branch managers, and other analysts, your ability to collaborate is critical. Interviewers evaluate your behavioral skills to ensure you will contribute positively to the and Huntington culture. Strong performance means answering questions with structured, outcome-focused stories (such as the STAR method) while maintaining a conversational flow.

Be ready to go over:

• Conflict Resolution – How you handle disagreements with teammates or stakeholders.
• Adaptability – Your ability to pivot when project requirements change or when you are asked to take on unfamiliar tasks.
• Teachability – Demonstrating that you can take direction, absorb new information quickly, and apply feedback without ego.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you worked on a team where someone wasn't pulling their weight. How did you handle it?"
• "Describe a situation where you had to learn a completely new concept or tool on the fly."
• "What makes you a good fit for our specific branch's culture?"

Financial Acumen and Data Analytics

While the interviews are not heavily focused on rigorous investment banking technicals, you still need to prove your competence in the relevant areas. For roles like the Finance Rotation Analyst - Data and Analytics, you will be expected to discuss your familiarity with data manipulation, financial reporting, and basic modeling.

Be ready to go over:

• Basic Financial Principles – Understanding of financial statements, variance analysis, and forecasting.
• Data Tools and Methods – Familiarity with Excel (VLOOKUPs, Pivot Tables), SQL, or data visualization tools (Tableau, PowerBI).
• Business Logic – How you approach a business problem, identify the necessary data, and synthesize it into a recommendation.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Specific portfolio management metrics, risk assessment models, or advanced predictive analytics.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you used data to solve a complex problem or improve a process."
• "How would you go about analyzing a discrepancy in a monthly financial report?"
• "Describe your experience with financial modeling or building dashboards."

5. Key Responsibilities

As a Financial Analyst at and Huntington, your day-to-day work will revolve around transforming raw data into strategic insights. You will be responsible for tracking financial performance, analyzing market trends, and preparing comprehensive reports for senior leadership. This often involves diving deep into large datasets to identify cost-saving opportunities or revenue-generating strategies.

A significant portion of your role will involve cross-functional collaboration. You will work side-by-side with portfolio managers to evaluate the health of specific investments or branch portfolios. This requires you to not only pull and clean data but also to interpret what that data means for the bank's bottom line. You will frequently be asked to present your findings in a clear, digestible format to non-technical stakeholders.

If you are part of a specialized track, such as the Data and Analytics rotation, your responsibilities will expand to include process automation and advanced analytical projects. You will help design dashboards, refine data pipelines, and support enterprise-wide initiatives that modernize how and Huntington leverages its financial data to serve its customers better.

6. Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be a competitive candidate for the Financial Analyst position, you must demonstrate a blend of analytical capability and strong interpersonal skills. and Huntington looks for candidates who can seamlessly bridge the gap between numbers and business strategy.

• Must-have skills – Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (including complex formulas and pivot tables), a strong foundational understanding of corporate finance or accounting, and exceptional verbal and written communication skills. You must be highly teachable and comfortable working in a collaborative, team-oriented environment.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience with data visualization tools (like Tableau or Power BI), foundational knowledge of SQL or Python for data manipulation, and prior internship or work experience within the banking or financial services sector.
• Experience level – This role is typically suited for recent graduates or early-career professionals with 0 to 3 years of experience. Candidates with a strong academic background in Finance, Economics, Accounting, or Data Analytics are highly preferred.

7. Common Interview Questions

The questions you face at and Huntington will largely focus on your past experiences and your behavioral tendencies. While the exact questions will vary based on your interviewer and the specific branch, the following examples illustrate the patterns you should prepare for.

Resume and Background

These questions test your ability to articulate your history and connect it to the requirements of the Financial Analyst role.

• Walk me through your resume and highlight the experiences most relevant to this role.
• Tell me about your college experience and why you chose your major.
• Can you explain a specific project on your resume where you had to analyze financial data?
• What did you learn from your previous internship/job that you will bring to and Huntington?
• Why are you interested in leaving your current role to join our team?

Behavioral and Teamwork

These questions assess your cultural fit, your conflict resolution skills, and your overall teachability.

• Tell me about a time you worked on a team to achieve a difficult goal.
• Describe a situation where you received constructive criticism. How did you react?
• Tell me about a time you had to adapt to a significant change at work or school.
• How do you handle working with a colleague who has a completely different communication style than you?
• Why do you believe you are a good fit for and Huntington?

Problem Solving and Analytics

These questions gauge your logical thinking and your familiarity with the tools of the trade.

• Tell me about a time you had to solve a complex problem using limited data.
• Describe your proficiency with Excel. What are some of the most advanced functions you use regularly?
• How do you ensure accuracy when dealing with large sets of financial data?
• Tell me about a time you identified an inefficiency in a process and how you fixed it.
• Explain a complex financial concept to me as if I had no background in finance.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How difficult are the interviews for the Financial Analyst role? The interviews are generally rated as easy to average in terms of technical difficulty. The process is highly conversational and focuses more on your behavioral traits, resume, and cultural fit rather than intense, high-pressure technical grilling.

Q: What differentiates a successful candidate from the rest? Successful candidates demonstrate a high degree of "teachability" and a genuine, easy-to-work-with demeanor. Because the technical requirements can often be taught on the job, interviewers prioritize candidates who are eager to learn, communicate clearly, and fit seamlessly into the team dynamic.

Q: How long does the interview process typically take? The timeline can vary significantly. While some candidates move from the initial screen to an offer within a few weeks, others experience longer wait times between the final interview and the final decision. Be prepared for potential delays and manage your expectations accordingly.

Q: Is deep Investment Banking (IB) technical knowledge required? No. For the standard Financial Analyst role at and Huntington, you will rarely face complex IB technical questions (like building an LBO model from scratch). A solid understanding of basic finance, accounting, and data analytics is sufficient.

Q: What is the culture like at and Huntington? The culture is frequently described as inviting, comfortable, and professional. The interviewers—often branch managers and portfolio managers—tend to be laid-back and value a secure, collaborative working environment over a cutthroat, high-stress atmosphere.

9. Other General Tips

• Know Your Resume Cold: Because the interviews are heavily conversational, your resume will act as the primary script. Be prepared to speak in-depth about every bullet point, academic project, and previous role listed.
• Emphasize Teachability: Make it explicitly clear that you are eager to learn. Use phrases that highlight your adaptability and your willingness to absorb the expertise of the senior managers you will be working with.
• Prepare for a Relaxed Environment: Do not let a casual setting (like a coffee shop or a laid-back branch office) lower your professional guard. Maintain excellent posture, professional language, and structured answers even when the interviewer is highly informal.
• Master the STAR Method: When answering behavioral questions ("Tell me about a time..."), always structure your response using Situation, Task, Action, and Result. This ensures your answers remain concise and impactful.

• Align with the Core Values: and Huntington prides itself on community focus and looking out for people. Weave these themes into your answers, showing that you care about the broader impact of your financial analysis.

10. Summary & Next Steps

Securing a Financial Analyst position at and Huntington is an excellent opportunity to launch or accelerate your career in banking and data analytics. The role offers a unique blend of analytical rigor and strategic collaboration, allowing you to directly impact the success of the bank's portfolios and regional branches. By understanding the conversational nature of the interview process, you can step into the room with confidence.

This compensation data provides a baseline for what you can expect in roles such as the Finance Rotation Analyst - Data and Analytics in locations like Columbus, OH. Use this range to inform your expectations and ensure you are prepared for potential compensation discussions during the later stages of the hiring process.

Your preparation should heavily index on perfecting your personal narrative, demonstrating your teachability, and showcasing your ability to collaborate effectively. Review your resume meticulously, practice your behavioral stories, and be ready to engage in genuine, two-way conversations with your interviewers. For more targeted insights, peer experiences, and practice scenarios, continue exploring resources on Dataford. You have the skills and the background to succeed—now it is time to effectively communicate that value to the hiring team. Good luck!