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Financial and Investment Planning

Entry Level Assessment Blueprint

Specific Competencies and Skills Tested in this Assessment:

General Finance Technical Skills

  • Use accounting procedures in a financial environment
  • Employ marketing procedures to forward organizational goals
  • Utilize customer service skills to work effectively with customers
  • Perform accounting functions with computers and related software

Financial and Investment Planning Technical Skills

  • Display knowledge of financial and investment products and services
  • Review and research federal and state regulatory requirements as applied to financial and investment planning
  • Assist clients in developing financial plans including retirement planning, estate planning, and budgets
  • Develop procedures to adhere to compliance plans and manage client records

Academic Foundations

  • Apply reading skills in a financial career environment
  • Apply writing skills in a financial career environment
  • Apply mathematical skills in a financial career environment
  • Apply economic knowledge in a financial career environment

Systems

  • Interpret financial elements such as economic conditions to determine impact on consumer behavior
  • Interpret laws and regulations to determine the role of government in the financial industry

Ethics and Legal Responsibilities

  •   Identify and practice ethical behavior in the workplace
  •    Analyze practices of the financial industry to determine ethics and social responsibilities

Communication

  • Locate, organize, and reference written information from reliable sources to communicate with coworkers and clients
  • Develop and deliver formal and informal presentations using appropriate media to engage and inform audiences
  • Apply listening skills and interpret verbal and nonverbal behaviors to enhance communication with coworkers and clients
  • Interpret and use tables, charts, and figures to support written and oral communication

Information Technology Applications

  • Use computers and software to increase work efficiency
  • Utilize a database to manage general information

Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Decision Making

  • Use problem solving and critical thinking skills to locate good sources of information about problems and determine appropriate methods for investigating causes
  • Use problem solving and critical thinking skills to determine root causes of problems and suggest solutions
  • Use decision making skills to solve problems and evaluate solutions

Leadership and Teamwork

  • Exhibit leadership practices to improve the quality of work and the work environment
  • Work effectively in a team environment to improve the quality of work and the work environment

Safety, Health, and Environmental

  • Practice safe behaviors in work environment including ergonomics
  • Respond appropriately in emergency situation by locating emergency information and equipment

Employability and Career Development

  • Demonstrate employability skills related to a career in finance
  • Pursue career development skills to advance in the financial world

Written Assessment:

Administration Time: 2 hours
Number of Questions: 106

Areas Covered:

General Finance Technical Skills: 13%

Financial and Investment Planning Technical Skills: 19%

Academic Foundations: 13%

Systems: 5%

Ethic and Legal Responsibilities: 6%

Communications: 12%

Information Technology Applications: 7%

Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Decision Making: 8%

Leadership and Teamwork: 7%

Safety, Health, and Environmental: 6%

Employability and Career Development: 4%

 

 

 

Sample Questions:

In automated accounting, an audit

  1.  checks the accuracy of processed information
  2.  in generated on a yearly basis
  3.  is always stored using electronic media
  4.  corrects the data

Which of the following is a non-taxable source of income?

  1.  interest earned on a savings account
  2.  interest earned in a foreign bank
  3.  child support payments
  4.  tips and gratuities

Assume that the current currency exchange rate for US Dollars and Euros is 1 US Dollar = .736 Euros. Brad is making a purchase in Germany that costs 25 Euros. How much will this cost him in US Dollars?

  1.  $18.40
  2.  $25.74
  3.  $33.97
  4.  $42.50

Government regulations are generally designed to

  1.  create jobs for government workers
  2.  protect the public from harmful or unjust actions
  3.  increase the number of political campaigns
  4.  make people think before they vote

An emergency number to call for aid should be posted

  1.  at the first aid station
  2.  on the company’s website
  3.  next to, near, or on the phone
  4.  near the nurse’s station

 

A retirement plan in which both the employee and the employer contribute is called a

  1.  Roth IRA
  2.  traditional IRA
  3.  SEP
  4.  401(k)

 

Sample Questions (continued)

 

The public records section of a credit report may contain information regarding

  1.  criminal records
  2.  checking account numbers
  3.  delinquent accounts
  4.  salary history

 

Energy prices, economic growth, advances in technology, and changes in weather patterns are factors which can impact

  1.  home and automobile ownership
  2.  inflation and interest rates
  3.  energy supply and demand
  4.  global warming and disaster relief

 

If a technical report is based on large amounts of data, a good way to include all data is in a/an

  1.  glossary
  2.  appendix
  3.  index
  4.  text box

 

An effective mentor is a person who

  1.  has mastered the skills and experience an employee needs
  2.  is a good friend of the employee
  3.  is external to the employee’s company
  4.  has been given salary raises in the past