Every job interview is different. However, if you’re interviewing for a position in the field of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), you can expect to be asked certain types of questions.
To help you prepare, we’ve compiled a list of commonly asked ESG interview questions. This way, you can go into your interview with confidence, knowing that you’re ready to answer any question that comes your way.
- Where did you study? …
- How willing are you to learn new skills? …
- Are you a team player? …
- What transferable skills will you bring to the role? …
- Tell us about the scope of your Sustainability/ESG experiences up to this point. …
- What sort of technical skills do you have?
Top 5 interview questions for the ESG investment analyst
Top 15 ESG & Sustainability Interview Questions and Answers
It’s a typical query you might encounter at your interview for a sustainability officer. The interviewer wants to know if you have prior knowledge of the certification procedure by asking you this question. Additionally, they want to know which ESG and sustainability certifications are most beneficial for businesses. As an illustration, you might state that you are knowledgeable about various business environmental certifications, such as LEED and Energy Star certification. And I believe that the majority of certifications are crucial for assessing how sustainable your company is. My suggestion that my former employer obtain Energy Star Certification allowed us to improve the effectiveness of our lighting system.
What Metrics do you Use to Measure the Success of the Sustainability Strategy?
This interview question demonstrates your aptitude for data analysis and measurement. You can provide examples and experiences from the past where you completed the same task. You can stay, for instance, because I was asked to implement a recycling program for our company’s cafeteria in my previous position. Later, I analyzed our effort’s progress and reduced 50% waste. As a result, it assisted our business in saving money on trash removal tasks. (Editor’s Note: We’ve compiled a list of the Best Executive Education Programs for Sustainability.)
What is the Ideal Way to Develop and Maintain the Leadership Required to Implement ESG and Sustainability?
Officers in charge of sustainability must implement an ESG strategy and produce results. To take the appropriate steps, they must understand how to organize the workforce around the organization’s vision and goal. This inquiry enables the interviewer to assess your suitability for the position. And suppose you want to present a great answer. So, in order to respond appropriately, you need to be extremely knowledgeable about the organization and its ecosystem. Understanding the company’s social and environmental impacts is also crucial.
Is ESG undermining your company’s competitiveness?
Fears that excessive emphasis on ESG could harm a company’s competitiveness are not misplaced. In fact, there are valid questions about whether, if a company places too much energy into ESG objectives, it risks losing its focus on growth, market share, and profits. In March 2021, for example, Emmanuel Faber, Danone’s chief executive and chairman, stepped down amid pressure from activist investors, one of which suggested that Faber “did not manage to strike the right balance between shareholder value creation and sustainability.” More generally, if a company focuses too much on ESG, it could struggle to compete against companies from countries with less rigorous standards, such as China.
But if a business does not put enough emphasis on ESG, it runs the risk of falling behind the competition, losing the support of its staff, clients, and investors, and perhaps even losing its ability to conduct business in countries with stricter regulatory and ESG requirements, like the U S. and Europe. Since the parameters will differ across industries, regions, and over time, finding the right balance will be challenging. It is crucial that boards regularly assess their ESG focus and determine whether they are managing the trade-offs.
FAQ
What skills do you need for ESG?
They should have excellent ethics and quantitative skills. Being a good team player and having strong analytical abilities are both necessary. You should care about corporate responsibility if you are interested in ESG careers, and certification in the field is becoming more widespread.
Why do you want to work in ESG?
ESG analysts can improve investments for higher long-term returns. Adopting such a mindset may also have a positive impact on employee satisfaction and productivity (the social aspect of ESG governance). Sustainable approaches tend to reduce costs over time.
What does an ESG analyst do?
Researching and rating asset management companies’ adherence to ESG and sustainability, including their guiding principles, procedures, resources, and active ownership practices, will be your primary task in this position. You will work with internal stakeholders to coordinate and represent our ESG Commitment Level initiatives outside of the company.
What are interview questions?
50+ most common job interview questionsTell me about yourself. Walk me through your resume. Why should we hire you? What can you bring to the company? What are your greatest strengths? How did you hear about this position? Why do you want to work for this company? Why do you want this job?
