Job Interviews

The Companies With The Hardest Interviews

The Companies With The Hardest Interviews

If you’ve been to a job interview lately, you might have been asked questions like, “Tell me a bit about yourself” or “Tell me about what you learned during your degree." Questions like these are music to the ears and are a world away from such interviews that feature on The Apprentice for example, where your CV is scrutinized by the finest of fine-tooth combs. Related:4 Tips To Answer Tough Interview Questions Correctly We’d always like to think that the way to get the best out of an interviewee is to relax them as much as possible, and it’s an interview situation we’d all like to be in every time. However, there are companies out there who like to put candidates through a little more than just a few standard questions; companies who delight in making the interview process as bumpy a road as possible. Here are a few:


Google

It might surprise you to learn that Google would probably come out top on a list of most difficult interviews. Actually, before you even get to the interview, there are numerous hurdles you’ll have to successfully clear first. Firstly, Google prefers Ivy Leaguers. If you’re from the UK, I reckon Oxford or Cambridge would be acceptable, too. Google also cares about your grades – even if you’re over thirty. You might have gone through high school 15 years previously, but you might as well have graduated last year in Google’s eyes. If you manage to get invited for an interview, out of all the questions you’ve prepared for, realistically, none of them are going to come up. If you want to do well in an interview with Google, you’ll need to prepare for questions like ‘How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?’ and conundrums such as, "You’re the captain of a pirate ship and your crew gets to vote on how the gold is divided up. If fewer than half of the pirates agree with you, you die. How do you recommend apportioning the gold in such a way that you get a good share of the booty, but still survive?"

Random Storm

But it’s not just Google at the forefront of bringing the humble job interview into the 21st century. Another company who like to do things a little differently is Random Storm – a cyber-security and ethical hacking company. A spokesperson from the company said that they actually get potential candidates to hack something during their interview, and they even offer a tool that interested applicants can train on.

McKinsey & Company

Also, according to interview reviews on Glassdoor, the consultancy firm McKinsey & Company came out on top with an average difficulty rating of 3.9/5. Interviewees have reported being asked challenging questions such as, “How would you calculate the annual carbon emissions from electric versus gas vehicles in the EU?” So, next time you’re offered an interview somewhere, you might want to consider searching online for some advice first!

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