Ever had this humdinger in a job interview: “How many people would use a drug that prevents baldness?”
It’s a sample question from a company that’s regarded as one of the toughest job interviewers in the country, according to jobs site Glassdoor. Based on the question, you’re probably thinking Rogaine or Hair Club for Men, right? Nope, it’s the Boston Consulting Group.
The companies with the toughest job interviews span a variety of sectors, according to Glassdoor's examination of 80,000 interview ratings and reviews on its site. That doesn’t mean interviewees came away from the experience bitter. In fact, job seekers at each company generally regarded their interviews as positive.
Likewise, the tough interviews seem to translate into a positive working environment for employees who do get hired, with employees at 14 out of 25 companies saying they're “satisfied” or “very satisfied” at work.
In a down economy, acing a job interview has become increasingly important. With 3.5 unemployed people for each job opening in May, tough competition means credentials and qualifications found on a resume may not be enough, TIME reports. Instead, employers are concerned with how an employee will fit in.
Google, which gets more than one million job applications per year, has become especially renowned for challenging prospective employees, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company uses offbeat interview questions like "how would get out of blender if you were the size of a nickel?" and "how many people are using Facebook in San Francisco at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday?" in order to gauge whether prospective employees will fit into the company's culture. Some of the quirky questions became so renowned that Google banned them.
Check Out The 25 Toughest Job Interviews In America:
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Amazon
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.3
Employee Satisfaction: 3.3
"If you were to rank quality, customer satisfaction, and safety in order of importance, how would you rank them? Discuss." -Amazon Area Manager Candidate (Allentown, PA)
Facebook
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.3
Employee Satisfaction: 4.6
"It's 6pm and your work day is over, what happened during the day that made it awesome?" -Facebook Account Manager Candidate (Austin, TX)
Headstrong
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.3
Employee Satisfaction: 2.9
"If your parents are doctors why didn't you become one?" -Headstrong Associate Engineer Candidate (Delhi, India)
Progressive Corporation
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.3
Employee Satisfaction: 3.6
"Tell me about a time when you changed the culture in the workplace." -Progressive Corporation Claims Generalist Candidate (Des Moines, IA)
General Mills
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.3
Employee Satisfaction: 3.8
"If you had $5,000, who would you invest in and why?" -General Mills Intern Candidate (location n/a)
Stryker
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.2
"Would you rather be the best? Or do your best?" -Stryker Design Engineer Candidate (location n/a)
Sapient
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.3
"How to arrange 9 balls in minimum attempts?" -Sapient Global Markets QA Candidate (location n/a)
Juniper Networks
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.3
"What were you least favorite subject(s) during school and why?" -Juniper Industries Marketing Coordinator Candidate (Middle Village, NY)
LEK Consulting
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.4
"Estimate the annual revenue of a multiscreen cinema? Try 2 different methods" -L.E.K. Consulting Life Science Associate Candidate (London, England)
Teach For America
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.7
"What would cause you to want to dropout of Teach For America if you were chosen?" -Teach For America Corps Member Candidate (location n/a)
Proctor & Gamble
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.8
"Describe a situation in your life in which you feel had the most important effect on your life today and the values you follow" -Procter & Gamble Intern Candidate (Jackson, TN)
Bazaarvoice
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.2
"Tell me about your sense of humor." -Bazaarvoice Customer Service Manager Candidate (Austin, TX)
Susquehanna International Group
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.7
"The chance it'll rain in the next hour is 84%. What is the chance it'll rain in the next half hour?" -Susquehanna International Group Assistant Trader Candidate (Philadelphia, PA)
Cypress Semiconductor
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 2.9
"How many gas stations are there in SF?" -Cypress Semiconductor Product Engineer Candidate (San Jose, CA)
Rackspace Hosting
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.4
Employee Satisfaction: 3.9
"Name as many uses for a brick as you can in 1 minute." -Rackspace Linux Systems Administrator Candidate (San Antonio, TX)
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.5
Employee Satisfaction: 3.1
"What is more necessary, skill or will?" -Unisys Systems Analyst Candidate (Bangalore, India)
Google
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.5
Employee Satisfaction: 4.1
"How many hotels are there in the US?" - Google Product Manager Candidate (Mountain View, CA)
Shell
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.6
Employee Satisfaction: 3.8
"Give 2-3 negative points of diversity in a company" -Shell Oil Supply Chain Graduate Candidate (location n/a)
Bain & Company
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.6
Employee Satisfaction: 4.2
"Estimate how many windows are in New York" -Bain & Company Associate Consultant Candidate (Boston, MA)
ThoughtWorks
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.6
Employee Satisfaction: 3.8
"Interview me and then tell me, if you would hire me" - ThoughtWorks Talent Scout Candidate (Porto Alegre, Brazil)
ZS Associates
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.7
Employee Satisfaction: 3.4
"A pharma company you are consulting is coming up with 2 new products. What factors would help them decide how to distribute their sales force?" -ZS Associates Associate Candidate (San Mateo, CA)
ATKearney
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.7
Employee Satisfaction: 3.4
"After streamlining and reducing purchasing cost for raw materials, can you think of another way to reduce the cost of making a piece of chocolate?" - A.T. Kearney Business Analyst Candidate (location n/a)
Oliver Wyman
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.7
Employee Satisfaction: 3.6
"What is the profit potential of offering wireless internet service on planes?" - Oliver Wyman Consultant Candidate (location n/a)
Boston Consulting Group
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.8
Employee Satisfaction: 4.1
"How many people would use a drug that prevents baldness?" - Boston Consulting Group Associate Candidate (Boston, MA)
McKinsey&Company
Interview Difficulty Rating: 3.9
Employee Satisfaction: 4.1
"There are 3 products: tomatoes, luxury cars, t-shirts. What value added tax is applied to each product type?" - McKinsey & Company Junior Consultant Candidate (location n/a)
The Huffington Post | By Harry Bradford Posted: 07/26/2012 6:35 pm EDT Updated: 11/17/2012 12:07 pm EST