Top Exec Has A Shocking Interview Question That Weeds Out A Lot Of Candidates

When you’re interviewing for a job, it’s nerve wrecking enough just to deal with normal questions. Imagine having a curve ball thrown at you. How would you react and answer?

Harriet Green, the genera manager of IBM’s Watson Internet of Things division, has such a question for potential candidates. She conducts many job interviews as she’s building a team that will have more than 1,000 people on it.

The team will be operating IBM group’s new headquarters in Munich, Germany.

So what is this random question that she asks? Keep in mind, she asks this question regardless of your background or experience.

She asks, “The person who knows you best in the whole world, in their voice, what would they say is great about you and differentiates you? And what makes you a complete pain in the ass?”

“You stop people talking about what they want you to hear,” she remarked.

She mentions that the candidates pause, even the ones who speak in “this polished, slick, Silicon Valley, East Coast or London type of way.”

The unexpected question helps her get the truth out of the hopeful applicants.

“You stop people talking about what they want you to hear,” she says. “You tend to get truth, you get reality.”