It’s no secret that landing a new job is tough, with candidates constantly complaining about the endless hoops recruiters make them jump through to prove they’re the perfect fit, from endless rounds of interviews to tests and 90-minute presentations.
But for young people in particular, the challenge is even steeper. Around a fifth of Generation Zers worldwide are classified as ‘NEET’ and are currently locked out of the labor market. In the UK alone, over 1.2 million applications were made for less than 17,000 graduate jobs last year.
Even Goldman economists have acknowledged that Gen Z’s employment nightmare is real — and it’s not going away anytime soon.
As millions of Gen Zers face unemployment and entry-level office roles become increasingly scarce, hiring managers are forced to get creative to find the best candidates. So wealth collected the curve-ball interview questions that now shape hiring decisions.
Do you think we are in an AI bubble?
Do you think we are in an AI bubble? Even the experts who have predicted previous crashes don’t seem to agree. But if you’re looking for a job right now, your take on all of this could decide whether you get the job. Dave McCann, IBM’s managing partner for EMEA, says he now asks the curved question in interviews as a success test.
There is no right or wrong answer, but knowing where you stand can give you an edge and pique the manager’s interest. McCann doesn’t care which side you choose—he cares if you’ve thought it through.
Can you design a car for a deaf person?
Lyft CEO David Risher likes to ask applicants, “Design a car for a deaf person.” The curved question may seem unusual, but for Risher, it’s a quick way to “snap” if a candidate can put themselves in a customer’s shoes — and he got the idea from his time working with Jeff Bezos.
“I want to see the candidate close their eyes and ears and imagine what it feels like, and then be able to describe the experience to me in detail, including what someone in that position might need,” Risher said. “That’s how I know I have someone who can build great customer-obsessed experiences.”
Do you have questions for me?
The question that turns the interviewee’s head and allows them to put the hiring manager on the hot seat is not an uncommon one. But for Twilio CEO Khozema Shipchandler, what comes next is most important.
If your response is a blank stare or “No, I’m fine,” consider yourself on thin ice.
“The number one red flag for me is when someone doesn’t ask questions towards the end of an interview,” Shipchandler exclusively said. wealth. “That’s a pretty big sign against the fact that they’re curious about what they’re interviewing for, the company, how we might work together, the chemistry, the culture, all of those things.”
And Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade said it doesn’t really matter what you ask employers at the end of the interview — asking something shows you’ve done your homework, you’re seriously interested, and it’s a big green flag.
Can you start right away?
Picture this: You’ve spent hours applying for your dream job and going through multiple interviews. Finally, you think you’ve won over the hiring manager when he asks “when can you start?”
You’d be forgiven for thinking the correct answer was “immediately”. After all, you want to appear eager. But Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Technology Association, revealed that he rejects candidates who say they are available within two weeks. “I’m not getting the job because they’re going to treat us like they treat that former employer.”
Other things to watch for: coffee cup tests, expensive menu items, and wait staff
It’s not just what you say in the interview that could cost you the job. Hiring managers also watch what you do—from the moment you walk through the revolving doors and great reception. They look at how you treat staff before and after the interview, as well as what you do with the cup of coffee (or tea) you drank from. Hint: offering to clean it will decrease.
Other hiring managers take their prospective new hires for a lunch interview and watch if they season their food before eating. Why? Because putting salt (or anything) on food before tasting it is the equivalent of judging a book by its cover, and apparently shows a lack of patience.
That’s not all. It also tests how quickly you order, whether you wait for others to sit down before sitting down to eat, the price of the items you order, and how you treat the staff.
One consultant even revealed on X that he knows a CEO who goes so far as to take candidates to breakfast and secretly ask the servers to mess up their order “to see how they would react.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com