Dive Brief:
- Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently got stumped when asked one of the tech giant's famously crazy interview questions, Entrepreneur Magazine reports. The question asked Schmidt the best to way to divide gold among a hypothetical group of pirates. Schmidt hilariously asked for the question to be repeated, then reportedly answered it, adding, "This is, like, a really bad question."
- In recent years, Google recruiters have dropped the use of such questions, but the habit has been difficult for some to kick entirely.
- Due to increasing pressure to stop using oddball interview questions and brainteasers as part of the recruitment process,Google has now returned to more standard interview questions.
Dive Insight:
The use of weird and challenging interview questions has always been intimidating to candidates. Companies like Google were at the forefront of this 'movement' for years, however with staffing shortages in many areas of technology, it's not surprising that they'd stop this practice.
Candidates have enough hoops to jump through today, and outlandish interview questions don't really serve much purpose anymore. Questions concerning more sensitive topics, like pay history, have proven so prohibitive to some job seekers that Congress has considered legislation against such questions at least once.
The point made by the article is that internal practices are not always practical, and there's always room for improvement in recruitment.
