Do you think we’re in an AI bubble? Even the experts who’ve predicted past crashes can’t seem to agree.
And if you’re looking for a job right now, your opinion on all this could decide whether you get the job. Dave McCann, IBM’s managing partner for EMEA, says he now throws the curveball question in interviews as a make-or-break test.
There’s no right or wrong answer, but actually knowing where you stand could give you an edge and pique the exec’s interest. McCann doesn’t care which side you pick—he cares whether you’ve thought it through.
“I strongly believe we aren’t, so let’s see what everyone else has to say.”
Fortune asked a handful of execs at the forum to share the curveball questions they use to separate strong candidates from everyone else:
Parminder Kohli, the country chair for Shell UK, asks candidates two questions: How have your value systems shaped you, and why does this job attract you? “I’m looking at how is that personal purpose going to be fulfilled by working in our organization in that role, and how does it match in some ways?”
She continued: “There’s no wrong answer, but what I’m really looking for are people who dream big, who think about the enormous potential of all of that data and all of those insights and who are really focused on driving impact and delivering change out there.”
“It’s not one that I came up with, but I heard somebody else ask this very interesting question,” Lilika Beck, VP at Sonova Group, said. “They ask whether they know the game of tennis, and if they do, how would you explain the game of tennis and its rules to a 10-year-old, very succinctly? I think what’s cool about that question is it’s a little bit surprising, but it also shows how an individual can simplify and communicate well.”
