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Unless you happen to enjoy torturing yourself, it’s safe to say applying for a job is one of the most stressful experiences out there.
There aren’t many things that suck more than polishing up your resumé and trying to come up with fancy titles and buzzwords to describe the menial tasks you’ve completed in the past— especially when you know you’re competing against people who are doing the exact same thing.
The worst part? If you do manage to convince someone you’d be a good candidate for a position you have to prepare yourself for an interview process that requires you to be quick on your feet when it comes to BSing the person (or people) who hold your fate in their hands.
Sure, you can always take the Peter Gibbons approach if you’re feeling really ballsy, but I’d normally advise against it.
I’ve come across some imposing figures over the course of my relatively short career but I can’t imagine anything more intimidating than having to interview with Elon Musk.
The billionaire and founder of companies including SpaceX and Tesla is notoriously intense, and if you’re going to work for him, you’re going to have to deal with one particular question he uses to weed out disingenuous applicants.
According to CNBC, Musk has a card up his sleeve that he pulls out when he wants to see if an interviewee is being straight with him:
“Tell me the story of your life and the decisions that you made along the way and why you made them, and also tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them.”
Telling your life story on the spot might seem like a formidable task, but unless you’re a master of improv, there’s little wiggle room to make things up.
Well played, Elon Well played.