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A&M interviewer asked what my parents do

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Top answer
Anonymous B
on Oct 20, 2020

What a dumb question... :(

10
Deleted user
on Oct 20, 2020

How did you react?

9
Anonymous A
on Oct 20, 2020
I answered the question (I have one parent and she does X). What do you think is a more appropriate way for me to have responded?
Anonymous A
on Oct 20, 2020
I also emailed a few hours later pulling out of the final interview process.
Robert
Coach
on Oct 20, 2020
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author

Hi Anonymous,

While I don't see a connection to how this could help the interviewer evaluate you, you can always decline to answer if you don't feel comfortable with it. Mostly won't help in your process, but still it's an option.

Hope this helps - if so, please give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Ian
Coach
on Oct 21, 2020
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Hi there,

A bit of an odd question indeed. I have to guess there was some context to it that we are not aware of, but if there was no context, indeed a bizarre question.

Gaurav
Coach
on Oct 27, 2020
#1 MBB Coach(Placed 750+ in MBBs & 1250+ in Tier2)| The Only 360° coach(Ex-McKinsey+Certified Coach+Active recruiter)

Hi there,

It is quite an inappropriate question to ask.

There are several ways to get out of the situation: don’t answer, change the subject, ask a recruiter why this question is important or how it relates to your future job.

As I see it could be a question which was related to the previous subject, that’s why the recruiter wanted to know more. Sometimes it can be a part of a stress interview.

What do you think about this interview? Or was it the only weird question?

All the best,

GB

Anonymous C
on Oct 27, 2020

It is not at all a dumb question, this can reveal a lot about you and how you think.

Inappropriate for an interview, yes. But it could have been just a stress test, so you should have been able to land on your feet when answering. 

I worked in a big multinational company, and this kind of questions always come up when you meet people or even senior people. This is the custom as many entry/level employees have parents who work in the same company or industrz.

3
Anonymous D
on Oct 27, 2020

What do they do?

3
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