Hostile interviewer

Question

Hi, I recently had a 2nd round interview with a MBB company, and one of my interviewers was very hostile, insisting from the first minute that there was no purpose for that interview. Was she trying to put me under stress or was it just rude on her part?

Answer 1

Hi, it is a classic "pressure interview". In the second round, it sometimes happens that the interviewer act as impelling and hostile, to test your under-stress response. My advice is always to maintain the calm, take your time to correctly structure your responses and know that it is only a role-play.

Best,

Antonello

Answer 2

Hi,

That may happen, especially with the partners. My advice here is - keep being professional:

Some tips here:

Stay calm whatever situation you have. Keep in mind that it's a game and he may be doing that on purpose.
Gape between the interviews!!! It really helps to get the oxygen to your brains and recharge quickly!
Keep smiling, it's important. It really improves your mental state of mind if you are smiling! If you ask me what is the one game changer that helps people to produce a good impression I would say it's a smile!
Keep professional. Think of yourself as a pro. You are not a kid, you are a guy who comes and solves the problem. Be dressed professionally, sit on the chair professionally - pose is important, have a professional voice. It will remove this mental state of being stressed.
Keep structuring and asking the right questions. If you are structured the way you think, even if it is a common sense logic - it's very hard to give you a bad feedback
Be polite and friendly no matter what.
Try to engage the interviewer. If you take a minute - make a new structure on paper and present it. If you are doing the calculations - present your approach first and come with intermediate numbers. Don't let him start checking his e-mails!

All the Best!!!

Answer 3

Hi,

I am not sure what you mean by "there was no purpose for that interview". It doesn't sound like a stress test to me, but rather an unprofessional behavior. But would be better if we could get more context to do a better judgment of the situation.

Best,

Deniz

Answer 4

Hi Anonymous,

this definitely happens time to time. It happened to me as well in my final at BCG. The most important thing to keep in mind is not to take it personally and understand they are doing this on purpose to see how you react.

Best,

Francesco