The extreme interview process of a $1.9bn fintech hiring 0.4% of applicants
If you want a job at bunq, the fast rising digibank last valued at $1.9bn, you won't be able to rely on a good CV. In fact, you won't need a CV at all. The firm has a number of unusual hiring quirks you're unlikely to see at any other major fintech.
Rather than asking for a CV or cover letter, the first stages of bunq's interview process are two tests for personality and abstract reasoning, respectively. That's obviously a higher barrier to entry for applicants but, speaking at the Sifted Summit today, bunq's chief strategy officer Bianca Zwart said that she's "happy that it scares off a couple of people... it tells me about your motivation for this job." Despite this, bunq is inundated with applicants. Zwart said the fintech receives 20,000 applications per month, equating to 240,000 per year.
To deal with this critical mass of candidates, bunq uses an unusual interview stage: "get s*** done days" (GSDDs) Zwart said that this involves a candidate "coming to work in our office for one day to act as a bunq employee." This gives the firm an opportunity to see how they work in the context of the company, and show whether they're a good fit. They're given an assignment or challenge related to the role and asked to present on it at the end of the day.
bunq invites just 1.4% of applicants to these GSDDs, but the likelihood of getting hired if you make it to that stage is much better: roughly 34%. This means bunq hires just 0.44% of its 20,000 monthly applicants. The inspiration for the process came when the firm's founder, Ali Niknam, read a comic about a job interview at IKEA, the influence is self-explanatory:
Zwart says these days can often take an "unexpected turn;" bunq once brought in an applicant for a GSDD who had spent their career as a CFO, but the fintech decided he'd be a better fit for a head of product role because of how he acted during the interview.
Perhaps because of bunq's unusual interview process, it appears to be attracting younger technology talent in particular. The firm's head of AI, Benjamin Kleppe, was promoted into the role at just 27 after being hired at 25; Zwart said that job openings for AI "usually get so many applications that we have to close it" after a week.
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