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The 10 toughest and most bizarre job interview questions revealed in new research

We’ve all been asked tough questions at job interviews which have left us scratching our heads before answering.

However, new research has revealed the UK’s top ten toughest, and most bizarre, that have left jobseekers downright puzzled.

Glassdoor, the jobs and careers marketplace, has whittled down tens of thousands of interview questions shared by job candidates over the past year, which have been highlighted in an annual report.

The list features some of the most challenging, unexpected, and odd questions job candidates should be prepared to answer during any job interview this year, said the careers site, and has been designed to help applicants stay one step ahead in today’s tough job market.

The top 10 toughest interview questions:

1) “Which magic power would you like to have?” – Topshop, sales assistant job candidate

2) “If you were a fruit, what kind would you be and why?” – Topdeck Travel, trip leader job candidate

3) “If you could have dinner with three actors that are no longer living, who would you pick?” – BlackBerry, commercial director job candidate

4) “How many hours would it take to clean every single window in London?” – IBM, IT role job candidate

5) “How do you get an elephant in a fridge?” – Gemalto, software engineer job candidate

6) “If the time is quarter past three, what is the angle measurement on the clock?” – Standard Bank Group, product control leader job candidate

7) “If you had three minutes alone in a lift with the CEO, what would you say?” – Network Rail, management accountant job candidate

8) “How many people born in 2013 were named Gary?” – BT, senior proposition manager job candidate

9) “What will you be famous for?” – EY, director job candidate

10) “How many nappies are purchased per year in the UK?” – Aviva Investors, graduate programme job candidate

For more on this article, please visit: Irish Independent

Ibec warn on Brexit risks for Irish business

The threat of the UK leaving the EU, along with other economic headwinds, means the Irish business environment will be less benign and increasingly uncertain over the coming months according to Ibec.

The group have today published their latest Quarterly Economic Outlook which predicts economic growth of 4.6% this year and 3.9% in 2017.

Ibec claim the exchange rate is the most immediate risk. They claim that in the aftermath of a possible Brexit the sterling/euro exchange rate is likely to move toward or above parity. This would leave Irish firms selling into the UK market 30% less competitive by June than they were in January through exchange rate movements alone.

Furthermore, they claim any new UK-EU arrangements may undermine free trade. An agreement they say would take at least two years, but is likely to take much longer. This would bring a level of uncertainty for Irish firms exporting to Britain in the short term impacting on employment, investment and export plans.

Ibec believe the risk to trade flows has been underestimated because of the very significant knock on impact that changing investment patterns could have on trade. They say Ireland’s  investment-friendly business model is particularly exposed.

The report also finds that there are potential opportunities for Ireland from a Brexit. UK-based corporates and financial sector firms will need a home within the European single market. Ibec believe Dublin may be in a prime position to benefit.

However, Ibec also believe Brexit would also mean that the UK would no longer be subject to state aid rules when competing for FDI or encouraging indigenous business. The UK government might introduce enhanced business and investment supports in order to prevent capital flight and attract FDI.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Survey shows online shoppers wary of firms that have suffered cyber attacks

Half of all Irish consumers would stop buying from a shop that had their bank details lost or stolen in a cyber attack, according to a new survey.

A study by Deloitte found that six out of ten respondents would only make an online purchase if they felt confident that their data was secure – while three quarters would like to see businesses held responsible for the user data involved in a transaction.

Just over half of consumers actively control their privacy settings online, while only 42% said they understood how to control the level of information available about them.

According to the Deloitte Consumer Review – Navigating Cyber Risks, less than a third of respondents felt their mobile device was as secure as their laptop – but more than half of respondents said they felt comfortable checking their bank balance via mobile.

For more on this article, please visit: RTE Business News

Ireland feeling the first Brexit chills as exporters pounded by slump in sterling

Ireland’s largest companies are beginning to feel the effect of Britain’s debate over whether to remain in the European Union, and it may be a taste of what’s to come for the rest of the nation.

Concern about the outcome of the UK referendum in June has helped push the pound down 10pc against the euro since November.

About 60pc of Irish companies selling goods overseas are already affected.

“Sterling has deteriorated and that’s tough for Irish exporters,” Richard Pym, the English-born chairman of AIB, said in an interview in Dublin this month.

“Upon Britain leaving EU, one would anticipate that sterling would come under pressure again.”

Brexit is probably the single biggest risk facing the economy, the fastest growing in the euro region.

The question is over the EU’s integrity, according to Guillermo Hermida of CaixaBank Asset Management in Madrid.

Cracks in the bloc would undermine investor confidence in its weakest members, the so-called peripheral nations, he said in an interview in the Spanish capital. That would include Ireland.

Permanent TSB, a bank that’s still trying to recover from Ireland’s financial crisis, said this month that concern about Britain’s membership in the EU is hampering its efforts to sell £2.4bn (€3bn) of UK loans. “Brexit risk has caused me to slow down the process because I think we’re on the wrong side of the line,” Jeremy Masding, the bank’s chief executive, told analysts. “I want to wait until I see what the result of the referendum is and then see how the markets react.”

Irish-listed Dalata Hotels, which operates in London, Manchester and Leeds as well as in Ireland, warned this month that the UK might generate less revenue as sterling slides.

Ryanair gets about 27pc of its sales from the UK and will be the biggest Irish loser along with drinks company C&C and agricultural products company Origin Enterprises, according to securities firm Investec.

“We don’t think it would have an immediate impact on our business,” Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

“In the medium and longer term, it would create some uncertainty if Britain were outside of Europe.”

It’s not all bad news for Ireland, with Dublin presenting an “obvious choice” for financial companies seeking to relocate following a UK exit from the EU, the NTMA said in a presentation last week.

“Estimates suggest some €6bn of FDI might be attracted to Ireland in the case of Brexit,” the debt office said. (Bloomberg)

Article Source: Irish Independent

72% of Private Company CEOs don’t expect the Global economy to improve in the next year

PwC have today released their 19th Annual Global CEO Survey in which 1,409 interviews were conducted in 83 countries during the last quarter of 2015.

By region, 476 interviews were conducted in Asia Pacific, 314 in Western Europe, 170 in Central and Eastern Europe, 169 in Latin America, 146 in North America, 87 in Africa and 47 in the Middle East.

Of these respondents, 848 (60%) were CEOs of privately-owned companies across 79 countries.

The research shows that a large majority (81%) of private company CEOs around the world believe that their company is likely to grow revenues over the next year.

Only 28% of private company CEOs expect the global economy to improve in the next 12 months – down around 10 points on last year. And 66% of private company CEOs believe there are more threats to their company’s growth now than three years ago – up from 58% last year.

Fifty eight per cent of public company CEOs have concerns about public trust in business, falling to 53% of private companies and 43% of family firms.

An overwhelming majority (92%) of private company CEOs around the world are changing how they manage their brand, marketing and communications, and the same percentage are looking at how they define and manage risks.

According to the report, 90% are making more use of technology to assess and deliver on wider stakeholder expectations.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Over two thirds of Global Insurance CEOs see technology as a threat

PwC have today released results from their 19th Annual Global Survey of more than 1,400 CEOs, which includes responses from 101 CEOs in the insurance sector in 43 countries.

An overwhelming majority (79%) cite data and analytics and 76% cite relationship management systems as providing the greatest potential contribution to improving engagement with customers.

The report indicates that technology is also creating new benchmarks for customer experience, response and cost by making it easier for customers to judge and compare insurers against their competitors.

For insurance firms, the ability to meet these challenges is often hampered by slow and unwieldy legacy systems and traditional ways of working.

Nearly 70% of insurance CEOs see the speed of technological change as a threat to growth and more than 60% are concerned about shifts in consumer spending and behaviour.

Furthermore, only 28% of insurance CEOs now believe the global economy will improve over the coming year, reflecting a dip in optimism.  Interestingly, whilst 38% of insurance CEOs are very confident about their ability to increase revenues, this is down from 44% in 2015.

Seventy per cent of insurers are planning to implement a cost cutting initiative over the next 12 months and technology is the trend insurance CEOs see as most likely to transform customer expectations over the next five years.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World