Getting Hired at This Company Is Harder Than Getting Into Harvard

Bending Spoons is a Milan-based tech firm that recently made waves for its extreme hiring standards. Last year, the company saw 800,000 job applications. Of that massive pool, they hired just 286 people. This rejection rate of 99.9 percent places the startup in a bracket of exclusivity that exceeds both Harvard and the NASA astronaut program.

The company specializes in acquiring and overhauling older software, such as Evernote and Vimeo. CEO Luca Ferrari claims that traditional interview formats are largely ineffective and function like a coin toss. Instead of standard conversations, the company relies on a rigorous data-driven process.

Candidates must complete reasoning and judgment tests long before they meet anyone from the staff. A dedicated team of data scientists grades every response against a proprietary algorithm. This system even tracks performance data for years after a candidate receives an offer. Even minor traits like politeness are scored during the process.

Ferrari started the company in 2013 after his initial venture failed. While he is the architect of these strict hiring protocols, he admits that he likely would not pass the current iteration of the test himself. As the company continues its growth, it remains committed to its highly structured method of filtering talent.