Internship application’s ‘absurd’ childhood question is viral: ‘So annoying’

Internships often draw controversial opinions online as many accuse big companies of attempting to get unpaid labour from desperate freshers or students in return for experience certificates. A recent post by one such internship seeker has gone viral on social media after the user shared a screenshot of one of the questions on the application form.
In the post, which has a whopping 13.6 million views, the picture shows a portion of a Google form with the question “Tell me a story from your childhood that has shaped your values”.
The exasperated user reacted to the question in their caption. “I just want an internship man,” they wrote. (Also read: UK-based Indian woman shocked as HR asks about marriage plans)

The post was met with massive outrage across X as users flooded the comments slamming the company for asking “absurd” and “bizarre” questions to confuse candidates.
“Ever since I was a small kid I dreamed of creating shareholder value,” quipped one user, while another said “I was born as a very young child”.
“If you’re applying somewhere and they use a Google form I promise it is not gonna be good anyway,” warned another comment.
Some users even shared anecdotes of being asked similar questions by companies during their internship hunt. “Reminds me of MBA 1st year. Why the hell do L’Oreal or Nivea or Mondelez want to know about my childhood experiences that have shaped my values? What insight could they possibly gather from this? Do they even read responses from 300+ applicants from 20+ colleges?” one of them questioned.
(Also read: Man sues company he worked at for 20 years after he was fired for napping)
Another user, who is a recruiter, revealed why such questions are added to application forms. “When I was recruiting people, I added a random question like this to filter out people who have no enthusiasm and are clearly mindlessly filling every single form and have no idea what they’re applying for. Questions like these usually end up being the deciding factor,” they explained.