Your responses to our call for authentic financial services interview questions revealed the weirdness of financial services interviews in London.

However, responses from readers on our French site suggest the interview process in Paris is far more bizarre than that in the City.

Most even vaguely French people are now on holiday until September, so you’re unlikely to come across any of these situations for a while. But if you are interviewing in La Defense this summer, be prepared.

The strange HSBC interview

“During an interview at HSBC, my interviewer asked me a series of questions on the ‘GARCH’ process. He then asked me to tell a joke about GARCH. I said that I didn’t understand and he insisted that I say something. “Garch toi bien” (“Gare toi bien” [meaning - 'Go safely']), I responded. He then said, “Garch la gonesse” [meaning 'Garges-les-Gonesse', a dodgy suburb outside Paris].

After that, he blew his nose and put the tissue on the table in front of me. Pathetic.

The strange asset management interview

“During an interview with an asset manager, my interviewer noted that I’d played football for several years and that I’d written that I was quite a good footballer. He then called his colleagues and asked me to use my feet to keep a small anti-stress ball in the air. Surreal.”

The strange agency interview

“I was interviewing for a role as a director at a banking agency and was on the second or third round. After about an hour of waiting, I was asked to go into a room in which the blinds were down and there were two chairs and a telephone. After several minutes, the telephone rang three times. And at the same time, I noticed that I was being observed through the blinds.

After 20 minutes of this little game, someone came into the room and thanked me for my visit.”

The strange credit controller interviewer

“I was asked if I’d ever slept with someone to obtain a promotion. I responded that I hadn’t, I’d only slept with people who asked me for a pay rise.

The recruiter didn’t know what to say.”

The strange quant interview

“The recruiter introduced himself and asked to know about my training and recent experience.

I said I’d been trained in maths and statistics and that I’d worked on trading floors etc.

He then asked what I thought of death.

I didn’t answer immediately, but eventually I said it was a kind of release. Apparently this was what he was looking for because I was offered the job, which I didn’t take. “