This was the most intense and gratifying interview that I have ever been through. I met Gartner at a Sales Competition, where I had your typical "behavioral-style" interview. I received an invite that same day to an invitational in Florida, which would take place 1 month later. The invitational had maybe 75-100 talented prospects, including myself, and extremely cut-throat from the get-go. After a nice breakfast and welcoming, we immediately started our introductions. Our group's circumference consisted of all important Regional managers and executives who were taking notes right away. How well can you speak? Are you able to rotate properly and make eye contact with everyone around you? Do you stutter? How well did you sell yourself given the 40 seconds you're given? After the 100th or so person introduced themselves, we then split up into groups. Our group activity involved all of us working together, advocating for our specific cause, given a scenario. You had to show collaboration, yet persuasion. Were you a ruthless leader, or a timid follower? Which one is better or worse? It's difficult to tell, but once again, you are being "big-brothered" while the activity was underway. Naturally, this turned into far too many chiefs, and very few Indians. We then moved to one-on-one interviews with a select few amount of executives. This was more of your typical interview portion, and I was told that some interviewers were far more difficult than others. We then broke for lunch. After lunch, they called out maybe half of our names. Thankfully, I wasn't called. Those kids were sent on the busses and we never saw them again. Cut throat. The remainder of us felt very accomplished that we were still in the running, and had a chance to gather ourselves for what was going to be the more difficult portion of the day. The sequence of events that we did varied in order, depending on the number that they gave you. Some of us were able tour the absolutely breath-taking campus, while others had to perform a white-board presentation or a sales call role-play. The white board presentation, in my opinion, was the most difficult. You had to act as if these intimidating executives that have been watching you all day, were completely oblivious, and knew nothing about what Gartner's SMB Account Manager role entails. How might you explain that? Whiteboard. So as if Gartner's business processes weren't confusing enough, they also left it up to you to somehow paint a picture of it. So would you face them and talk, and scribble about on the board, or physically turn your body, write more eloquently, yet speak into the board, worrying about how your booty is staring them straight in the eyes. The next portion was your typical role-play. The executives left the room and called into the phone line in front of you. You had to then walk through a typical sales call that an SMB Account Manager would have to undergo, with a proceeding follow-up email for the next steps to take. This, along with the whiteboard presentation, was all set to a time-restriction. Part of that time-restriction involves reading the scenario on the spot and coming up with your pitch, prior to the call. After you finished, you were given an hour or so to gossip with all of your new "friends." For me, it was an hour of complete panic that I would be sent packing after all of that effort. Then, the event organizer came out and split us into 3 groups. The first group had a little less than half of us, the second group had maybe 4 people, the last group also had a little less than half of us (maybe 10 total?) We weren't given any information as to which group was the winning group. I was in the latter group along with 9 other people who I thought all did pretty damn well from what I could see from the first half of the day. It turns out I was right, as I was in the winning group. We were taken to a big celebration party upstairs, as we all received offers. The first group was never seen again, and the second group of 4 received offers for a different position. The taste of victory was the most gratifying feeling I've ever felt, and we made sure we all celebrated, accordingly. I believe I was the only one of the group of us that didn't actually accept the offer. Gartner gets the best talent in the nation, and provides such an intense interview process. Furthermore, they show you the world in sunny Florida with all of the best benefits and amenities that you can imagine. Thus, it's hard for anyone to decline the offer. (And trust me that was the hardest decision I have ever made.) However, I would refer you to really research the company and some of the testimonials that you can find online. This sales company really did sell themselves on paper, but, again, please heavily look into this before making your decision to pack up your life and enter this "utopia."
