I interviewed with Bridgewater, it's definitely true about the personality tests, I was given two of them and they asked me questions about my results and what I thought about them. It was really obvious they were looking for a certain type of person... definitely someone who was maleable.
They then asked me about a time where I disagreed with a superior and how I handled the situation. I told them that every situation is different and that to me... there's no one right answer. I don't think they liked that response. Needless to say I didn't get the job, despite the fact that I aced all of their quantitative questions. It really is all about the company culture to them. Either you fit the cult, or you don't. I'm sorta glad I didn't.
"They then asked me about a time where I disagreed with a superior and how I handled the situation"
"I told them that every situation is different and that to me... there's no one right answer."
I would have made the same mistake right out of college. The right answer would have been to "tell them about a time where you disagreed with a superior and how you handled the situation."
The question was not designed to produce a report on how you handle disagreements with superiors. It was not even designed to see if you could follow instructions like a lemming.
I suggest you look the real reason you didn't want to give an answer: the fear that it would be the wrong answer. The fear that these people would listen to how you handled a single situation and determine from that single data point whether or not you are suitable for a job. So the answer you gave them was "I don't want to give you an answer because I believe you to be short sighted fools who have no experience of human relationships and will therefore judge me by this one answer".
The question was designed a) to start a discussion on interactions with superiors and b) to determine your level of fear of giving a wrong answer in an interact with superiors.
Instead, you had a disagreement with your superiors-to-be about the quality of their question and demonstrated that in such situations your response is to be defensive and provide no information, instead of getting the ball rolling.
You answered the question wrong. They asked how you did handle a situation. They didn't ask how you would handle it. Asking for actual experiences rather than hypotheticals is the point of behavioral interviewing.
Thank you! I was approached by a head hunter a couple of weeks ago about working at bridgewater and decided to pass on it, even though the money was incredible. Ultimately, the culture sounded too extreme and really a bit creepy. So it sounds like I made the right decision.
They then asked me about a time where I disagreed with a superior and how I handled the situation. I told them that every situation is different and that to me... there's no one right answer. I don't think they liked that response. Needless to say I didn't get the job, despite the fact that I aced all of their quantitative questions. It really is all about the company culture to them. Either you fit the cult, or you don't. I'm sorta glad I didn't.