I applied through college or university. I interviewed at IMF
Interview
IMF did campus visit, gave a presentation. People interested to interview on campus had applied beforehand. Second round interviews would be conducted on site at later stage. First stage interview (on campus) was short, 30min, very friendly people.
35min HireVue, 5 questions, intro, why imf, macro and fiscal, working paper, behaviour questions. Having preparing time but need to prepare in advance a lot. best wishes for the next year!
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at IMF (Washington, DC) in Dec 2025
Interview
1. Preliminary interview with 3 panels. 2. Ask 5 questions in total 3. People seemed interested in your research, and it was nice.
They set a time for the interview and will let you know.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. Why IMF
2. Tell me about your JMP + Policy Implications
First hirevue interview. Then online interview. The last stage was a panel interview. The final stage was rather difficult. In the last stage, you need to pass all written test, presentation and interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
In general, many macro questions strongly related to what they are doing.
Economist applicants have rated the interview process at IMF with 3.6 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 84% positive. To compare, the company-average is 70.6% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Economist roles take an average of 67 days to get hired, when considering 19 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at IMF overall takes an average of 55 days.
Common stages of the interview process at IMF as a Economist according to 19 Glassdoor interviews include:
Group panel interview: 29%
Skills test: 21%
Phone interview: 16%
Presentation: 11%
IQ intelligence test: 8%
Background check: 5%
Personality test: 5%
One on one interview: 5%
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