Manager uses coffee test in every interview and won't hire anyone who fails

A manager has revealed the 'coffee test' he uses in every job interview to determine who he'll eventually hire - and those who fail don't get the job.

Now, let's face it, job interviews are never a fun or pleasant experience. But sadly, they're a part of life and are something we all have to endure.

But if the interview process wasn't scary enough, companies will sometimes use sneaky tactics in a bid to catch out applicants at every stage.

This is another one of those 'tricks' you may have heard about.

It all hinges on a seemingly innocuous part of the interview which it turns out was actually crucial, like some twisted version of Sherlock Holmes.

The trick was described by businessman Trent Innes, who is the former managing director of accounting platform Xeno, and who now works as the chief growth officer at SiteMinder.

In an appearance on business podcast The Ventures, he said: "I will always take you for a walk down to one of our kitchens and somehow you always end up walking away with a drink."

Anastasiya Mihailovna / Getty

Presumably declining the offer of a drink is not an option here. You will have a cup.

He continued: "Then we take that back, have our interview, and one of the things I'm always looking for at the end of the interview is, does the person doing the interview want to take that empty cup back to the kitchen?"

And the crux of the test is, if you don't take the cup back to kitchen then you're not the right fit for the company.

He explained: "You can develop skills, you can gain knowledge and experience but it really does come down to attitude, and the attitude that we talk a lot about is the concept of 'wash your coffee cup'."

The businessman went on to explain that it's all about fitting in with the 'company culture' at the office.

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So, taking your cup back to the kitchen is about doing the small things and being considerate maybe?

If it's about keeping the office clean then according to Innes, it does the trick.

He said: "If you come into the office one day inside Xero, you'll see the kitchens are almost always clean and sparkling and it's very much off that concept of wash your coffee cup.

"It's really just making sure that they're actually going to fit into the culture inside Xero, and really take on everything that they should be doing."

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