It's always interesting to me the really unique ways some employers determine their next company hire. At the heart of their efforts is a compelling desire to understand who their best candidate is at their core. Who are they genuinely, and are they the best person to contribute to their company culture?

In a recent article by the New York Post entitled "Coffee cup test”, they write that "former managing director for Xero Australia Trent Innes explained how he refuses to hire anyone if they fail to return an empty cup to the kitchen at the end of an interview."

“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,” Innes said in a resurfaced 2019 interview with the podcast “The Ventures”.

“Then we take the drink 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? “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 own coffee cup.’”

I also read of a West Coast tech company that used another novel way to determine their best candidate. When the candidate flew in for their scheduled interview at the company headquarters, the company provided a car and driver to get them there on time. During the drive to the interview, the driver would strike up a conversation with their passenger about the reason for their travel and eventually why they wanted a job with the company. The candidate very often candidly told the driver what they really wanted to achieve with their interview and potential job. What the candidate didn't realize was that the driver was a company employee sent specifically to conduct an interview before the interview. It wasn't uncommon for the job candidate to arrive at the company's headquarters, immediately be informed that they wouldn't continue in the interview process, but they would be provided transportation back to the airport.

In other words, skills can be taught but true character and maturity are forged over time and not easily, something which the traditional interview process often fails to determine.