You may have heard of the nerve-racking theory that interviewers make up their minds on a potential candidate within the first 15 seconds of someone walking into the room. A terrifying thought, right?
Regardless of whether or not that is the case, it is hugely important to make a good impression during an interview if you want to bag the job. And a boss of an accounting software firm has shared one way to do so, with Trent Innes explaining a test he carries out during every interview, vowing he won't hire anyone who fails.
The simple but seemingly effective 'coffee cup test' is used at the end of every job interview the boss hosts, helping to show a lot about a person's 'attitude'. Mr Inness even goes so far as to say anyone who fails the test is blacklisted from his company. Harsh!
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The accounting boss, who works at Xero Australia, shared the little trick while speaking on the business podcast 'The Venture', hosted by entrepreneur Lambros Photios, reports The Mirror.
"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. 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?" 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'." He added.
And the gaffer claims the test works every time.
He goes on: "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."
Attitude is a hugely important factor during any interview, with one man immediately rejected after he failed a test at reception.
The candidate was left with no chance of securing the position within five minutes of entering the building after being dismissive to the receptionist, barely making eye contact with her.
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