Duolingo recently revealed a seemingly genius trick to assess candidates for a senior position. Hiring managers at the language-learning app read applications and cover letters, scheduled phone interviews and asked all the usual questions about skills and ambitions. But they also found out about how the candidates behaved in the taxi ride to the interview – and it cost one candidate a senior position.
The idea behind the recruitment approach is that if someone is rude to a taxi driver, they might be rude at work – especially to those who are junior to them. In the Duolingo case, the candidate ticked lots of boxes for the role. But when the company heard how they treated the driver, the candidate wasn’t offered the job.
