Mastering Social and Cultural Competencies: The Key to Succeeding in Today's Job Market

2023-08-08 15:35:07

As job interviews get longer and younger generation executives prioritize so-called “soft skills” over college degrees, jumping into the job market now requires a broader mastery of social and cultural competencies.

The coffee cup test your next job could depend on. Photo: Getty Images

Instead of relying on lengthy resumes and letters of recommendation, some employers manage to test their candidates’ self-sufficiency and resolve with secret techniques that test how well they perform, even in a non-work environment.

Trent Innes, who was a manager for years at accounting software developer Xero in Australia, is one such employer. According to him he said during an appearance on The Venture podcast with businessman Lambros Photios, there is a trick called “the coffee test” that always helped him decide who to hire.

What is the “coffee test”?

Anyone who failed the “coffee test” was immediately thrown out, Innes said. This trick, he explained, often gave him a clearer indication of a person’s attitude and it was even more important to him than any question in the formal interview.

“As soon as you walk into the office and we meet, I’m going to take you first to one of our kitchens and, somehow, you’ll end up with a drink. Then we have our interview,” she said.

The key moment will occur at the end of the job interview. “One of the things that interests me is to see if the candidate is willing to return that empty cup to the kitchen. You can develop skills, you can gain knowledge and experience, but it really all comes down to attitude”, he highlighted.

“And the attitude we are talking about is the concept of ‘wash your own cup of coffee,'” settled Innes, who prefers to know how much importance the candidate gives to a simple task that, regardless of their position, promotes a good culture. corporate.

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He claims that this trick works wonders. “If you walk into Xero one day, you’ll see that the kitchens are almost always sparkling clean, and it’s very much about this concept of washing your own cup of coffee. goes from make sure they really fit into the culture of Xero, and that they will assume with responsibility everything that they have to do”.

Better to avoid coffee?

Evaluating the attitude of the candidates is also a priority for the CEO of the executive search firm Vanderbloemen Search Group, William Vanderbloemen. He has his own gimmick about him and it’s slightly different.

“It always amazes me how many people are even two minutes late for an interview with a fresh cup of coffee in hand,” he told CNBC Vanderbloemen, who has interviewed more than 30,000 candidates.

Of course, most hiring managers are sympathetic to last-minute emergencies, technical difficulties, and bad traffic, but Vanderbloemen says being late for a job interview without warning is a “red flag.”

“Punctuality is the first test of whether or not you are taking this job seriously and whether you can be trusted with the responsibilities of the position”, he explained during an interview last July. “When you schedule a meeting with someone, you’re making an agreement, and when you decide to break that agreement, people will start to question your integrity and trustworthiness.”

Job interview, concept. Photo: Getty Images

Arriving too early for a job interview can also be risky. “If I’m in the middle of another meeting, or taking a break between calls, it doesn’t help to have someone waiting for me for 15 to 20 minutes,” says Vanderbloemen. “It can make the interviewer feel uncomfortable or exhausted.”

Interviews are now longer

Experts cited by CNBC Make It in late June they said they had seen a “significant increase” in the number of job seekers over the last year facing a much more lengthy interview process.

“It seems to be a growing trend in a number of industries, with candidates being subjected to more rounds of interviews and rigorous testing than ever before,” said Steven Leitch, a career coach and resume expert.

Sometimes the process includes a shortlist video call with HR, another call with the hiring manager, and six half-hour interviews over several days. And finally: one last round with the CEO.

In addition to punctuality, a article from the University of North Georgia recommends new candidates to master other protocol situations that could guarantee your new job. Among them, he mentions knowing the interviewer’s name (how it is spelled and pronounced), greeting the interviewer with a handshake and a smile, not speaking ill of previous colleagues, and Send a thank you note for the opportunity.