Steve Jobs' 'beer test' interview technique broken down by recruiter

An intriguing 'beer test' interview technique adopted by Steve Jobs has been broken down by a recruiter as she shares her thoughts on whether it really works.

If you're reading this article on your iPhone, then you probably don't need me to tell you that Apple co-founder Jobs did a pretty good job of building up his company.

Prior to his death in 2011, Jobs worked as the CEO of the tech company which has largely taken over the world - and in order to do that, he had to hire some reliable people.

Rather than grilling potential new Apple employees in a stuffy office, however, Jobs is said to have adopted a more unusual technique that became known as the 'beer test'.

While weighing up candidates, Jobs asked them to take a walk and even enjoy a beer with him, in the hope of helping them loosen up while he learned more about them.

After hearing about Jobs' approach to interviewing, senior executive recruiter Eleanor shared her thoughts with UNILAD and discussed whether the 'beer test' can really help determine someone's ability to do the job.

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Having worked for years looking for the perfect candidates, Eleanor said: "I think it's actually a really good idea.

"Anything that can make your candidate feel a little bit more at ease, and therefore a little bit more able to talk truthfully about their experience and honestly about their experience is just a tick for me."

Eleanor claimed that putting a candidate at ease allows the interviewer to get 'so much more out of them in terms of detail, in terms of transparency, in terms of them talking about their failures', versus when a candidate is 'very nervous'.

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"I personally think casual interviews and informal interviews are the best kind of interviews," Eleanor said. "I'm so informal in my interviews - there's no negative, in my opinion, to be in really informal in an interview, you only get more of the real person out.

"So for [Jobs' technique], I really like that style and do think it gets the most out of people."

During his interviews, Jobs is said to have asked candidates a range of questions including, 'when was the last time you accomplished something?', and 'what did you do last summer?'

The Apple co-founder was obviously trying to learn more about his candidates with these types of questions, and Eleanor commended this 'open' approach.

"I find these to be questions that people can add a bit of personality to - they can take it in any which way they want," she said.

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"They're a little bit broad in terms of questions, so I think anything that unpicks people a little bit or puts them at ease are good interview questions."

However, if you're faced with an interview question that catches you off guard and makes you nervous, Eleanor stressed that you shouldn't blurt out the first answer that comes to mind.

"The first thing that jumps into your head, it's not necessarily the best answer," Eleanor said.

Instead, she encouraged candidates to take a second to think about their response, or tell the interviewer: "Oh, that's a really good question. Let me take a second to think about that."

The recruiter stressed that companies aren't expecting candidates to 'tick 100 out of 100 boxes', so urged people to 'chill, relax, be yourself [and] be honest'.