"Instead of trying to catch candidates out with a trick question or quizzing them on the latest iPhone, the late cofounder of the $4.3 trillion tech giant wanted to know something much simpler: Would he actually enjoy grabbing a beer with them?"
"According to multiple reports, Jobs would even take candidates on an informal walk-and-talk interview to deliberately test whether he could get along with them outside the office. The so-called "beer test" wasn't really about alcohol. It was about seeing whether a candidate could drop the corporate act long enough to have an actual conversation-and be pleasant to be around."
"As reported, Jobs would ask potential hires questions like, "What did you do last summer?" to get the conversation going. There were no right or wrong answers, but it probably wasn't good news if the chat was awkward, draining, or nonexistent. That's because at the end of the saga, Jobs would ask himself: "Would I have a beer with this person? Would I talk to him or her in a relaxed way while taking a walk?""
"Jobs previously told Fortune that hiring ultimately comes down to gut. Jobs' 'beer test' may sound unserious compared to today's increasingly popular Myers-Briggs assessments and 90-minute exams. But the Apple cofounder insisted his recruitment strategy was anything but. In a 2008 interview with , the late tech billionaire said that finding the best people for the job is like "finding the needles in the haystack... I take it very seriously.""
Hiring emphasized personal fit over rehearsed answers or technical trick questions. Candidates were evaluated through informal conversations, including walk-and-talk interviews, to see whether they could drop corporate formality. Questions such as what someone did the previous summer were used to start genuine dialogue without right or wrong answers. The key judgment was whether the interviewer would enjoy having a beer and talking in a relaxed way while walking. Awkward, draining, or nonexistent conversation signaled a mismatch that a résumé could not fix. The approach was framed as serious, with extensive interviewing experience and a belief that competence alone was insufficient.
Read at Fortune
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