The story of the beer test. was recalled by Fortune magazine.
According to the magazine, Jobs often avoided standard questions about his resume and professional skills during interviews. Instead, he tried to understand whether a person could maintain a lively and natural conversation outside the office atmosphere.
Candidates could be asked unexpected questions like, “What did you do last summer?”. Jobs himself would later explain that ultimately the hiring decision was often based on intuition and a personal feeling from the person.
In essence, the famous Apple CEO was trying to determine not only professional qualities, but also whether the employee could fit into the company’s culture. Although it was technically a “beer test,” alcohol was more of a metaphor for informal socializing.
It was about whether the candidate was willing to set aside the corporate routine for a while to have a real, lively conversation in an informal setting – and to be a pleasant interlocutor.
In a 2008 interview with Fortune magazine, the late billionaire noted that finding the best people for a job is like “looking for needles in a haystack.”
“Ultimately, it depends on your intuition. What do I think about this person? What does he or she become when faced with challenges?” he reasoned.
