I\’m a huge fan of Hulu’s The Bear. I started watching it because I love Jeremy Allen White and anything set in Chicago, (two hours from where I grew up and where my sister currently lives).
I think that the show is a fantastic blend of comedy and drama. It delves into the messiness of family and friendships, and it\’s all about heart, passion, and goal-setting.
But there is a scene in Season 2, Episode 8’s (Bolognese) that is a perfect demonstration of one of the core concepts I teach in a great hiring process. I call these ‘Job Related Simulations.’
I can’t possibly explain it any better than Cousin Richie does when telling Sugar why they aren’t going to hire the candidate they just interviewed.
Richie and Sugar are interviewing for a front-of-house staff member. The candidate has over 7 years of experience working for a Michelin Star restaurant and Sugar is impressed with the answers to her questions (although from a seasoned interviewer’s perspective, my spidey sense was going off – they were too perfect – but I digress).
When the candidate got up to leave, Sugar looks at Cousin Richie. You can tell by the look on her face that she is excited, but Richie cuts her off and says, “Well, she ain’t it.”
Sugar, amazed, recounts the candidate’s skills and experience and asks Richie why he’s not impressed.
“Because every single napkin on this table is folded in alignment with a salad fork except for hers. She just sat here for 20 minutes and she\’s there looking at that, knowing that napkin\’s facing the wrong direction.”
“Did you turn the napkin before?” Sugar asks.
“Hey, sugar, you guys want stars? That ain\’t a star catcher,” replies Richie.
“You turned the napkin,” Sugar says, amazed.
“Of course I did,” Richie replies.
What candidates do is a much better indicator than what they say in the interview process. I\’m a huge believer in building job-related simulations, exactly like the one that Cousin Richie did for this candidate.
What kind of job-related simulations can you build into your interview process to help you evaluate if this candidate can actually walk their talk?
