To test the “emotional intelligence of candidates for a position, some recruiters do not lack imagination. A few years ago, a former Australian CEO unveiled his method to decide between two candidates for equal skills. Nicknamed” Test of the coffee cup “, the technique consists in serving a coffee at the beginning of a job interview, then observing the reaction of the person at the end of it. Dirty cup? or on the contrary, forgetting her existence and leaving it where she is without surprise, the first scenario will play more in favor of the candidate.
Another recruitment test based on the same spirit has been around social networks for a few months. First suspected of being an urban legend, however, it was reported by several managers or employers claiming to put it into practice, especially in the United States. This time, the test does not imply a cup, but a pepper and a salt shaker. The idea is as follows: analyze if the candidate will taste his dish before salt it or pepper it. The explanation is after all rather simple: depending on the attitude of the person to whom he takes the test, the recruiter will assess his ability to make a decision. In other words, he will determine if the candidate is the type to observe and reflect before taking action or if on the contrary he or she will hurry by following his instinct (or worse, his prejudices) without having taken the trouble to analyze the situation upstream.
If these tests (which have not been the subject of any HR certification) may seem a bit eccentric and remain relatively rare in practice, they nevertheless reflect a very real trend in corporate cultures: the arrows of what is commonly called soft skills, which are part of emotional intelligence and team spirit. Also called “behavioral skills”, these qualities are increasingly highlighted by recruiters and managers. A recent survey carried out by the LinkedIn social network has notably demonstrated that employees who know how to put these assets forward would obtain a promotion (+8%) would be a promotion that their colleagues who argue more in favor of their “hard skills”, that is to say their technical and practical skills necessary to fulfill the missions associated with their post. But beware, soft skills are not all worth: still according to LinkedIn’s study, organizational capacities, teamwork, problem solving (+ 11%) or leadership (+ 10%) would be the most effective skills to obtain a promotion.