How soft skills tests like the coffee cup trick influence hiring

[WORLD] Imagine you’re at a job interview. You’ve answered every question flawlessly, but before you leave, the recruiter watches what you do with your empty coffee cup. This small act—whether you return the cup or leave it—could seal your fate. That’s the premise behind the “coffee cup test,” a quirky yet telling hiring tactic used to assess emotional intelligence and cultural fit. Similar methods, such as whether you taste food before seasoning it with salt, have also surfaced, reflecting a growing shift in how companies evaluate candidates beyond résumés and technical know-how.

These low-stakes, high-signal behaviors are part of a broader movement in hiring: the prioritization of soft skills like adaptability, self-awareness, and situational judgment. As traditional interviews increasingly fail to capture interpersonal capabilities, employers are turning to informal micro-tests to spot qualities that predict long-term success—especially in collaborative, fast-moving work environments.

What Are Soft Skills Tests in Hiring?

Soft skills tests are informal or formal methods used to evaluate non-technical traits such as emotional intelligence, adaptability, teamwork, and professionalism. Unlike standard aptitude or technical assessments, these tests focus on how candidates behave, communicate, and react to uncertainty.

Originating from real-world managerial anecdotes and behavioral psychology, these assessments often take creative forms. The coffee cup test, for instance, was made public by a former Australian CEO who claimed that candidates who asked where to leave their used cup were more likely to show initiative and humility—qualities he valued in his team.

What matters here is not the test itself, but what it attempts to measure: the candidate’s underlying values, social awareness, and behavioral cues that signal their fit within a company culture.

How Soft Skills Tests Work

These tests are often subtle, sometimes unannounced, and usually non-standardized. They are designed to catch candidates off guard and evaluate their behavior in real-time, rather than through rehearsed answers.

Common types include:

• The Coffee Cup Test: At the end of the interview, the recruiter observes whether the candidate clears their cup. It’s seen as a proxy for humility and helpfulness.
• The Salt Shaker Test: Involves giving the candidate a meal and watching whether they season it before tasting. Used to assess impulsivity versus deliberation.
• The Receptionist Test: Candidates are observed from the moment they walk into the building—including how they treat non-decision makers like receptionists.
• The Elevator Test: A spontaneous conversation in the elevator with a disguised hiring manager evaluates interpersonal comfort and curiosity.

These assessments often aren’t disclosed to candidates. Their strength lies in evaluating behavior in context—especially under conditions that mirror real-life unpredictability.

Pros, Cons, and Challenges

Pros

• Reveals genuine behavior rather than rehearsed responses
• Helps assess emotional intelligence and team fit
• Useful for roles where collaboration and culture matter more than hard skills
• Encourages holistic hiring decisions

Cons

• Highly subjective and open to bias
• May disadvantage neurodivergent or culturally diverse candidates
• Can feel manipulative or unfair if discovered
• Not standardized, so difficult to scale across large organizations

Challenges

Balancing creativity with fairness is a major concern. While these methods may work for boutique firms or senior hiring, applying them universally risks inconsistency and potential discrimination if not carefully framed.

Real-World Example: Coffee Cup Culture and Corporate Fit

The coffee cup test became widely discussed after former Xero CEO Trent Innes shared it in interviews. At his company, the test wasn’t about housekeeping—it was a signal of whether someone bought into team values. Candidates who failed to return the cup were rarely hired.

Similarly, firms like Zappos are known for cultural filtering during hiring. Candidates are sometimes asked to join in casual team lunches or customer calls to assess empathy and quick thinking.

While these tactics can raise eyebrows, they reflect an increasing demand for people who don’t just do the job, but enhance the workplace around them.

Common Misconceptions and FAQs

• Are these tests just gimmicks?
  No—they often reflect real behavioral expectations in the workplace.
• Can soft skills be tested fairly?
  Only when used alongside clear criteria and self-awareness from the recruiter.
• What if I fail the test unknowingly?
  That’s part of the test—but not all companies use these methods, and most don’t treat them as make-or-break.
• Is this trend backed by data?
  Yes. LinkedIn's 2024 Workplace Learning Report found that soft skills like communication, adaptability, and collaboration are top predictors of promotion and retention.

Why It Matters

In a world where AI can write code and automate reports, human soft skills are becoming a defining asset. For job seekers, that means demonstrating curiosity, thoughtfulness, and adaptability in subtle ways—sometimes before the interview even begins. For employers, it’s a reminder that long-term success depends not just on skills but on mindset and culture. These informal tests—though unscientific—underscore a deeper truth: people don’t just hire for what you do, but how you do it. And often, a coffee cup says more than a résumé ever could.