If you are planning to hire a project manner, you should probably take him or her out, before they are hired. A growing body of literature suggests that certain personality quirks, mannerisms and behaviors can say a lot about the person’s inherent qualities.
These qualities are central to a person being a good manager or not. Of course, these kinds of dinner dates would not be appropriate with junior level hires, unless their supervisor is made to dine with them. On second thoughts, even the most basic job profile can be filled by an excellent candidate if that candidate passes the dinner exam.
In this article, let us take a look at how dinner dates help you to hire better employees, whether junior or senior. Let us also take a look at certain things you should bear in mind while assessing a candidate during the dinner. All this will help you to choose candidates who are well fit for their jobs, and basically, respectful, honest and decent individuals with integrity.
One of the defining qualities of an individual is his or her punctuality. If your candidate does not arrive well in time for the dinner date, he or she has a problem with time management. This is a very useful criteria to judge an individual. Make sure that your candidate is on time, or at least has a valid excuse to be late.
This may sound funny but is a very important consideration. If you are at a nice restaurant and the individual orders the most expensive food available, he or she may have an overblown self-esteem or maybe greedy, looking for ways to make the most of a situation. On the other hand, ordering the cheapest food available may indicate they have an inferiority complex, or that he or she is too shy. Also, inappropriate foods like pizzas and burgers at a high-end sit-in dining place also may suggest the candidate is not situation-appropriate.
Table manners differ depending on towns, cities, regions and countries. Based on where you are located, ensure that your candidate follows minimum table manners. This ensures that the person is well cultivated and knows how to behave in social situations. It also says a lot about the candidate’s interpersonal skills.
This is often repeated in many articles that discuss hiring employees based on dinners. Yet, this is probably the most important. If the candidate is rude, or if he or she is not friendly to waiters, that shows that they do not have respect for work. They probably will behave the same way towards their juniors in the office. Moreover, do you want a nasty person as an employee?
Four important qualities to evaluate during a dinner date:
Always look for punctuality as a quality to decide if an individual will be similarly early or late to office. Punctuality is not just about arriving in time for the dinner date. How quickly or how slowly one eats also says a lot about the individual. If a person takes too long to finish eating, that may show that they don’t value time much.
Civility is all about how we deal with each other. You need a candidate who is polite and civil. Make sure that they greet you politely or whoever is with you. Civility includes common sense and many other qualities, that makes an individual pleasant.
This is often most forgotten during interviewing and assessment. This is one of the reasons why dinner dates are most important. When you let the candidate place an order, notice how they behave with the waiter. If they are rude or cold, that shows that they do not have respect for the dignity of labor, or even for fellow human beings. This isn’t even about respect, but about kindness. And we need kind people in the office so that they work well in a team.
Make sure the candidate is neat in his or her clothing sense, behavior and also eating habits. If an individual is dressed sloppily, he or she is not showing respect to the situation. If he or she doesn’t have table manners, it shows that they won’t finish their work neatly. There are many other things that you can observe in an individual but these should be the bare minimum of qualities that you can observe during a dinner interview.
Dinner dates are great places to assess candidates
Certainly, it must now be clear that diner dates are not just about eating and going home on a full stomach These are serious tests in life that can bring out unconscious habits and qualities which the candidate can fake during an interview situation.
If a person is late for the dinner, it shows that they may not be punctual. If the candidate orders foods that are too expensive or too cheap, it says a lot about how they feel about themselves. If they are rude to the waiting staff, they will be rude to your clients too. If they do not follow table manners, do not expect them to be perfect at their jobs.
Four important qualities need to be assessed during a dinner interview. Look for punctuality, if the candidate is civil and polite, if he or she is kind to his subordinates and last but not the least, if the candidate is neat.
All these factors are important for all levels of jobs in an organization. You do not have to take a low-paid clerk to a fancy restaurant to judge if he is good. A simple burger meal should be enough to assess his qualities. Keep the five-star hotel dinners to assess and judge your senior level managers.
