{"id":5796,"date":"2026-08-23T06:09:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T06:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5796"},"modified":"2026-08-23T06:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T06:09:51","slug":"25-billion-ceo-says-one-hour-interviews-are-a-waste-of-time-he-puts-candidates-through-six-hours-of-tests-and-wants-them-to-order-wine-at-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5796","title":{"rendered":"$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time\u2014he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI tend not to like people that don\u2019t have any initiative,\u201d Ere\u00f1o told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cImagine if my drink is a glass of water. I\u2019m very happy with someone who says, \u2018Do you mind if I have a glass of wine?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018We will not endure\u2019 \u2014 Top Iranian leaders signal they are running out of time as economy crumbles ahead of Trump\u2019s next sanctions onslaught<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, the Fortune 500 Europe boss said he\u2019d prefer for a candidate walking into the lunch interview, seeing his glass of water and ordering the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t like followers, \u2018oh I will have a glass of water as well, I don\u2019t want wine.\u2019 These sorts of things are very important,\u201d Ere\u00f1o said, adding he is specifically testing how confident you are. That kind of energy is exactly what separates leaders from the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe more proactive, less passive. Take some risks, take initiatives,\u201d is Ere\u00f1o\u2019s advice on making it to the top. And ordering wine even when the boss hasn\u2019t is exactly that\u2014showing bold initiative.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just one part of his \u2018secret weapon\u2019 test: three meetings, two hours each<\/h2>\n

Ere\u00f1o runs one of Europe\u2019s largest healthcare companies: Bupa, which reported \u00a318.2 billion ($24.5 billion) in revenue in 2025, a giant spanning 190 countries and employing over 100,000 people. Getting a senior hire wrong at that scale is expensive\u2014something he\u2019s learned the hard way. Now, watching your drinks order is just one of his tests.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I was doing an interview of just one hour, that was not enough,\u201d he said. \u201cI reduced my level of mistakes when hiring people by setting up a system that is based on three meetings, two hours each. That\u2019s my secret weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first is a classic two-hour deep dive into the CV. The second moves to a restaurant for breakfast or lunch\u2014and that\u2019s where the real assessment begins. And it\u2019s not just your drink order he\u2019s looking at.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cHow you treat the waiter, for me, is an obsession,\u201d Ere\u00f1o said. \u201cI want to see how nice you are. You need to be respectful.\u201d He\u2019s watching body language, confidence, how you hold yourself when the formal setting drops.<\/p>\n

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The third meeting is back in the office, where the questions get more personal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd then there is another two hours after that,\u201d he added. \u201cAsking about your life: What do you like? What do you see in our company? What are you expecting from Bupa? All of those questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Food stamp enrollment plunges as Trump\u2019s demand for more paperwork pushes poor people off the rolls<\/a><\/p>\n

From Steve Jobs to Steven Bartlett, he\u2019s not the only CEO with an unusual test up his sleeve\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Ere\u00f1o is far from the only CEO who thinks the restaurant table reveals more about a future hire than a cold interview room.<\/p>\n

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$31 billion Twilio CEO Khozema Shipchandler interviews senior candidates specifically for 45-minute dinners\u2014he\u2019s watching how they carry themselves off the clock while also listening for one word in particular. Say \u201cI\u201d too much and it signals you\u2019re not a team player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Khozema also sets aside around 20 minutes for the interviewee to ask questions. If they have nothing up their sleeve? \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty big red flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

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One CEO won\u2019t hire anyone who salts their food before tasting it. Another secretly asks the server to mess up the candidate\u2019s order mid-meal just to see how they react.<\/p>\n

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Apple\u2019s Steve Jobs had a \u201cbeer test.\u201d But instead of actually doing the interview in a restaurant or bar, he\u2019d take candidates on an informal walk-and-talk to find out what they\u2019re like off-duty. He\u2019d then ask himself: \u201cWould I have a beer with this person? Would I talk to him or her in a relaxed way while taking a walk?\u201d If the answer was no, they weren\u2019t hired.<\/p>\n

And even if you\u2019re not meeting a potential boss in a restaurant surrounded by waiters, it still pays to be nice to the staff you meet on your way to your interview\u2014wherever it is.<\/p>\n

Diary of a CEO<\/em> founder Steven Bartlett hired someone with \u201czero\u201d experience because she thanked the security guard by name on her way into the building. Six months later, he called her one of the best hires he\u2019d ever made.<\/p>\n

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Are you a CEO with an unusual hiring test? Fortune wants to hear from you: <\/em>Orianna.Royle@fortune.com<\/em> <\/p>\n

Read more Meet the Florida architect who lost his roof at 12 \u2014 and now builds for the next Andrew<\/a><\/p>\n

A version of this story originally published on\u00a0<\/em>Fortune.com<\/em>\u00a0on\u00a0July 3, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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    \n
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  • Steve Jobs used a \u2018beer test\u2019 for interviews at Apple\u2014if he didn\u2019t want to drink with you, you didn\u2019t get the job<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Steve Jobs had his beer test. Bupa’s CEO has a six-hour interview process\u2014and what drink you order at lunch tells him how confident you are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-interview-playbook"],"yoast_head":"\n$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time\u2014he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time\u2014he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Steve Jobs had his beer test. 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