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Key Takeaways Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan recently revealed that he rejected a top candidate for a senior position because they were rude to the receptionist.
Jordan described Southwest’s culture as one that prizes people who are “low ego” and who “seek to serve others before they serve themselves.”
Other CEOs, like United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn, have their own unwritten hiring tests.
Treating everyone well, from the cab driver to the receptionist, could be the secret that helps you land your next job.
At the Semafor World Economy Summit earlier this week, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan described interviewing someone for a “very senior position” who nailed the formal conversations with executives. On paper and in the room, the candidate looked like a clear frontrunner.
But after the interview, Jordan’s team compared notes on how the candidate behaved with everyone they encountered. The team discovered that while the person treated executives well, they were dismissive and rude to the receptionist in Southwest’s building. That single data point was enough for the airline to pass on the candidate.
“They did not get the job because they treated one group of folks one way, and they treated that receptionist another way,” Jordan said.
Why Southwest cares so much about culture fit
Jordan described Southwest’s culture as one that prizes people who are “low ego” and who “seek to serve others before they serve themselves.” In his view, those traits eventually reveal themselves in how a person treats everyone, not just the people they think matter.
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