Billionaire shares strict task he sets every candidate during job interview

11 September 2023 , 05:07

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Cummings, 86, and his wife, Joyce, still clip coupons and fly economy, saying they still get a kick out of saving a buck

A billionaire has shared a strict task he sets every candidate during a job interview.

Bill Cummings, owner of a billion-dollar business constructing commercial properties in Boston area, tells how he built his firm without ever borrowing - and now shares his best business tips with others. One top piece of advice includes being frugal.

Cummings, 86, and his wife, Joyce, still clip coupons and fly economy, saying they still get a kick out of saving a buck, describing it as “fun". He added: "You build lifetime habits, and it doesn’t feel good to say, ‘I’m not going to do that anymore'."

The successful businessman said he also has certain criteria he expects his prospective employees to meet, which involves both integrity, good morals, skills and ability. He said he focuses on a person’s level of determination, adding: “Nothing is as important as hard work, desire, persistence and dedication. What idle pleasures are we willing to give up to achieve what we really want?”

The successful businessman said he also has certain criteria he expects his prospective employees to meet (Getty Images)

He also says people have to meet a writing proficiency test, saying: “It’s a densely written one-page letter with 35 mistakes in it. We want to spot it when we have a good writer. If somebody can express him or herself, if they can put their thoughts down on paper, they’re probably smart enough to do a lot of other things, too.”

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Cummings urges people to also have integrity, adding: "All people have differing skills and abilities, just as we all have our unique flaws and shortcomings. Work regularly at developing a system of strong values, even though we may regularly fall short of those values in our daily lives", writes the New York Post.

He added how bosses who try to swerve paying their staff properly cannot maintain integrity. Cummings says he pays his contractors, suppliers and his staff on time and wouldn’t dream of stiffing them, adding: "Some highly prominent business people have even bragged about [not paying] to show how smart they think they are,” he writes. He termed such practices “despicable.”

Abigail O'Leary