The M&M Test

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a rock music trivia nut. Blame it on never having learned to play an instrument. (Side note: I've been trying to teach myself guitar since I was laid off last year, but let's just say my success in that area has paralleled my job search achievements & I'm still "pre-employed" at the moment..) But it's not often that a love of musical anecdotes translates into practical job hunting advice.

Take, for instance, the story of Van Halen and the M&Ms.

For those not familiar with the story, it goes something like this: Back in the 1980s, Van Halen ruled the high school music scene. No band approached them for coolness - guys loved Eddie Van Halen's amazing guitar licks, and girls loved David Lee Roth's antics and skin-tight pants. But there was always a sinister rumor about the band; one that labeled them in hushed tones as prima donnas and arrogant jerks. What was this rumor?

They wouldn't allow brown M&M's backstage.

You read that right. This enormously popular rock band was rumored to have a clause in its contracts forbidding anyone from bringing brown M&Ms to their dressing rooms or anywhere behind the stage. It was considered the ultimate because-we-can rock star story. As with many urban legends, however, the story started with a grain of truth that got twisted as it passed along the rumor mill.

A full version of this story is available on Snopes.com , a great Web site if you ever want to debunk a rumor or check out a too-crazy-to-be-true story, but in a nutshell, here's the real story. It turns out that whenever rock bands tour - particularly the enormously successful ones that put on stadium-sized shows - they usually have different stages going up or coming down on any given night. In one city a stage is going up for the next night's show, in another it's coming down from the previous night's show, etc. For each one, you've got miles and miles of electric cables, wires, power couplings, pyrotechnics, lights, smoke machines, etc. All of this has to be assembled the same way each time according to a very specific set of instructions so no accidents happen, i.e., no one trips over a wire or cable, a pyrotechnic doesn't explode in the wrong place and injure someone, etc. This not only ensures safety, it also - probably more importantly to the band's legal representatives - guards against potential lawsuits in the event someone trips over something or anything goes wrong. Not surprisingly, the contracts for booking a show of this size are reportedly mammoth - hundreds of pages spelling out every possible detail, from the size of the venue, the weight requirements of the stage, power needs, etc.

So the band did a very smart thing. To make sure any promoters booking them for a show read the contract in detail, they inserted a clause in the middle of the contract spelling out, "There will be no brown M&Ms located back stage" and included some additional language highlighting the penalty of any violations - cancelation of the show, forfeiture of proceeds, etc. That way, before a show, the band could go to its dressing room and the M&M bowl would serve as a canary in the proverbial coal mine. If there were properly sorted M&Ms set aside as snacks (a task probably completed by the promoter's son or daughter in exchange for autographs from the band), the band and its team could do a cursory check of the stage before the concert. If there were no M&Ms - or worse, if there were unsorted ones - then the band knew immediately that the contract hadn't been read in its entirety, and they now would have to do a more thorough safety check. Any problems they found would have to be fixed and possibly entail overtime fees or show delays.

Now, what does all this have to do with job hunting? Fair question. I've wondered for years what would be a similar "spotlight indicator" that would tell me at a moment's glance what the level of organization was at a given firm where I was interviewing. Sure, everyone might seem nice and happy, and the office areas might seem clean and neat, but what would be the best microcosm of the entire organization?

And then I read an article about a woman who always made a point of checking the restroom whenever she visited a company. As she put it, "If a company can't keep its restrooms clean, I don't want to have anything to do with them." That's when it occurred to me, "This is the indicator I've been looking for."

Think about it -

• Does the room stink?
• Are the toilets clogged or out of order?
• Do the soap dispensers work?
• Are there paper towels in the bin?
• Is the sink area clean?
• Is the floor area likewise clean or littered with newspapers?

If this is what you as an employee will see every day - or equally if not more critical, a potential client or customer someday - what impression does that give you about the entire organization? If they can't keep the restroom clean and operating, what else can't they do well?

Granted, this may seem like an extreme example - plenty of good companies are probably located in lousy buildings with terrible maintenance that's beyond their ability to control - but for those of us interviewing and thinking of coming to work for an organization, every impression is critical. If a company can scrutinize you and your behavior, your credit record, past references and job contacts, and who only knows what else, then it's only fair that you as a prospective employee look for any sign as well that can tell you a bit more about the firm and how well it's run.

And any firm that can't make a positive impression with a most basic need as a restroom might be one you ought to think carefully about before joining.