It's a kind of magic

Wizard Inns has a pretty tough selection process in its quest to find the best staff, as Max Gosney discovers Everyone knows that being a pub manager is a demanding role. Potential licensees must possess a wide range of skills, from changing barrels to balancing the tills. Choosing people who have these skills is as challenging a task as running the pub. To this end, Wizard Inns operates a selection scheme to find staff with the potential to rise to the top of the trade. The lucky few are rewarded with expert training that ensures they are equipped to face the many challenges of bar management. Sixteen hopeful candidates arrived at west London's Hand & Flower pub recently. They had travelled to the Kensington venue in an effort to be fast-tracked in the pub trade. It's a strange situation as nervous faces sip their morning coffeeand debate what it is they must do to secure a place on the Wizard Inns key staff development programme. Applicants should not anticipate an easy ride, warns Wizard's commercial manager, Ed Heaver. "If you're not prepared to get stuck in to difficult situations,then you will not succeed with us. People must be committed. You make your own luck in this industry and in life," he says. The pubco started the scheme in 2000 and aims to groom at least six managers from this year's event, says Heaver. "We want to add to our pool of resources. There is a need for people to cover illness and holidays. You can never have enough well-trained staff." A layer of smoke rises across the bar as candidates puff on a last-minute cigarette before the event begins. They hand Heaver back their completed psychometric tests and walk upstairs to the function room. As they march slowly out of the bar, the jukebox plays the sounds of former Stone Roses front man Ian Brown. The song title aptly describes the feeling among the applicants as they reach the stairs ­ F.E.A.R. Training manager Sue Williams welcomes the group and gives a guide to what is expected from a successful candidate. "We will put you in an unfamiliar pub that you know nothing about," says Williams. "You may end up working a 65-hour week and feel absolutely exhausted. But sulking and bad mouthing about it will not attract customers." The room remains silent as Williams attempts to reach her audience. "We are not teachers here to hand out homework. It is up to you to do the graft." To determine the star pupils from the slackers, the Wizard team has designed a variety of group tests. The candidates greet the news that they are to act as a cave rescue team with a mixture of bewilderment and disbelief. Williams explains: "You will be asked to save six people from a collapsing cave. Only one person can be brought out at a time. Your committee must decide the order in which they are rescued." The group will do thisby analysing sheets of paper containing details of thepersonal lives of the trapped cavers. Arguments rage over why Helen, a 34-year-old mother of four, has more right to live than Keith, a 42-year-old convicted flasher. "It demonstrates a person's ability to exert their influence," says Heaver. "It's an important skill to be able to stand up for your point of view." Half an hour of heated debate passes before a final decision is reached. Indecent exposure is rewarded as Keith leaves first. The proceedings reach a crucial stage during the afternoon. Each member of the group attends an interview with an area manager. The talks will do much to determine the judges' final decision. The potential pub managers are grilled over their ability to perform in a tough industry. Examiners fire off questions and look for answers that demonstrate enthusiasm, and a will to succeed. If candidates can offer these magic ingredients over the 40-minute trial, they stand a good chance of making the programme, says Williams. Finally, the exhausted applicants are given a series of calculations based on the accounts of a fictional pub. The barriers are high so that only the most capable candidates reach the final programme, insists Heaver. "When we first started this scheme, we were too nice. Standards have got a lot higher now we have learnt to say no." At the end of the day, the relief and joy is tangible for 11 of the 16 as they get the nod of success, while extreme disappointment is the only way to describe the feelings of the five who didn't make it. Managing the confidence quota Of the 16 hopefuls, 11 made it through to Wizards' management training programme. The successful candidates were: Nicholas Avenell, Tracy Allen, Cher Holland, Lisa Oakenfole, Grace Wall, Madi Fabricius, Kate Morris, Lynsey Henderson, Fiona Mitchell, Lisa Russell and Liam Cook. Here's what some of them had to say about the day and their nerves: Nick Avenell, 28, from Croydon: "If I did not think I could do the job then I would not be here." Tracy Allen, 22, from Leicester: "I am talkative and get on well with people. It's important to be confident in the trade." Cher Holland, 23, from Romford: "Ever since my first day in the trade I have loved it." Madi Fabricius, from Cape Town, South Africa: "I have really enjoyed the day's events. I have a positive attitude about being successful." Fiona Mitchell, 23, from Poole: "I am here to progress my career. Maybe I should be nervous about today, but I am not.