Work trials — an innovative hiring approach that more companies are adopting to evaluate candidates.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive into everything you need to know about work trials, from what they are to why they’re effective to how to implement them properly at your own organization. Read on to learn why work trials can take your hiring to the next level!
A work trial, also sometimes called a working interview, job trial, or trial shift, is a paid trial period where a candidate completes real work alongside your team. Work trials typically last 2-5 days, allowing you to assess how applicants perform in your actual working environment.
During a work trial, candidates get temporary access to the tools and systems they would use on the job. You give them an assignment or project prompt relevant to the open role. The candidate independently drives the project forward by setting priorities, making decisions, reaching out to your team members, and delivering final output.
Essentially, work trials let you test candidates’ abilities by having them jump right into the type of work they would handle if hired. Rather than claiming certain skills in interviews, they must demonstrate those competencies firsthand.
For example, if hiring a web developer, your work trial prompt might have them build a key feature for your product based on specs your team provides. Or for a marketing role, you could ask them to analyze campaign data and then present recommendations to optimize performance.
More and more leading tech companies and startups are integrating work trials into their interview processes — and for good reason!
Work trials offer a long list of unique benefits both for your team and for candidates:
Interviews and take-home assignments can assess competencies to an extent, but work trials provide KEY insight you can’t get otherwise: how candidates function in your actual remote environment day-to-day.
By putting applicants in your “sandbox,” you directly observe strengths and weaknesses related to:
These behaviors often get overlooked in interviews but prove crucial for success once onboarded. Work trials reveal them unambiguously.
Hiring candidates that only know large corporate environments poses a huge risk for startups. Employees need the flexibility and scrappiness to keep up with rapid pacing and constant priority changes.
Rather than assuming applicants have these startup skills, you can directly test traits like resourcefulness, comfort with ambiguity, capacity to pivot, and willingness to get their hands dirty in unstructured roles. Work trials make assessing “startup DNA” possible.
Bad hires hurt startups severely. Each role carries amplified importance, so one underperforming employee can hinder entire company momentum and morale.
But with work trials, you validate candidates before they formally join, minimizing regretted hires! Give them trial access instead of the keys to the kingdom right away.
Additionally, letting applicants test work at your actual company before receiving a formal offer reduces their hiring risk too. They ensure the role and culture feel like the right fit before leaving current jobs.
Top talent has options. To attract them, provide an interview experience that signals what an innovative, transparent company yours is!
Work trials show that your hiring approach leaves behind dated and one-sided tactics in favor of processes that benefit power players on both sides. Candidates are sure to remember such an thoughtful experience as they weigh multiple opportunities.
Linear, an issue tracking and team productivity startup, relies extensively on work trials while scaling their team. Highly selective about who they hire, Linear uses work trials to vet critical thinking, ownership, and other signals that candidates must demonstrate — not just claim —to receive offers.
In this section, we’ll outline exactly how Linear structures their work trials and why they are key to their 96% employee retention rate.
At Linear, only candidates that the hiring team wants to confidently extend offers to reach the work trial stage. They are not used for further screening candidates out.
Work trials typically span 2-5 days. Senior applicants commonly complete five day trials while other roles range from two to three days depending on the scope required.
Linear pays candidates a daily rate during work trials to compensate them for their time. They also provide access to the various platforms that role would normally use — Slack, Notion, Linear software itself, etc.
To ensure the work trial simulates real working conditions, Linear assembles an integrated project team including:
This group decides on an appropriate prompt that solves a current need while limiting scope for the trial period. Prompts connect directly to priorities for that department.
For an engineer, the prompt might entail building a feature to improve Linear’s product. A marketer may draft a blog post highlighting recent company news.
Kickoff: Candidate meets with team to review prompt, ask clarifying questions, and discuss initial direction. This aligns everyone on goals.
Self-Led Check-ins: Throughout the week, the candidate proactively leads check-in calls to provide status updates, surface blocking issues, and solicit feedback. Linear wants candidates to own the project and timeline.
Presentation: At the end, the candidate presents their final deliverable to the full work trial team and answers any lingering questions. This is discussion-based.
Outside of these interactions, the candidate works independently on the assignment utilizing relevant tools and checking in with the dedicated Slack channel as needed.
For Linear, no interview tactic has proven more effective for talent evaluation than work trials. Here’s why they lean on them so heavily:
Find True Builders - Linear needs candidates that think critically, take charge of shaping projects, and execute ambitious solutions themselves rather than waiting for detailed requirements. Work trials reveal these true “builder” attributes reliably.
Startup Skills - Crucial abilities like managing uncertainty, collaborating seamlessly, and rapidly integrating feedback are non-negotiable. Work trials validate applicants can operate in Linear’s fast-paced environment.
Observe Judgment - Many interview processes focus exclusively on hard skills. But Linear finds work trials give rare insight into candidate’s taste and product sense through what solutions they propose. Building an exceptional product starts with sound judgment.
Bolster Retention - With retention exceeding 95% over four plus years, Linear’s selective hiring clearly pays dividends. Work trials drive this by ensuring mutual fit on both sides before extending offers.
Dedicated to enhancing their candidate experience, Linear continually optimizes their work trial process based on feedback.
For one, they began sharing more detailed expectations upfront with both applicants and the work trial team members. This clarified everyone’s role and involvement.
Linear also removed any pressure for candidates to join broader company meetings. While they can attend key syncs to observe culture, it became unnecessary strain. Similarly, they narrowed final presentation audiences.
These changes underscore Linear’s commitment to ensuring work trials remain valuable screening mechanisms while also thoughtful toward candidate needs.
While work trials offer immense upside, they also require extensive coordination and participant time investment. Thus, companies must strategically consider work trials before instituting them universally.
Here are some best practices as you evaluate work trials:
Work trials demand heavy resources from both applicants and internal teams. Rather than mandating trials across all hires, pinpoint where trials can provide disproportionate value.
Engineering, product, data science, and other technical roles tend to benefit most given the need to vet both hard and soft skills in action. Additionally, prioritize work trials for senior individual contributor or management positions given their amplified influence.
Work trials demand heavy resources from both applicants and internal teams. Rather than mandating trials across all hires, pinpoint where trials can provide disproportionate value.
No doubt output quality matters when grading work trials. However, also focus observation on work styles: how candidates interact with peers, leverage resources, apply feedback, and other behaviors signaling fitness for your cooperative environment.
Prevent surprises by outlining everything candidates should expect throughout the experience, including meeting cadences, key stakeholders to interface with, presentation format, etc.
Additionally, confirm all participating employees understand their individual responsibilities to drive engagement.
Work trials represent significant time/effort from applicants. Show respect by providing abundant feedback afterwards explaining hire/no-hire rationales. Candidates deserve closure rather than leaving in limbo.
Well executed work trials provide unrivaled, risk-mitigating insight into candidates before they formally join your ranks. And exhibiting such an innovative, equitable hiring practice enhances attraction among today's in-demand knowledge workers.
While work trials require diligent coordination, thoughtfully integrating them into selective roles’ interview journeys pays dividends for startups aiming to build elite teams that can execute at the highest level in fluid environments.
Does properly vetting talent through work trials excite you? Don't leave hiring to chance — adopt work trials and start constructing an unstoppable team equipped to achieve your bold vision!
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