Hiring

No CVs, no cover letters, no interviews, no references, no external recruiters. Here's what we do instead, why we do it, and how candidates can succeed.

Hiring process

Candidates apply directly through our website, providing basic details about themselves and their application. Applicants verify their email address using the link or code we send them. This stage is automatically processed. If successful, the candidate is automatically sent a link to complete stage two.

Candidates provide evidence of what they have done, including previous roles and links to publicly available work, such as writing, portfolios, video, audio, code, websites, talks, visual designs, or anything else that demonstrates their talent and potential.

Candidates provide their evidence through a structured form, followed by role-specific questions that explore the evidence in more depth. We might look for evidence beyond what candidates provide.

Human review

A human reviews the evidence and questionnaire responses and determines the next step. Three possible scenarios:

Who reviews?

Someone with a strong understanding of the role, typically someone from the relevant department. Talent software can allow reviewers to leave notes and discuss candidates with other members of the hiring team.

Downloadable

Candidates can complete the evidence questionnaire online or download it and work on it offline, then upload it once complete.

Candidates complete assessments in their own time, in their own environment. They could take anywhere from let's say 30 minutes to three hours or more to complete, depending on the role and what needs to be assessed.

We take each assessment ourselves and provide a completion time estimate. Candidates could take longer if they want to.

No live tests

We don't use live tests because we don't believe they are a good measure of real-world capability.

Tasks

Assessment types vary by role. The total a candidate must complete depends on how they did in the evidence stage.

Capability categories

Task types

Reviews, critiques, audits, practical tasks, opinions, debugging, case studies, problem-solving, analysis, optimisation, research, strategy, and recommendations. A single assessment task can test more than one capability.

Downloadable

Candidates can complete the evidence questionnaire online or download it and work on it offline, then upload it once complete.

Time limit

The candidate has 10 days from the receipt of the assessment to complete and submit it. The assessor makes a decision on whether the candidate progresses to the next stage within three working days of submission.

We recommend completing the assessment as soon as possible, as other candidates may progress through the process while you are completing your assessment. If you can provide sufficient evidence of your capability, you can skip the assessment altogether.

When a trial starts

When a candidate starts a paid trial, we pause all outstanding assessments for that position until the outcome of the trial is known. All candidates are notified promptly, so they can decide whether to continue with the assessment or pause while we wait for the trial outcome.

Human review

Assessment scores can be part-automated, eg multi-choice questions, while other parts require human review. The assessor decides, with optional input from others on the hiring team, whether the candidate progresses to the next stage.

An informal, peer-to-peer, structured conversation to explore whether there's a strong mutual fit. An open discussion for both sides to learn more about each other. We refer to this as a Mutual-Fit Conversation (MFC).

In-person

If possible, we prefer to have this chat in-person at a coworking space or another suitable public space. Else, an online video call. Scheduled via software (available time slots) or by email. A mutually-convenient day and time – including weekends and public holidays.

Duration

Some conversations may be around 30 minutes. Others may take 90 minutes or more, depending on the role, the candidate, and where the conversation goes.

What we could talk about

Role and responsibilities, motivation, experience, strengths, ways of working, values, team and culture, the organisation, expectations, growth and development, practicalities, your questions and thoughts, the quality of the coffee, or anything else that comes up.

After the MFC, the person you spoke with decides whether to move forward to the next stage: the trial. They may discuss the conversation with others on the team, but they own the decision. A decision is made within seven calendar days.

Multiple candidates

Within the decision window, we may speak with multiple candidates. One could progress to the trial.

We offer a paid working trial of up to 100 hours (contract), which gives both sides the opportunity to see how we work together in our environment. The trial may end earlier if the candidate is offered the role, or if it becomes clear that the role isn't right for either party.

If the candidate is currently employed, they can trial the role with us on a part-time basis.

Identity verification

Identity verification is required for everyone before starting a trial, using a third-party identity verification provider.

Check-ins

Throughout the trial, both sides are continuously assessing the fit, with check-ins to reflect on how things are going, share feedback, and address any questions or concerns.

One trial at a time

Only one person is on trial for a given vacancy at any one time.

One process, regardless of hours

The same process applies regardless of the number of hours the candidate will be working each week.

Applications remain open

The role remains open until it is filled. Candidates can apply and submit evidence while the trial is in progress. No assessments or MFCs until the outcome of the trial is known.

If the trial is successful and both sides want to continue, we offer the candidate the role. The candidate has up to 10 days to consider the offer, with flexibility for reasonable additional time if required.

Feedback to candidates

We don't provide individual feedback on hiring decisions. There are a number of reasons for this:

Reasons for decisions

Evidence of capability, role fit, team fit, culture fit, availability, location, expected tenure, how the MFC and trial go, and motivation for the role.

Hiring is not purely rational. Personal attributes can sway the decision, eg personality, communication style, likeability, and so on. We aim for objectivity, while acknowledging that humans aren't perfectly objective.

Process candidates as they come in

We process candidates in the order they come in. First-in, first processed (FIFP). We batch process applications only in specific situations, for example, graduate recruitment or internships with a fixed application deadline.

Other candidates

Within a decision window, we may have MFCs with other candidates. A candidate could be an excellent fit, but another candidate could, at this time, be an even stronger fit.

Strong mutual fit

If we agree that there is a strong mutual fit but another candidate progresses to the trial, we'll keep the candidate on our shortlist and, with their agreement, offer them the opportunity to trial when a similar position becomes available.

If the trial for the current position does not result in a successful match, the position immediately become available again. Shortlisted candidates are given the first opportunity to trial the role before the position is opened up again.

If more than 12 months have passed since the candidate's initial MFC, we may ask them to complete another one to confirm that the mutual fit is still there.

Good enough

Once we have enough evidence that someone meets the bar, we move forward to the MFC, and if that's all tickety-boo, onto the trial. We don't hold off for weeks or months hoping someone possibly stronger comes along.

Reapplication

Candidates who don't meet the capability or mutual-fit requirements can reapply for the same or a substantially similar role after 12 months. Other roles – apply any time.

Maximise your chances

Candidates can take various actions to maximise their chances of getting hired.

If you know someone who works here and they believe you would be a good fit, they can refer you, ie provide your details to the hiring team. Jobs can be filled through internal applications, external applications, or referrals.

Regardless of how someone applies or is referred, all candidates go through the same hiring process.

Job positions are typically promoted internally before being advertised externally. Apply early. First in, first processed.

Monitor the job board on our website. Sign up for email alerts. Apply early. FIFP.

Keep building evidence throughout your career – whether employed or not.

Personal attributes

Most companies want employees with desirable personal attributes. All the usual ones:

• Passion
• Adaptability
• Resilience
• Growth mindset
• Attention to detail
• Problem-solving
• Creativity
• Curiosity
• Motivation
• Openness
• Self-awareness
• Collaboration
• Positive attitude
• ...

These are standard expectations that don't need to be spelled out in every job listing. The nature of the role should already indicate many of the attributes it requires. Personal attributes aren't static – they can change over time.

Passion and motivation

People can be genuinely enthusiastic and motivated, or they can fake it. An individual could be enthusiastic in the MFC, but that might change once in the trial period or role.

Passion for the type of work they're applying for? Best to look for evidence of sustained interest, eg personal projects, articles, websites, portfolio, work history... Even then, a person's interests and motivations can change.

Also, you don't necessarily need passion. Someone can be neutral about their work and still do a jolly good job.

Potential

Potential is hard to gauge. Current skill is not a reliable indicator of future capability. A person's skills depend on the amount and quality of time they have spent developing them, as well as the quality of the environments in which they have worked.

We can look for hints of potential in how someone thinks, behaves, learns, and responds to challenges. These are things we are more likely to discover by working with someone, rather than during the hiring process.

We simply don't know what someone is capable of achieving, given the right environment, colleagues, training, and opportunities.

Experience

Experience is the knowledge or skill you gain by doing something over time.

Capability

The ability or skill to do something.

Capability growth

The increase in a person's ability to perform something effectively over time.

Skill

The ability to do something well.

Hire for capability

When hiring, the ultimate goal is capability, not experience. Experience is evidence that may indicate capability, but it is not capability itself.

Experience is an indirect signal – a proxy for capability. Years of experience means exposure to something, not necessarily the ability to perform it well.

• Experience ≠ capability
• Time spent in a role ≠ skill gained
• Years of experience ≠ capability growth

Experience and capability

Experience does not automatically improve capability. It can:

1. Increase capability: learning, practice, and feedback.

2. Maintain capability: repeatedly perform at the same level.

3. Decrease capability: colleagues, habits, systems, processes, business incentives, standards...

Experience quality

The extent to which an experience develops a particular capability.

Experience quality factors

These factors help determine the quality of the experience:

• Learning
• Relevance
• Challenge
• Colleagues
• Feedback
• Responsibility
• Variety
• Practice
• Outcomes
• Environment
• Reflection
• Mentors
• Training quality
• Business incentives
• Standards
• Systems
• Processes

Business incentives

What a person is rewarded or pressured to do shapes what they learn and how their capability develops.

• Speed: get it done quickly
• Delivery: good enough, ship it
• Quality: get it right
• Improvement: iterate, learn, improve
• Growth: experiment and develop new capabilities

Systems and processes

Tools, engineering practices, feedback loops, review processes, experimentation, continuous improvement...

Practice

Practice is not automatically capability-building. The quality of the practice matters. The environment determines what someone does and what they have the opportunity to learn and practice.

Organisational experience

Working in/with an organisation doesn't necessarily provide types of practice that develop capability most effectively – deliberate, stretch, varied, and reflective.

In organisations, people often have limited control over what they work on and how they work. They typically work within existing systems and established processes, and do the work put in front of them, which can limit opportunities for capability development.

Five years of organisational experience can involve repetitive work and "good enough" incentives, resulting in very little capability growth.

Hire for capability

Organisational experience is not required for most of our roles, because organisational capabilities can be developed on the job. For example, working with constraints, collaboration, taking responsibility, handling complexity, interpersonal skills, and balancing priorities.

Organisational experience is required only when the role depends on capabilities that cannot be developed sufficiently quickly, safely, or cost-effectively on the job.

Independent skill development

When skilling up independently, people have much more control over what and how they learn and practise. They can deliberately choose challenging, varied, and relevant work that targets the capabilities they want to develop.

Five years of deliberate, self-directed development can produce far greater capability than five years of organisational experience.

Experience relevance

How closely does the experience match the capabilities required for the role? Experience quality isn't enough by itself.

Job listings

Each of our job listings contains the following:

• Job title
• Responsibilities
• Organisational experience (some roles)
• Salary and benefits

No personal attributes

We don't list personal attributes. As already mentioned, we don't need to spell these out.

No specific software requirements

Software can be learnt on the job. We can provide training videos to help speed up the process.

No 'years of experience' requirements

Experience does not equal capability.

Owned

Sourcing through channels that we control directly and can use without paying a third party for access to the audience.

• Our website
• Our job board
• Our social network
• Existing network
• Email
• Social channels
• Intranet
• Talent community
• Training programs
• Internal talent
• Talent intelligence
• Internships

Existing network

People we already know or have an established relationship with, including alumni, previous candidates, known candidates, current staff, freelancers, contractors, and other relationships.

Talent community

A group of people who have expressed interest in our organisation and opted to stay connected for future opportunities. Example channels include email newsletters, open applications, job alerts, our social network, events, messaging, and talent-focussed content.

All our job listings are genuine and linked to real hiring needs. We build future talent pipelines through transparent channels such as talent communities and open applications.

Paid

Sourcing candidates through paid channels and services, including job ads, job boards, recruitment marketplaces/platforms, and recruitment agencies. This channel is typically used as a last resort when owned and earned sourcing channels don't provide enough strong-fit candidates.

Continuous talent sourcing

Sourcing is an ongoing process, not something that only happens when vacancies arise.

Global hiring

We hire globally. To employ someone, we need to have a local entity in their country of tax residence or work with an Employer of Record (EOR) provider that can employ them on our behalf.

EOR providers typically charge a monthly fee per employee. Costs currently range from approximately £140 to £520 per employee per month. We absorb these costs.

Countries we hire from

There are 195 countries. EOR providers vary in their geographic coverage, with current providers supporting approximately 150 to 185+ countries.

Location-agnostic pay (LAP)

The same role receives the same compensation regardless of the country in which the individual lives or works.

Role levels

• Intern
• Junior
• Mid
• Senior
• Lead
• Principal
• Head
• Chief

All role levels use location-agnostic pay, except Principal, Head, and Chief, where compensation is individually negotiated.

Work arrangements

• Full-time
• Part-time
• Temporary
• Project-based/freelance
• Internship

Diversity

We hire based on capability and fit. We value a diverse team and welcome people of different ages, genders, backgrounds, and perspectives. Applicants must be 18 years or older at the time of application.

Bias

Bias is an unavoidable part of human decision-making. We are all influenced, consciously or not, by our experiences, expectations, preferences, and perceptions. We can't eliminate bias entirely, but we can take steps to recognise it, reduce it, and make our hiring decisions more consistent and evidence-based.

Potential biases

There's a large range of potential biases. Examples include:

• Similarity
• Confirmation
• Halo effect
• Horns effect
• First impression
• Stereotyping
• Age
• Gender
• Name
• Accent/language
• Education
• Opinions/views
• Experience
• Recency
• Career path
• Career gap
• Overqualification
• Confidence
• Charisma
• Appearance
• CV presentation
• ...

Candidate verification

The process of confirming that information provided by a candidate is accurate and that the person is who they claim to be. We conduct checks only where required by law, regulation, or the nature of the role.

Identity verification

Required for everyone before starting a trial, using a third-party identity verification provider.

Employment history verification

We generally trust candidates' stated employment history. For certain roles, we may use an employment-verification service, although verification is not always possible.

No references

We don't use references. We make our own hiring decisions based on our assessment of the candidate, rather than outsourcing that judgement to third parties.

No reference provision

We don't provide references for former employees. Their employment with us speaks for itself.

Qualification verification

As with employment history, we generally trust candidates' stated qualifications. For certain roles where specific qualifications are required, we may verify them using an appropriate verification service.

Right to work

We verify that everyone we employ has the right to work in the country from which they will perform their work, as required by applicable law. Where we employ through an EOR, the EOR conducts the required checks.

Additional checks

Where relevant to the role, we may conduct additional checks.

Employment and payroll information

We collect employment and payroll information directly from the employee through our onboarding process.

No external recruiters

We don't use external recruiters except in exceptional circumstances.

Career gaps

Career gaps are fine. We don't ask candidates to explain them.

People we've worked with

Freelancers, contractors, alumni, and others we've worked with may not need to follow our standard hiring process. Depending on what we know about them and the role on offer, they may proceed directly to a mutual-fit conversation, trial, full-time, or part-time offer.

Automation

We use automation for administrative tasks, analysis, summarisation, and transcription. We don't use it to make hiring decisions.