Scientific Hiring:  Day 6 - Bonus Lesson

Congratulations on making it this far!

Welcome to day six of Scientific Hiring.

Let’s discover what your top picks are made of.

Yesterday, I taught you my interview framework and showed you how to create an effective process.

Did you create your framework and develop your process?

Before you hire anyone, put your top candidates to the ultimate test with a test drive or audition to find out if they can actually do the job.

The candidate audition

Research has proven the most accurate method of assessing a candidate’s ability to do the job is to put them on the job.

An audition takes out the guesswork from candidate selection and levels the playing field.

It weeds out candidates who are all talk or who have bluffed their way through your interview process.

Auditions are a powerful tool top companies use to hire the best talent.

Does your top pick have what it takes to do the job or are they’re all sizzle and no steak?

Before you create an audition, you need a framework.

Here’s the one I use:

Here’s my favorite candidate evaluation points:

It’s simple to create an audition when you know the skills and qualities you want to evaluate.

To make it even simpler, identify the most important competency or skill from your scorecard and then determine a method to measure that competency.

That’s an audition in a nutshell.

For example, if you’re hiring a software developer, you might create a scenario to measure their knowledge of common practices, development tools, and methodologies or one of my personal favorites, a troubleshooting scenario.

If you’re hiring for sales, create a scenario where your audition is to create and deliver a sales presentation in your boardroom.

For management, describe a recent problem in your company and have them present their ideas.

It could even be a fictitious problem.

It doesn’t matter what it is or how long or short it is—it’s just a tool to accurately measure their competency in a given area.

In addition to measuring competencies, the “test drive” gives both the employer and the candidate an opportunity to evaluate each other. 

How valuable would it be if your top pick decided after the audition that the job isn't the right fit for them?

You would have just dodged a mis-hire—so pat yourself on the back.

That’s why you always have a backup candidate or two.

Back in the day

Businesses relied on interviews alone—which led to poor hires.

Now, with auditions, you can make data-driven decisions based on actual performance.

Candidate auditions provide you with insight to hire based on performance—that’s scientific hiring in action.

That’s all I have for you today.

Your assignment:  meet with your team and strategize ideas for an audition.

By the way, to ensure your audition isn’t a surprise, inform candidates upfront that your hiring process includes an audition.

This way, they'll know what to expect if they make it to the final round.

Applying the 80/20 rule to this lesson:

Focus on the most impactful actions—in this case, conducting a candidate audition or "test drive." 

By designing a relevant and challenging audition, you can gain more accurate insights into a candidate’s abilities than through interviews alone. 

This small, focused effort provides most of the information needed for a confident, data-driven hiring decision, reducing the risk of a bad hire.

In summary, a well-crafted audition is the most efficient way to hire based on actual performance, not just interview impressions. By focusing on key skills and creating a simple, effective task, you’ll get the best results with minimal effort.

When you're ready, there's three ways I can help you:

1. The Scientific Hiring Academy: If you find this short series on Scientific Hiring helpful but want help to quickly implement everything you've learned, then try the Academy. It's designed with the power of the Socratic Interview Method and the precision of Scientific Hiring to ensure you make informed data-driven decisions and only hire A-Players. 

The Academy doesn’t just guide you—it transforms how you and your team approach hiring, whether you’re building from scratch or refining your current practices.

2. Book a 1:1 call with me to discover how you can apply scientific hiring methods to your business.

3. If you frequently hire for the same role, ask me about customized training to ensure all your hiring managers are aligned with your hiring standards and procedures.

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