A four-round hiring process that filters candidates automatically

Executive overview

Most bad hires start with a bad job description and no structured process. A well-crafted listing signals quality and attracts quality — poor listings filter in poor candidates. The process below uses four sequential rounds to eliminate unqualified applicants with minimal manual effort.

The best candidates reveal themselves through how carefully they follow instructions — before you read a single word of their work.

Round 1: job description and application gate

• Write the tasks list before writing the job description — clarity on what the role does prevents setting a new hire up to fail.
• Spend real time on the listing: a polished job post signals a serious employer and attracts serious applicants.
• Ask: would you send this posting to a friend you respect? If not, rewrite it.
• Require applicants to email in with specific items (e.g. LinkedIn URL, a challenge response) — this screens for basic instruction-following before any review.

Round 2: skills test via automated form

• Build a Google Form with tasks directly from your tasks list — test what the person will actually do on the job.
• Example questions: how would you prioritise this project? Get hold of a specific person for the podcast. Write an email in a given scenario. Take a typing test.
• Set up a Gmail filter to auto-label qualifying emails (those with the correct subject line and required links) and skip the inbox.
• Auto-send the Google Form only to those who pass the filter — you never see the rest.
• Require a typing speed above 50 WPM; anyone below gets cut.

Round 3: real task under real conditions

• Take the top ~5 candidates from round two.
• Assign a full, realistic task — e.g. draft a guest post based on a specific podcast episode.
• Give a clear deadline.
• Evaluate the output as you would actual work product.

Round 4: video call weirdo test

• Do a video call — not just a phone call — so you can see the person's face.
• Purpose: confirm they are someone you can actually work with.
• Combined with the round-three submission, this is enough to make a final decision.

Filtering tips

• Start with binary criteria: did they follow the instruction exactly? Wrong format = instant cut.
• Ignore personally identifying information when scoring round-two responses to avoid bias.
• The top 1% of candidates are obvious — they do more than asked, not less.