The Test-Project Hiring Filter
Screen talent with a video test, a profile assessment, an identical project and a 15-minute final
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 80%
Martell's hiring process is a staged filter that removes noise early and tests real collaboration. First, a front-end test: candidates submit a 60-second video answering set questions; going three or four minutes means they didn't read instructions, and failing to record and share a link means they can't operate in a digital world, both auto-archives. Second, a profile and cognitive assessment (he uses tools like Culture Index and Profile XT), hiring an assistant who is your opposite and screening senior hires against the existing team for friction. Third, a test project, identical for every candidate so results are comparable, because you can't know someone until you work with them. Fourth, a 15-minute final with humanizing questions about childhood, hardship and a five-year vision, to check whether their goals selfishly align with what the role needs.
Origin
Built from Martell's talent philosophy and a line from Seth Godin: 'I can't work with you till I work with you,' which convinced him to make a real test project non-negotiable.
Core principles
- 01A front-end test filters signal from noise before any conversation
- 02For an assistant, hire your opposite, not someone who maps to you
- 03You can't know someone until you work with them on a real project
- 04Give every candidate the identical test project to compare fairly
- 05Know their five-year vision so their goals align with the role
How to run it
- 1
Front-end video test
Require a 60-second video answering specific questions, submitted as a pasted link. Auto-archive anyone who ignores the time limit or can't record and share it.
Pro tip Going long or missing the format is a signal-to-noise filter that removes a huge share of applicants before any conversation.
- 2
Profile and cognitive assessment
Run a profile assessment plus a cognitive test. For an assistant, deliberately hire your opposite; for senior roles, profile against the existing team to spot conflict.
Pro tip Cognitive tests are non-negotiable for Martell; he notes he may have one of the lowest scores on his own team by design.
Watch out A conflict signal isn't a no; it's a data point about how two people will need to adjust.
- 3
Identical test project
Give every finalist the same real project (for a CEO, a 90-day plan; for an assistant, a concrete task) so you can compare thinking and collaboration directly.
Pro tip The quality of a candidate's diagram or plan reveals the quality of their thinking almost immediately.
Watch out If you skip building a skill into the test project, you can't later fault the hire for lacking it.
- 4
15-minute final
Run a short final with humanizing questions: what shaped you as a kid, the two toughest things you've been through, and your 10-out-of-10 five-year life assuming we can't work together.
Pro tip The five-year question checks whether their vision would make them selfishly motivated to do exactly what the role needs.
In the wild
Hiring a CEO, Martell gave three candidates the identical test project: build the 90-day plan, talk to whoever you need on the team, and present it. The first read a PowerPoint slide aloud, an instant no. The second clearly hadn't talked to anyone. The third pulled up a diagram whose quality of thinking 'had me at hello.' The identical brief made the comparison unmistakable.
→ The test project surfaced the strongest thinker where interviews alone would not have.
Common mistakes
Hiring an assistant who maps to you
Hiring someone with your same strengths (or a friend) means your weaknesses go uncovered; you want a complement, high where you're low.
Skipping the test project
Firing a marketing hire for weak TikTok ideas is unfair if generating those ideas was never part of the test project; what you don't test, you can't judge.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone building a team who wants a repeatable, comparable process for evaluating candidates.
Not ideal for
Poaching a specific senior person outbound, where you're pulling proven talent from another company.
From the transcript
“I have to give them a test on the front end to see if they even can do basic stuff”
“to me test projects is non-negotiable every we don't skip it”
“the thing with an assistant is don't hire somebody that maps to you you want to find the opposite”
From the episode
How To Stop Wasting Your Time & Money On Things That Don’t Matter - Dan Martell - #831
Dan Martell