Async Written Work Sample

What it tests

Whether the candidate can think clearly, communicate precisely, and operate effectively without synchronous interaction — the core skill in any remote or async-first environment.

Format

1. 1Candidates receive a written prompt relevant to their role: a business scenario to analyze, a decision to justify, a problem to diagnose, or a stakeholder message to draft
2. 2They have 48–72 hours to respond at their own pace — simulating how real work actually happens
3. 3No templates are provided; candidates structure their own response, which reveals how they naturally organize thinking
4. 4Responses are scored by two independent evaluators against a rubric: clarity, structure, reasoning depth, and judgment quality
5. 5Top responses advance to a 30-minute 'author interview' where candidates defend and expand on what they wrote

What to look for

• Structure without prompting — does the candidate organize their thinking or produce a wall of text?
• Intellectual honesty: do they acknowledge tradeoffs, limitations, and uncertainty, or pretend everything is simple?
• Specificity — vague recommendations signal shallow thinking; concrete, numbered proposals signal someone who has done the work
• Economy of language — strong candidates say more with fewer words; weak candidates bury their point in caveats
• In the author interview: can they defend their reasoning and update views when challenged — or do they become defensive?

Adaptation guide

Write one prompt per department, not per role — one for Engineering, one for Sales, one for Operations. Use real scenarios from your company's past, with names changed. Grade blind: strip the candidate's name before sending to evaluators. Aim for prompts that take 90 minutes to answer thoughtfully.

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