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2-Day Embedded Work Trial

Chief of Staff

What it tests

Real-world operational judgment, bias for action, and cultural fit through two days of working alongside the team on a live project.

Format

  1. 1Candidate arrives on-site for two full days at company HQ
  2. 2Given a real, open-ended operational or strategic problem to work through — no artificial constraints
  3. 3Works alongside the team throughout the day, joins meals and informal conversations
  4. 4Presents findings or outputs at the end of day two; team provides feedback in real time

What to look for

  • Speed and quality of independent decision-making without hand-holding
  • How the candidate navigates ambiguity and scopes problems under time pressure
  • Cultural fit signals observed during informal time: meals, hallway conversations, how they treat everyone
  • Whether they ship something tangible vs. over-plan and under-deliver
  • Comfort operating in a lean, no-bureaucracy environment

Adaptation guide

Compress to a half-day paid on-site session or a remote async 'work sprint' — assign a real operational problem with a 4-hour window. The key is that the problem is real, not a hypothetical, and the candidate knows it.

Full description

Format:

  1. Candidate arrives on-site for two full days at company HQ
  2. Given a real, open-ended operational or strategic problem — no artificial constraints
  3. Works alongside the team throughout the day; joins meals and informal conversations
  4. Presents findings or outputs at the end of day two; team provides feedback in real time

Time: 2 days (on-site)

What to look for:

  • Speed and quality of independent decision-making without hand-holding
  • How the candidate navigates ambiguity and scopes problems under time pressure
  • Cultural fit signals observed during informal time: meals, hallway conversations, how they treat everyone
  • Whether they ship something tangible vs. over-plan and under-deliver
  • Comfort operating in a lean, no-bureaucracy environment

Adaptation: Compress to a half-day paid on-site session or a remote async 'work sprint' — assign a real operational problem with a 4-hour window. The key is that the problem is real, not a hypothetical, and the candidate knows it.