What it tests

Whether the candidate can analyze a real recruiting challenge, design a structured response, and present their thinking to a senior audience under pressure.

Format

1Candidate receives a take-home brief 24–48 hours before: a fictional or anonymized company scenario with a recruiting bottleneck (e.g., 40 open engineering roles, 8-week time-to-hire, low offer acceptance)
2Prepares a structured slide deck or document outlining their diagnosis and action plan
3Presents to a panel including the hiring manager and at least one exec or senior recruiter
4Q&A tests depth of thinking, ability to handle pushback, and whether they can adapt their plan in real time

What to look for

Root cause analysis: do they correctly identify where the funnel is breaking?
Prioritization: are they focused on the highest-leverage interventions, not a laundry list?
Exec presence: can they hold the room, handle hard questions, and stay composed?
Practicality: is the plan something that could realistically be executed in the first 90 days?

Adaptation guide

Use a real challenge your team faced in the past year as the scenario. Strong candidates will ask smart clarifying questions before presenting. Watch for whether they explore constraints (headcount, budget, ATS limitations) or assume unlimited resources.

Full description

Format:

Candidate receives a take-home brief 24–48 hours before: a fictional or anonymized company scenario with a recruiting bottleneck (e.g., 40 open engineering roles, 8-week time-to-hire, low offer acceptance)
Prepares a structured slide deck or document outlining their diagnosis and action plan
Presents to a panel including the hiring manager and at least one exec or senior recruiter
Q&A tests depth of thinking, ability to handle pushback, and whether they can adapt their plan in real time

Time: 30 minutes presentation + 15 minutes Q&A

What to look for:

Root cause analysis: do they correctly identify where the funnel is breaking?
Prioritization: are they focused on the highest-leverage interventions, not a laundry list?
Exec presence: can they hold the room, handle hard questions, and stay composed?
Practicality: is the plan something that could realistically be executed in the first 90 days?

Adaptation: Use a real challenge your team faced in the past year as the scenario. Strong candidates will ask smart clarifying questions before presenting. Watch for whether they explore constraints (headcount, budget, ATS limitations) or assume unlimited resources.