Judge Candidates by Working Side by Side for a Day or Two
The long visit gives the company and the candidate better information, and pausing it left hiring decisions shakier.
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career · The playbook for building high talent density teams | Adam Ward, Head of Talent at CursorAdam Ward, head of talent at Cursor, starts from a simple research finding. He points to research showing "work samples are the highest predictor of success at a company," yet he says most companies still rely heavily on brief interviews across the table.
His alternative is to judge people by doing real work next to them. At Cursor, promising candidates often spend a day or two on site doing a project side by side with the team, with meals and handpicked greeters and interviewers built around the work.
The task changes with the job. Go-to-market candidates work through a challenging customer scenario together, often with the hiring manager, while product candidates do a joint project tailored to the role.
The visit is designed to feel two-way rather than extractive. Ward says most companies get the on-site wrong by only assessing and extracting information, without giving much back that lets a strong candidate learn and self-select.
A longer stretch shows more than output. Ward says time together surfaces collaboration, communication, and core values, signals that can be "arguably more important than the specific technical skill." He adds there are few absolutes in hiring, but for many companies it is "hard to think of a better way" to get that signal.
The approach is costly, and Ward acknowledges it demands a lot of time from candidates. When Cursor tried pausing work trials, he says "We really struggled to have confidence in our decision," and Ward said the team is excited to bring them back. To fit real schedules, candidates choose from a set of problems, the scope is right-sized to availability, sometimes including Saturdays, and Ward says when they are ready to go the company moves fast.
Questions people ask
Who does all the hosting work for a daylong visit?
Ward says not everyone has to run the work itself. Some people can greet, host lunch, or help with setup, which spreads a daylong visit across many hands. That shared load is part of why he calls it a good investment when talent is the top priority.
What makes a good trial task?
Keep it close to the real job but small enough to finish in the time available, and offer options so the candidate has some choice. Watch both the output and how the person communicates, asks questions, and responds to feedback. Those collaboration signals often matter as much as the technical answer.
Can a small company without extra staff do this?
Ward does not describe a small-company version. As general advice, a smaller team could keep the same idea on a smaller scale, with one joint task led by the hiring manager and help from others on hosting.