How to Run a Paid Work Sample Before You Hire Anyone
How to run a paid work sample: a few hours of real, paid work tells you more than a fourth call. How to design it, run it and read what it shows about them.
To run a paid work sample, set a short, genuine task of a few hours that resembles the real job, ideally something you'd have had to do anyway, and pay properly for the time. Then watch how they think, not just what they hand back.
How to run a paid work sample: the fourth call is the wrong move
You've had three good conversations. You liked them. You're thinking about a fourth.
Don't book it. Another call won't tell you what the first three didn't. Conversations mostly measure how much you enjoyed them, and that tracks similarity, not performance. You'll end up hiring the person who's most like you.
Watching someone do a small version of the job is the most reliable predictor of whether they can do the job. It also takes less of your time than another round of talking. That's a rare thing: the better method is the cheaper one.
What a good work sample looks like
Four properties. Miss one and it stops working.
- Short. A few hours. Not a week of unpaid effort dressed up as a test.
- Genuine. It resembles the actual work. Not a puzzle, not a trick question.
- Useful. Ideally something you'd have needed done anyway, so the time isn't spent on a fiction.
- Paid. Properly. Their time has a price and you pay it.
That last one isn't optional, and it isn't charity. It's what makes the arrangement honest. It also tells you something about yourself: if you wouldn't pay for an hour of this person's work, think about why you're considering hiring them.
Free guide · 22 pagesThe first few decide the rest.The First Ten Hires Playbook: who to bring in, in what order.Get the free guide →What you're really buying
The finished piece matters less than you'd think. What you're after is everything around it.
You learn not just capability but how they think, how they handle ambiguity, what they ask, and what they do when the brief is incomplete. None of that shows in a conversation. All of it predicts the next year better than any answer to a hypothetical. A paid work sample shows you all of it in a few hours.
| What you want to know | What to watch in the work sample | Why a conversation can't show it |
|---|---|---|
| Can they do the work? | The quality of what they hand back | People describe skills better than they use them |
| How do they think? | The approach they chose and what they left out | A hypothetical gets a rehearsed answer |
| How do they handle ambiguity? | What they decide alone and what they flag | In a call, you fill the gaps for them |
| What do they ask? | The questions before they start | Good questions only appear once there's a real task |
| What happens when the brief is incomplete? | Whether they stall, guess wildly or sort it out | You can't see it unless something is missing |
Read the right-hand column again. Every row is something a conversation hides. That's the case for the sample in one table.
How to design it in an afternoon
Start from the outcome you wrote for the role. If you haven't written one, how to write a ninety day outcome for a role comes first, because the sample should be a small slice of it.
Then pick one piece of that outcome that can be done in a few hours. Ask yourself: what is a small version of this that I'd have needed done anyway? That's your task.
Write a brief the way you'd really write it. Not a perfect one. Real briefs are slightly incomplete, because you're busy. That's useful, since what they do about the gaps is part of what you're testing. But don't invent traps. You're not trying to catch anyone out. You're trying to see someone work.
Then settle the practical bits in writing: what the task is, how long it should take, what you'll pay, and when you need it. Keep it simple and keep it clear.
Ask everyone the same thing
A work sample only helps if you can compare. Give the same task to every serious candidate and ask the same core questions afterwards.
A short, consistent set makes comparison possible and makes your own bias visible. Then score against the ninety day document, not against an overall impression. And write notes while you look, not afterwards. Memory reliably reshapes itself toward whoever you liked, and a likeable person with a mediocre sample will start to look better by the weekend.
If you set the bar before meeting anyone, this is where it earns its keep: write down what a clear yes and a clear no look like, and hold the rule that ambiguity means no.
Reading the result
Resist the urge to judge on polish alone. Look at three things.
- The work itself. Does it do what the outcome needs?
- The route. What did they ask, assume and decide? Did they flag the gap or quietly paper over it?
- The conversation after. Ask them to walk you through it. How they explain a choice, and how they take a challenge to it, tells you how the next year will feel.
Then notice how you feel. If you're unsure, that's an answer. Someone you're unsure about is someone you'll be unsure about for a year, and the cost of waiting is almost always lower than the cost of unwinding. Unsure means no.
Pair it with real references
The sample shows you what they do now. References show you what they did before, with other people. You want both.
Do them properly: specific questions, and at least one conversation with someone who isn't on the provided list. How to do reference checks properly shows how. Anything that came up twice, follow up. Don't explain it away.
Free assessmentHow trapped are you, really?Take the Corporate Suffocation Index, the free solopreneur readiness assessment.Take the assessment →Keep a paid work sample fast
A paid sample can slow you down if you let it. It doesn't have to.
Compress the whole process. Speed is one of the few advantages you have. You can't outbid a bigger company, but you can outrun one, and a process measured in about a week beats one measured in six, most decisively with the best people. They have the most options and the least patience for drift.
So give the task, name the date, and respond quickly. Don't let a strong candidate drift while you compare. How to hire fast as a solopreneur goes through the rest of the clock.
When a sample is the wrong tool
Be honest about its limits. It tells you about the work. It doesn't tell you everything about the person.
It can't see how they'll handle months of feedback, or whether they'll still care in month four. That is partly why a contractor engagement can serve as a longer sample for a role that might become committed. How to decide between a contractor and an employee covers that route.
And it can't fix a role you haven't defined. If you don't know what good looks like, a sample just gives you a nice piece of work to be unsure about.
Get a second view
You are the only judgment in the room, by default. That's exactly where the quiet mistakes happen.
Show the result to someone you trust and ask for a genuine view, not approval. If there's nobody working with you, use someone outside: a former colleague, someone in your field. One conversation is enough. The thing you can't supply for yourself is the observation that you're talking yourself into this because you're tired.
A run order you can copy
Here's the sequence in plain steps, so you can start this week.
- Write the bar: what a clear yes and a clear no look like.
- Pick a slice of the ninety day outcome that takes a few hours.
- Write the brief and the pay, in writing, with a date.
- Send the same task to every serious candidate.
- Score each result against the outcome, with notes written as you go.
- Talk it through with each person, then decide fast.
That's the whole thing. It's less work than it sounds, and it replaces a stack of calls that would have told you less.
Free guide · 22 pagesThe first few decide the rest.The First Ten Hires Playbook: who to bring in, in what order.Get the free guide →What to say to the candidate
Keep the message short and honest. Say what the task is, why you're asking for it, what you'll pay, and when you need it. Say that you're running the same exercise with others, if you are.
Be straightforward about the stage and the risk as well. Anyone worth having is evaluating you at least as carefully, and they can spot an oversold pitch. Honesty works as a filter: it removes the people who would have discovered the truth in month two and left, and it raises the commitment of those who say yes anyway.
Free assessmentHow trapped are you, really?Take the Corporate Suffocation Index, the free solopreneur readiness assessment.Take the assessment →Frequently asked questions
Why pay for a work sample?
Because their time has a price, and paying is what makes it fair. It also means you can ask for real work and treat the result as real. Pay properly for the hours you ask for.
How long should a paid work sample be?
A few hours. Short enough to be fair and quick to run, long enough to show how someone thinks. It should take less of your time than another round of calls.
What should the task be?
A small version of the actual job, ideally something you'd have had to do anyway. Base it on the ninety day outcome you wrote, and give every candidate the same one.
What if I like them but the sample is weak?
Trust the sample. Your standard moves after meeting someone likeable, which is why you write it down beforehand. If you're unsure, unsure means no.
Skip the fourth call, run a paid work sample, and decide on what you saw.
The full method, with the checklists, is in The First Ten Hires Playbook, a free 22-page playbook.
How trapped are you, really?
Take the Corporate Suffocation Index, the free solopreneur readiness assessment.