Create a trial project: Pull an ACTUAL project from your roadmap.

A trial project has become a non-negotiable part of our hiring process. It is THE best way to validate if a person is capable of doing the work. For developers we have a React trial project, for Webflow Tempalte Builders we have a Webflow template building project, for Content Writers we have a blog writing trial piece etc.

Trial Projects are great for multiple reasons:

• Evaluate actual skill level for required job.
• Evaluate communication skills.
• Evaluate applicants question asking.
• Evaluate time management.
• Evaluate the applicants ability to take and follow directions.
• Ability to manage a task from start to end.
• Creativity.

<aside>💡 Simple is key. Remember you have to review the trial project and compare against other candidates.

</aside>

Our current trial project part of the hiring process looks like this -

1. Half-onboarding: We give the candidates limited access to the tools we expect them to use. In our case it’s usually; Slack, Github, Webflow etc .
2. Share the test project: We ask the candidates to complete a paid test project that mimics actual job tasks to be submitted by a certain date.
3. Evaluate test projects: We assess the completed projects and review any accompanying Loom videos or explanations. And we often ask a few follow up questions.
4. Make a decision: We choose the candidate who performed best in the test project and has the most relevant experience.
5. Pay all applicants: We always pay for trial projects - Wise, Paypal, Tremendous, etc. Keep it under $600 if in the USA to simplify taxes.
   • Payments: Trial projects take time and effort on both sides. Paying the candidate shows respect for their time and incentive to take it seriously even if you don’t get the role.

All Trial Projects

Every Trial Project we send includes a notion document with clear instructions and expectations and a note to ask as many questions as you like.

We also send each candidate a loom video, short and simple, running through the trial notion document.

💡 Loom videos are great. We use them to explain the project to candidates and we ask the candidates to send us a video of their own to explain their work. Much of our communication at Memberstack is async, so it’s good to intro candidates into the way we communicate.

React Trial Project - Hiring for a React Expert | Long-term, part-time contract for YC Company

Timeframe and pay: We will pay your full hourly rate to complete a real task related to this job. Usually takes 2-4 hours to complete. You will have a full week to finish this project.”

We sent out this notion doc to the shortlisted candidates. These are folks who have responded to our job description, communicated well, sent previous projects that showcase their ability etc.

In this project we kept it pretty simple (for a senior developer). We invited the candidate to the dashboard repo and gave them instructions of cloning the repo and have them create their own small section. We had the candidate follow a set of Figma designs created by our designer. The candidate then had to create a little section under the Stripe setting page.

We also asked the candidate to record a short video walking through their finished project and share via Slack.

“Open the project in your code editor and walk us through the steps required to complete it. Please take a few minutes to share any design/technical decisions you had to make along the way. This is a perfect time to show off your knowledge and experience. “

WF Template Developer Trial - Hiring for a Webflow Template Developer, part-time contract

Brainstorming the task, simple, sharing ideas in slack and voting for your favourite.

Task : Build a one-page web app using Webflow & OpenAI

Timeframe and Pay: For this trial, you have a time limit of 6 hours.  This will be paid at your provided hourly rate. It’s okay if you are unable to finish in 6 hours. Please do not go over the 6 hour limit.

For this project we asked candidates to build a one-page web app. The app can do anything - as long as it is built on Webflow and uses OpenAI. The completed project should include a demo video and functional prototype. The demo loom video should explain how to use and adapt your resource.

Our main goal was to learn if the candidate was comfortable making a frontend and connecting it to a backend with OpenAI. Bonus points if they used Memberstack.

💡 At the start of the notion doc we laid out our goals when reviewing the trial pieces. It really helps to be as clear as possible with your expectations so the candidate knows exactly what you’re looking for.

At the end of this project we had 2 really strong candidates so we made two offers for smaller tasks🎉