This Hiring Test Filtered Out Every Candidate Except One
This Hiring Test Filtered Out Every Candidate Except One
How real challenges reveal true A-players.
For a long time, I had one big challenge — bringing A-players into the game.
I wasn’t looking for average employees. I wanted people who were strong, creative, and capable of thinking both like a businessperson and a technologist.
At the time, I needed asystem architect— someone who could work directly with customers, understand their business needs, and translate those needs into smart, scalable system designs.
But after interviewing hundreds of candidates, I realized something important:
Interviews don’t show you who can truly solve problems.
They only show you who’s good at talking about work — not who’s good atdoingit.
The Challenge That Changed Everything
So, instead of a standard interview, I decided to create a real challenge.
The task was simple on paper:
Architect a new version of one of our core systems — a system that normally took around200 hoursto build.
The goal?
Design a structure so efficient, so modular, that it could be built injust 10 hours.
To be clear, I wasn’t asking someone to personally build the system in 10 hours. I wanted to see if anyone could design an architecture that made such speed possible.
From my perspective, that was almost impossible.
But that was the point.
I wasn’t trying to find people who wanted an easy win — I wanted to find people who got excited about solving somethingimpossible.
Who Took the Test
Hundreds of candidates saw the challenge.
Most didn’t even try.
But one did.
That one candidate didn’t hit the 10-hour mark — but his design brought the project time down to25 hours.
That’s eight times faster than before.
It was a remarkable piece of work — clean, scalable, and brilliantly efficient.
And that architect? He’s still with me today, producing incredible results.
Not because of what he said in an interview…
But because heprovedwhat he could do.
Why Challenges Work
Many business owners are afraid to give tough challenges during hiring.
They worry it might scare people away.
And it will — but that’s the best part.
These kinds of tests will drive away the wrong candidates — the ones looking for easy paychecks, not real growth.
But the serious ones, the curious ones, the A-players? They’ll be excited to prove themselves.
That’s exactly who you want on your team.
A Small Twist That Makes a Big Difference
When a candidate says they can solve your challenge, take it one step further —
ask them to record a shortvideo walkthroughof their idea.
You’ll instantly see how they think, how they communicate, and whether they truly understand what they’re talking about.
Because real professionals aren’t intimidated by tough problems.
They’reenergizedby them.
The Bigger Lesson
Hiring isn’t about filling a seat — it’s about finding people who will push your company forward.
When you design your hiring process around real challenges, you filter out the noise.
You don’t just find employees.
You findbuilders.
You find people who love solving problems — people who think big, act fast, and care deeply about results.
“Real professionals aren’t intimidated by tough problems — they’re energized by them.”
—Lior Izik
Created by Lior Izik Consulting
