The Hiring Manual

Decide about people on evidence, from the scorecard to the exit

27 pages·PDF·Read in an evening

Hiring is a decision procedure rather than a talent for reading people, and this is the procedure: the scorecard, the structured loop, the ninety days and the way out.

Executive summary

The problem: Most hires are decided in the first minutes of a conversation and justified afterwards, so a year later nobody can say what the decision rested on. The unstructured interview feels informative, which is exactly why its cost goes unnoticed until the hire fails.
What it does: The scorecard that says when a role is ready to open, the Ladder of Evidence, a structured loop with anchored scales, reference calls built from the gaps, and the day-ninety review held against the bets in the offer.
Why take it: A wrong hire costs a year and a team's trust. This gives you a decision you can explain, and defend, long after the interview.

For founders, managers and leaders who open roles and want a decision they can explain a year later.

In the first week you will

01Write one scorecard for the role you are about to open, four to six outcomes with a measure and a date on each
02Run the post-mortem on your last hire and count how much of it rested on things nobody wrote down
03Build the interview loop with one competency per interviewer and the scales anchored before anyone is met

Contents of the Dossier

0127-page field manual on hiring as a decision procedure, not a talent for reading people (instant PDF download)
02The scorecard method: mission, four to six outcomes with a measure and a date, competencies derived from outcomes, non-negotiables, and the test that says the role is not ready to open
03The Ladder of Evidence: claim, account, artefact, corroboration, with the rule for which rungs may be scored and which may not
04The structured loop: one competency per interviewer, anchored scales written before anyone is met, independent files before the debrief, and reference calls built from the gaps
05The first ninety days from the hiring side, the day-ninety review held against the bets the offer named, and the structured route out when the answer is no
06An insight extraction log citing every source behind every claim

The contents, in full · seven parts

01Part I: The Four MinutesWhy the unstructured interview persists when it feels informative rather than is, and the post-mortem that shows how much of your last hire rested on things nobody wrote down.
02Part II: The ScorecardA role is ready to open when someone can state its mission in a sentence, list four to six outcomes with a measure and a date, and name the competencies those outcomes require.
03Part III: The ReadScreening is where bias enters cheaply. The redacted read, the Ladder of Evidence applied to a stack of applications, and the gap list that becomes the interview loop's job.
04Part IV: The LoopOne competency per interviewer, past-behaviour questions with a fixed probe sequence, anchored five-point scales, and a debrief that opens with the most junior interviewer's written file.
05Part V: Outside the RoomThe work sample as the highest-value hour in the process, and the reference call rebuilt from the gaps the loop left open: behaviour and dates rather than opinions.
06Part VI: The Offer, the Ninety Days and the Way OutEvery file closes in three lists, proven, gap and bet. The offer names the bets, the scorecard's outcomes become the thirty, sixty and ninety-day milestones, and the day-ninety review is in the calendar before day one.
07Part VII: The DisciplineThree refusals: no signal from a method not defined in advance, no judgment about a person where a judgment about evidence will do, and no legal opinion from anyone who is not a lawyer.

Most leaders believe their instinct for people is their most valuable asset. This manual argues it is the most expensive belief they hold, and that the quality of a hire is settled before the first candidate is met.

Interviewers construct a coherent story out of almost any answer, so the conversation can subtract information rather than add it. What survives is structure: the same questions in the same words, scales anchored before anyone is met, independent files and a decision taken against a standard. Employment law is national, so the manual gives no legal advice, only the facts to assemble and the questions to put to counsel.

Pairs with

The Hiring Desk turns the procedure into installable agent skills: the scorecard, the interview guide, the reference call, the comparison, the offer memo and the exit plan, with a read-only subagent that reads applications against the scorecard and never ranks anyone. Think Like a CEO covers the seat this hire will sit under: delegation, the accountability ladder, and the fifteen domains that include talent and succession. The Executive Desk’s first-120-days is the same event from the arriving leader’s side, and the two plans are meant to be read together.

Before you buy

01What format is it?

A PDF, typeset for screen and for print. No app, no reader account, no expiry.

02How long is a manual?

Short on purpose. One subject, one evening, nothing padded to justify a price.

03Who is it written for?

Operators who have to decide something on Monday: marketing and analytics leads, founders, agency practitioners.

04Can I buy them together?

Yes. The Complete Dossier is ten manuals in one checkout, well under the price of the parts.

05How does it arrive?

Instantly. Pay by card and the download link is in your inbox within seconds, and on the confirmation screen.

06Is this a subscription?

No. One payment, lifetime access to your download, every future revision of what you bought included.

07What if it is not useful to me?

Write to info@conclusionmp.com within 14 days of purchase and you get a full refund. No questions, no forms.

Ready when you are

The Hiring Manual, $5.99.

Instant download, one payment, every future revision included. Or take The Complete Dossier, ten items for $29, and this manual works out at $2.90.

Get the manual · $5.99 The Complete Dossier · $29