Hiring Process

Hiring is one of the most consequential things we do.

A great hire makes the whole team better. A wrong hire is expensive and painful for everyone, including the person we hired. We'd rather take longer to fill a role than make the wrong hire.

What we're looking for

Every role is different, so we don't have a single profile we're looking for. But there are a few things that matter across every hire:

Ownership — We care about outcomes, not just outputs. We look for people who follow things through, take responsibility, and care about whether their work actually solves the problem.

Curiosity — Our industry moves fast. We value people who ask questions, enjoy learning, and are comfortable going beyond what they already know.

Comfort with ambiguity — We're an early-stage company. Priorities change, roles evolve, and there isn't always a clear playbook. We look for people who can make good decisions without having all the answers.

Direct communication — We're remote and async-heavy. Clear writing, honest feedback, and saying what you mean make working together much easier.

And, of course, alignment with our PEARL Framework.

Our hiring process

1. HR Screening — 45 min

Your first conversation is with our People team.

We'll get to know each other, talk about your experience and what you're looking for, and give you more context about Hardal and the role. We'll also cover practical topics like compensation, availability, and the hiring process.

This is a two-way conversation. We want to understand whether Hardal is a good fit for you, too.

2. Take-home Task

We use a short, role-specific task to understand how you think and approach problems.

We aim for tasks that take around 2 to 4 hours, not a weekend. We're interested in your reasoning and communication, not just whether you arrive at the expected answer.

3. Role-focused Interview - 60 min

This is the deeper conversation about the role itself.

You'll meet with the hiring manager and/or relevant members of the team. We'll discuss your task, your previous experience, and how you approach problems you'll likely encounter in the role.

4. Team & Culture — 20 min

You'll meet people you'll work closely with.

This step is optional and may sometimes be combined with the role-focused interview, especially because we're a small team. The goal is to understand how we'd work together day to day, how we communicate, collaborate, and give and receive feedback.

It's also a chance for you to meet potential teammates and ask what it's actually like to work at Hardal.

5. Founder Interview — 30 min

The final conversation is with one of our founders.

We'll talk about your motivation, expectations, and alignment with Hardal. It's also a chance to ask questions about the company, our direction, and what working here is really like.

6. Offer

If we're aligned, we move quickly.

We aim to make our offers clear and transparent, including compensation, equity where applicable, and the details that matter when making a decision.

How we make decisions

We don't make hiring decisions based on a single conversation.

After the final stage, the people involved in the process share their feedback and discuss the candidate together. We try to be explicit about what we know, what we're uncertain about, and what evidence supports our assessment.

Our bar is simple: we should be genuinely excited about hiring someone.

"They're fine" or "they'll probably work out" isn't enough. Every person we hire changes the team, so we're comfortable taking more time when we're not sure.

What can be a red flag

• Vague or generic answers that don't reflect real experience
• Avoiding ownership or waiting to be told what to do
• Difficulty giving or receiving direct feedback
• Low curiosity or unwillingness to learn
• Struggling with ambiguity or changing priorities
• Misalignment with our values or approach to privacy

Diversity

We want a team that brings different perspectives and reflects the diversity of the people we build for.

We know that hiring processes can create unnecessary barriers, and we're continuously looking for ways to make ours better. If you think there's something in our process that shouldn't be there, tell us.