What to take away
- 1.Vague ownership and inability to describe a real failure are the loudest signals.
- 2.Disparaging former teams predicts how they'll describe you in 18 months.
- 3.Inconsistent stories between rounds are almost always about scope.
Vague ownership: every outcome described in 'we' with no clear contribution.
Inability to describe a past failure concretely. Everyone has them.
Disparaging tone about former teams or managers.
Requested base unchanged from current role despite a clear level jump.
“Not deal-breakers, but signals that demand a longer conversation.”
Reluctance to commit to a start date past offer signing.
Inconsistent stories between rounds — usually about scope, not facts.
Try this Monday
- Add a single 'tell me about a time you failed' question to every loop.
- Compare scope answers across rounds in your debrief notes.
- Flag any candidate who can't separate 'we' from 'I' in three answers.
When you're ready to stop doing this manually, this is what Aire does — for the first 50 hires and the next 500.
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