Hire in
4K.
A construction hiring field manual for interviewers.
Ten chapters in the order the work happens: responsibility, the document, the process, the partner, the interview, the decision, the price, the landing, the long run, and the exit. The same operating system we use on Intensive engagements, written for in-house use.
Most hiring failures aren't candidate failures.
They're upstream. The job description was generic. The interview was a vibes check. References were a formality. The leader hadn't decided what the accountabilities were. By the time they realized the wrong person was in the chair, the mistakes that got them there are forgotten.
Ten chapters, in the order the work happens.
- 1 Responsibility
Who owns the outcome, why fit cannot be predicted, and how a risk gets priced instead of hoped away.
The long version: Job Fit Is a Bet You Underwrite (25 min) - 2 The document
The only written agreement about what the job is, built from outcomes rather than activities.
The long version: How to Write a Job Description (16 min) - 3 The process
Every decision that matters, made before anyone shakes a hand: lanes, interview types, prep, and the record.
The long version: How to Design an Interview Process (22 min) - 4 The partner
What a recruiter is for, how to tell a partner from a sourcer, and when not to use one at all.
- 5 The interview
How to ask, how to read what comes back, and how to weigh the resume, the assessment, and the references around the conversation.
The long version: How to Interview (45 min) - 6 The decision
How five independent judgments survive a debrief, and what to confirm before an offer goes out.
The long version: How to Make a Hiring Decision (18 min) - 7 The price
Pay built from the inside out: mission first, then a few measured outcomes, then the market as a check.
The long version: How to Set Compensation (18 min) - 8 The landing
What the first ninety days have to produce, who owns producing it, and why the plan was written before the offer went out.
The long version: How to Onboard a New Hire (15 min) - 9 The long run
Why pay is a floor and never a reason to stay, what the leader controls once the landing is over, and how keeping people turns into succession.
The long version: How to Keep the People You Hired (23 min) - 10 The exit
Why a failed hire is an output of the process that made it, how to diagnose one before deciding anything, and how to separate justly when that is the answer.
The long version: How to Handle a Bad Hire (13 min)
Built for construction leaders running their own searches.
Owners & Presidents
$10M to $250M GCs, design-builders, and specialty contractors hiring their next leader.
COOs & Ops Leaders
Anyone responsible for the next Sr. PM, GS, or Director of Precon, and tired of matches that don't hold past month nine.
Internal recruiters
In-house TA partners who want a structured rubric the hiring team will use.
"The most expensive answer in hiring is
'we need them yesterday.'
Run a disciplined search with sharper input and skip the eighteen-month cleanup."
Open Hire in 4K.
The manual is free to read right now, no email required. Leave yours and we'll send Field Notes, a monthly essay on hiring. Unsubscribe with one click.
A few FAQs.
Is it really free?
Yes. We give the manual away because the leaders who'll find it useful are the same ones we'd want to work with on a retained search later. Most readers never become clients, and that's fine.
Will I get a sales call?
Maybe. You'll get the manual and Field Notes monthly, and one click unsubscribes. If you tell us the role you're hiring next, we may reach out when we can be useful on it.
Is this construction-specific?
The examples are construction. The methodology travels. We've had operators in industrial services and design firms tell us the worksheets dropped in cleanly. If you're outside construction, the appendices are the most universally useful part.
Can I share it with my team?
Please do. There's a small license note on page two: internal use, no resale, no public hosting. Send it to your hiring panel before your next role opens.
What if I want help running it?
Use the manual with your team, or explore Intensive Search for help running the search, hiring and onboarding work.
Stop running searches
you'll have to redo.
Ten chapters. Free. Sharper input, fewer eighteen-month cleanups.