The Work Sample Revolution: Why Executive Auditions Beat Interviews

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I want to lay out what actually works here, because the gap between common practice and best practice on this topic is wide. For all their prestige, executive interviews are a weak predictor of performance, and everyone in the search industry quietly knows it. There is a better tool that employers rarely use at the top. Work samples, having candidates actually do a version of the job, predict executive performance better than interviews, and the reluctance to use them at senior levels is a costly habit, not a sound principle.

Why Interviews Underperform

Decades of research show that unstructured interviews, the default at the executive level, are surprisingly weak predictors of job performance, vulnerable to bias, charisma, and self-presentation. Yet executive hiring leans on them heavily, treating a series of conversations as sufficient basis for a consequential, expensive decision. The prestige of the executive interview obscures its weakness as a predictor, and the industry’s comfort with it perpetuates a method that does not work as well as employers assume.

What a Work Sample Looks Like at the Top

A work sample means having the candidate actually do a version of the job, and at the executive level it can take many forms: a strategic exercise on a real company problem, a working session with the team, a presentation and defense of an approach to an actual challenge, a diagnostic of a real situation. The point is to observe the candidate doing the kind of thinking and working the role requires, not just describing past work. These ‘auditions’ reveal capabilities interviews cannot.

Why Work Samples Predict Better

Work samples predict performance better because they observe the actual behavior the job requires rather than self-reported accounts of past behavior. Watching a candidate analyze a real problem, work with the team, or defend an approach reveals how they actually think, communicate, and operate, the very things that determine performance, in a way no interview answer can. Sampling the work directly is simply a more valid signal than asking about work done elsewhere, described by the candidate.

Overcoming the Reluctance

Employers resist executive work samples for understandable but unsound reasons: they seem presumptuous for senior candidates, they take effort to design, and strong candidates might balk. But well-designed, respectful work samples, framed as a mutual exploration of a real challenge, are usually welcomed by serious candidates and are far from presumptuous, they are how both sides learn whether the fit is real. The reluctance is habit and discomfort, not a sound reason to rely on a weaker method.

Designing Executive Work Samples Well

The key is designing work samples that are relevant, respectful, and genuinely revealing: a real problem the candidate would face, approached in a way that respects their seniority and time, structured to surface how they think and operate. Done well, the work sample benefits both sides, the employer sees the candidate in action, and the candidate experiences the real work and people. Poorly designed samples, artificial or disrespectful, backfire; well-designed ones are among the most powerful assessment tools available at the top.

What This Looks Like in Practice

In practice, an executive work sample might involve giving a CEO candidate a real strategic challenge the company faces and spending a working session on how they would approach it, or having a functional-leader candidate diagnose a real situation and present their thinking to the team. The employer observes how the candidate actually reasons, communicates, and engages, capabilities that determine performance and that interviews only gesture at. Framed as a mutual exploration of real work, it is welcomed by serious candidates and vastly more revealing than another conversation.

The Mistake Employers Keep Making

The mistake is relying entirely on interviews for the most consequential hires a company makes, because work samples feel presumptuous or effortful at the executive level. This clings to a weak predictor out of habit and discomfort, when a better tool is available and, well-designed, welcomed. Employers who would never hire a junior role without a work sample somehow hire executives on conversation alone, and the fix is to bring the more valid method to the top, where the stakes are highest.

The Bottom Line

Work samples predict executive performance better than interviews because they observe candidates actually doing the work, and the reluctance to use them at senior levels is a costly habit, well-designed executive auditions are revealing, welcomed by serious candidates, and among the strongest assessment tools available. None of this is complicated, but it is uncommon, and that gap is precisely where the advantage lies for employers willing to do the work.

Related Reading

For employers going deeper, see How to Interview for Execution, What Is a Structured Interview, What Is an Executive Assessment.

Tanya Gallardo

Managing Director, Executive Search & AI Talent Strategy

Tanya Gallardo is the Managing Director of Executive Search & AI Talent Strategy at JRG Partners, leading C-suite and Board engagements across key growth sectors including Technology, Financial Services, and Manufacturing.

With over 18 years of experience specializing in disruptive technology leadership, Tanya is recognized as a leading authority on talent architecture for future-focused executive roles, such as the Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Chief Digital Officer (CDO). Her expertise lies in accurately assessing the cultural fit and technical depth required to ensure a high return on investment (ROI) for critical leadership appointments.

Prior to her role at JRG Partners, Tanya held senior roles directing global talent acquisition strategies at a major publicly-traded technology firm, advising on organizational design and succession planning for emerging executive functions. She is a recognized speaker and contributor to industry events, sharing data-driven insights on executive compensation, leadership development, and the measurable business impact of C-suite talent.

Connect with Tanya to discuss your executive search needs.