Free tool · Novament

The Empty Seat

What you’ll ask of that seat, and the questions that will tell you who can deliver it.

1Before you post the job

Hiring fast isn’t hiring well. Almost nobody leaves at three months because they couldn’t do the job: they leave because nobody wrote down what they had to achieve or checked whether they fit the way your company works. And that mistake costs more than it looks: the salary already paid, the months of ramp-up, your time, and starting over.

Eight questions. At the end you walk away with one sheet: the challenge for that seat, the number it has to move, what it can decide, and twelve interview questions with the answer you should hear and the one that should worry you. Printable, so you can take it to your next interview or put it in front of the person who’ll be the new hire’s boss.

Your name

Your company

Your WhatsApp, cell, or email So we can send you the sheet and, now and then, other management tools. No spam. Yes, send me other management tools now and then. You can use the tool without checking this: we keep your details only to follow up on your result. Privacy Policy.

2The seat

What position are you filling?

Who does it report to?

If this person does the job well for a year, which number in your business looks different? Just one. The one that really moves because of what this person does. It’s the question almost nobody answers before hiring.

Today it’s at

You want it at

By when

The three things this person will do that nobody does today One per line. If you can’t find three, maybe the position doesn’t exist yet—and that’s a finding in itself. What will they be able to decide without asking you? The question almost no job description includes. If the answer is “nothing,” you didn’t hire a manager: you hired an expensive assistant. Think of someone who DID work out here and someone who did NOT last. What did each one do? Don’t look for adjectives—look for behaviors. That’s where the questions that predict fit come from. What base salary will you offer? (per year, US$) Only used to place the level of the position. Not shared with anyone.

None of this is saved on a server: the sheet is built in your browser.