Cursor's CEO, Michael Truell, has flown across the world to hire top talent.
Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conference
Work trials can be a way for both candidate and company to see if a job is a good fit, but Cursor's head of talent says some employers get it wrong. A big mistake is making the work trial too focused on getting something out of the candidate, Adam Ward, Cursor's head of talent, said on an episode of "Lenny's Podcast" released Sunday."This is where most companies get it wrong on the on-site," Ward said. "They're almost always buying. This is like 'we are assessing. We're extracting information. We're not giving much back to the candidate.'" Instead, Ward says that a good on-site, in which candidates work with employees on a project, should "feel more two-way."That involves "handpicking" who the candidate interacts with, from the first greeting to who they sit next to at lunch.He said this is to ensure the candidate has the information they need to make their decision and to gather feedback from staff on the candidate.Ward said that Cursor, which SpaceX acquired for $60 billion earlier this year, is committed to on-sites despite them being "quite expensive" and a "big ask of candidates."
