Work Trials at SageOx
We've written at more length about why traditional tech interviews fall short. The short version: an interview loop is a very poor predictor of fit — for the candidate and for the company. We want to skip the guessing.
This is true for most companies but it's especially true at ours, where we've broken a number of norms in how we work as a team. Our peculiarities make this place very special to us but we also recognize it's not for everyone.
So instead of five rounds, we do one thing. We invite you to come build with us, in person, for three to five days — real work, alongside the team you would actually be joining, in the same tools and the same codebase as everyone else. By the end both sides know things no interview could have surfaced, and usually the answer is obvious to everyone in the room before anyone has to say it out loud.
What the trial looks like
- Length. Three to five days, in person, at SageOx.
- The work. Real work — not a hypothetical project or a scored exercise. We agree on the scope, appropriate for your role and the duration of the trial, at the onset of the trial. Your hiring manager will have at least a couple of proposed options based on your strengths and interests. Our actual tools, our standups and reviews, and things that ship.
- The shape of the days. Day one is a kickoff: meet the team, get oriented, pick up your first piece of work. The middle days are ordinary working days — paired with teammates, in the same discussions and decisions everyone else is in, asking questions the way a teammate would. On the last day you walk the team through what you built.
- No test. There is no exam and no scorecard read out at the end. Fit tends to declare itself, in both directions, through the ordinary act of working together.
By the end of the trial, it's abundantly clear on both sides whether it makes sense to turn the engagement into a long-term one.
Compensation
Work trials are paid. We agree the terms with you in writing before the trial starts, at a rate appropriate to the role. You are paid for every day of the trial, whatever the outcome.
If a paid trial is not possible for you at all — a visa condition, a contract you have already signed — tell us early. We will work with you to find a solution where you can demonstrate similar evidence, while working within those constraints.
Before you're invited
A trial is a real claim on your time, so we don't extend the invitation lightly. Before we get here, we are generally looking for:
- A track record of real, demonstrable work in your field.
- Comfort with modern AI-assisted and agentic tools, because that is how we build day to day.
- Some existing familiarity with SageOx and what we’re building.
- A willingness to try something unconventional, and the flexibility to spend a few days with us in person.
If those line up, we'll talk once or twice before we set dates.
Logistics and confidentiality
- We will never contact your current employer.
- The terms of the trial, including pay and confidentiality, are agreed with you in writing beforehand.
- We will work to make the days useful to you regardless of how they end: real exposure to the team, the codebase, and how decisions actually get made here.
- We are genuinely committed to making the trial a positive and enriching experience for you regardless of what each side decides in the end.
What happens after
You will get a clear, honest answer quickly — generally on the day after your trial ends, if not earlier. If it's a yes, we move straight to an offer. If it isn't, we'll tell you why.
A trial that ends without an offer is not a failed trial. It is the process doing the thing it was built to do, early and in person, rather than leaving it for month three to discover. Either way, you will leave knowing more about how we work than an interview loop could have told you. So will we.