How we vet remote talent before you commit
Every remote professional clears five stages before you commit, so your decision rests on work you have watched rather than a resume: a profile and AI-tool screen, a paid task that mirrors real work, a live screen-share, a communication and reference check, and a scored final decision.
The live screen-share is the core of it, because a resume describes work while a screen-share shows it. The same five stages apply to writers, designers and assistants, not only developers — the task changes, the standard holds. Most applicants do not pass, and a hire that clears every stage is still backed by a 48-hour replacement guarantee.
Vetting runs as a fixed sequence, so every candidate meets the same bar in the same order. We move a person from profile to paid task to live work to reference to a scored verdict, and each stage produces evidence the next stage builds on. No candidate reaches a client without clearing all five stages and being watched working in real time.
Process owned and reviewed by Shafique Ur Rehman, Managing Director.
The five stages, in detail
What happens at each stage, and the evidence it produces for the next one. A candidate who clears one stage moves on; a candidate who does not, stops there.
Profile & AI-Tool Screen
Stage OneThe first filter covers real work samples, public repos or published pieces, plus a short video check on identity and communication. The screen also asks which AI tools the person uses and how, which separates daily users from people who listed a tool once.
A Paid Task That Mirrors Real Work
Stage TwoA paid skills task sized at two to four hours, so the work mirrors a real day rather than an unpaid multi-day test. It is matched to the role — a build for a developer, a brief for a writer, a workflow for an assistant. The candidate is paid because real work deserves real payment.
The Live Screen-Share
Stage ThreeThe centre of the process. The candidate works on a real task while we watch, so speed, quality and judgement are assessed in a single session. A candidate who moves fast but ships weak work does not pass, and neither does one who cannot reason through a decision aloud.
Communication & Reference Check
Stage FourWritten communication is checked directly, and a reference is taken with a past manager where one is available. A remote hire who cannot explain their work creates the same drag as one who cannot do it, so it is screened rather than hoped for.
A Scored Decision Against One Rubric
Stage FiveEvery candidate is scored on the same sheet, so the verdict rests on evidence rather than impression. Only a candidate who clears the rubric reaches a client, and the score travels with them into the match.
A resume describes work. A screen-share shows it.
The live screen-share sits at the centre of vetting, because the gap between a polished resume and real output is where most bad hires hide. We watch the candidate work on a real task, so the proof is the work itself rather than a claim about it. You see the professional doing the job before a single paid hour starts.
A Resume Cannot Show How Someone Works
We read a resume as a starting signal, not a verdict, because a list of past roles cannot show how a person frames a problem or recovers from a mistake. The screen-share fills that gap by making the working method visible — you learn how someone thinks, not only where they have worked.
A Screen-Share Shows Speed, Quality And Judgement At Once
Three things are judged in the same session, so speed without quality fails and quality without the ability to explain a choice fails too. You see the full standard met in one sitting rather than inferred from three separate signals.
We verify AI-era skill the same way we verify everything else: by watching it happen rather than reading about it. We observe how a candidate uses their tools during the screen-share — a developer working in Cursor or GitHub Copilot, a writer running AI-assisted research and editing, an assistant building an automation. A profile can claim any tool, so the claim only counts once it is shown. The difference between listing an AI tool and using it well is visible within minutes of a live task.
The task changes. The standard holds.
One vetting standard runs across every role, so a writer and a developer face the same five stages with a different task at the centre. Most vetting pages cover developers alone, which leaves writers and assistants judged on resumes nobody verified.
You get the same observed-work proof for an assistant as for an engineer.
Developers
A live build in their own editor, with the AI tooling they actually use — a developer working in Cursor or GitHub Copilot, reviewed on what they keep and what they reject.
Writers
A live brief built for AI Overview optimisation, watched from research through draft to edit, so the editorial judgement is visible rather than inferred from a finished portfolio piece.
Assistants & Designers
An assistant is set a live workflow in the tools their industry runs on; a designer, a live design task. Each is watched the same way, against the same rubric.
A process that passes nearly everyone is filtering, not vetting
We hold a real bar, so most applicants are turned away rather than passed through. The reasons are specific, and each one shows up later as a failed hire if it is let through.
We accept roughly 65% of applicants who reach the paid task; the rest do not reach a client. You see a verified finalist because the people who could not clear the bar were already removed.
Weak Work On The Live Task
The output is the evidence. A candidate who produces something that runs, reads or looks passable but will not survive contact with real use does not clear the bar.
Unclear Written Communication
Remote work is written work. A candidate who cannot make themselves understood in writing creates the same drag as one who cannot do the job.
Cannot Explain Their Own Decisions
A choice nobody can justify is a choice nobody can revisit. Being unable to reason a decision aloud predicts a hire your team cannot direct or correct.
Vetting proves ability. A background check proves identity.
We separate ability from identity, because the two questions need different evidence. The vetting stages prove a person can deliver through observed work; an identity or reference check confirms who they are and how they behaved on past teams. You get both answered, without one being mistaken for the other.
Vetting that outlasts the hire
A hire that clears every stage is still backed by a 48-hour replacement guarantee, because the protection does not end when a candidate passes the five stages.
48-hour replacement
A hire that turns out wrong is replaced within 48 hours, which keeps the risk on us rather than you.
The screen lowers the odds
A rigorous screen lowers the chance of a bad fit; the guarantee covers the cases a screen cannot predict.
Protected from day one
The commitment outlasts the match, so you are covered from the first day rather than only through the interview.
No long lock-in
You are never stuck with the wrong person while a contract runs its course.
See the standard applied
The same five stages, with the task changed to fit the work. Each role page shows what the live task looks like for that seat, and how it works covers the hiring process around them.
Vibe Coding Developers
Engineers who direct Cursor, Claude Code and Copilot to build MVPs, internal tools, AI agents and integrations at prototype speed — and prove it on a live screen-share you watch.
Content Writers
Writers who use AI to research and draft faster, and bring the judgment, fact-checking and brand voice it can't — structured so AI answers can quote you, not only rank you.
Virtual Assistants
Real estate, e-commerce, executive and support assistants matched to the tools their industry already runs on — and verified on the automation that decides how much admin one person can carry.
About the vetting
See a vetted professional work before you hire
Tell us the role. We'll put a vetted finalist on a live call so you can watch them work before you decide — verified across five stages and backed by a replacement guarantee.