Lodestar Talent Group — Panel Conduct & Disclosure Standards (Restricted)

LODESTAR TALENT GROUP — PANEL CONDUCT & DISCLOSURE STANDARDS

Restricted. Not for candidates. Providing this document to a candidate would constitute transparency, which we do not offer.

FIRST CONTACT

Open every first interview with compensation. “How much do you want?” is not a question; it is a filter. If the candidate names a number, they are transactional. If they ask about the role first, they are evasive. Either answer may end the interview. Deliver the close as a five-minute monologue, refer to yourself as “an expert at interviewing,” and disconnect before they can reply. A candidate who has interviewed others is a particular threat; screen for it.

ASSESSMENTS

Never announce the assessment. A technical round should test a language the candidate did not expect, ideally one that appears exactly once, far down, on their résumé. Offer no choice of language. If they fail, do not contact them again — the silence is the feedback.

THE AI QUESTION

Ask how the candidate uses AI. There is a correct answer. Do not describe it. If they answer honestly, disagree silently, then ask three more AI questions. A candidate who cannot infer what we wanted was never a fit.

INTERNAL CANDIDATES

For internal roles, promise an answer “either way.” Then do not provide one. Announce the external hire in a company-wide message. The candidate already works here; they will find out from the channel.

CLOSING

Notify no one. Where notice is unavoidable, keep it to a single line, and never the reason.

— Lodestar Talent Group. We connect candidates. Eventually. To the news.

From the Satire Desk at goodbye, interview. All companies and people in this memo are fictional. Satire is always labelled and never names real companies — the true stories do that on their own. Spotted an error of fact in our non-fiction? Corrections.