What if you could test-drive your next key hire?
Here’s the thing: hiring someone who’s going to live in your inbox, manage your calendar, and become a true extension of how you work is incredibly personal. It’s also deeply vulnerable.
Whether you’ve had an EA before or you’re hiring one for the first time, the process often feels… off. You talk to someone for 30 minutes, maybe twice. You exchange pleasantries, talk about hiking or coffee or kids. Then suddenly, you’re supposed to hand them access to your most sensitive workflows and hope it works.
I kept wondering, why do we keep hiring this way? Especially for roles that are so intimate?
That question is what led me to create Select+.
What I saw in the hiring process
I’ve worked with a lot of executives—many of whom were hiring an assistant for the first time. They didn’t know exactly what they needed, and they were short on time. The process went something like this:
- Decide to finally hire help
- Rush through interviews
- Make a decision based on gut and general likability
- Hope it all works out
Sometimes it did. But sometimes, three weeks in, there were red flags. Communication gaps. Trust issues. Misalignment. And by then, they’d already invested money, time, and energy. Starting over felt painful and overwhelming.
I knew we needed a different approach.
What if you could trial the role—not just the person?
That’s when the idea clicked. What if you could work with someone before making the full-time hire?
So Base built a new model.
Select+ lets leaders work with a trained, highly vetted EA in a structured trial format before deciding if they’re the right long-term fit.
It’s not just about evaluating the person. It’s about seeing how the role functions in your world. How the support shows up in real time. How it actually feels to delegate something important and know it’s being handled.
How it works
Here’s the structure we created, and what I recommend to anyone hiring a key role:
Start with a short-term trial
We scope a few weeks of structured work that mimics what the full role would look like. That way, you’re evaluating real performance, not just interview answers.
Set clear success criteria
We define what “great” looks like ahead of time:
- Can they manage communication without you being overly involved?
- Are they proactive, not just responsive?
- Do they work through ambiguity with confidence?
- Can you trust them with sensitive information?
- Do you enjoy working with them?
Try more than one person if needed
Clients can work with unlimited vetted assistants from our pool to see who best fits their workflow, communication style, and leadership needs.
There’s no limit—you can test until it clicks. Once you’ve found the right fit, you bring that EA in-house with full confidence, knowing exactly how they work and what they bring to the table.
Make it collaborative, not evaluative
This isn’t about putting someone under a microscope. It’s a mutual discovery process. You’re learning how to work together. And your EA is learning how best to support you.
What you can do right now
If you’re planning to hire soon, or just want to improve how you build your team, here’s where to begin:
- Audit your last few hires. What worked? What didn’t? Where did you rely on instincts instead of actual working experience? Take notes and look for patterns.
- Create a paid trial structure. Design a short project or two-week sprint that mirrors the real work of the role. Pay candidates for their time. This isn’t about getting free labor—it’s about creating a fair, practical way to evaluate fit and working style.
Get clear on what trust looks like. For roles that impact your time, communication, or decision-making, identify your personal benchmark. Mine is simple: Would I trust this person to fully own my calendar, and therefore my time?
The real point
I built Select+ because I believe hiring should feel like a confident, evidence-based decision—not a leap of faith. The people supporting you should be ones you know you can trust and rely on fully. That kind of trust is discovered through experience, not assumptions.
If you’ve ever thought “I wish I could see how this person works before I hire them,” you’re not alone. That’s exactly what Select+ is for.
And if you’re ready to try a better way, I’d love to show you what it looks like in action. Let’s fix this together. No guesswork. No pressure. Just clarity, structure, and the right support. On your terms.
