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Strong OpinionsJuly 21, 2026 · 1 min read

The Rabbit Test: How I Hire a Global Team

Your first sentence must include the word 'rabbit.' Most applicants fail, and that's the test working. Video applications, situational questions, and the management rule: don't be nice, be fair.

by Claire B. Soares

A distributed team, working together on laptops

Nearly my whole team came from hiring globally, brilliant, credentialed people in the Philippines, Argentina, Nigeria, paid honest wages aligned to their local cost of living. And the single best hiring filter I use costs nothing: buried in the job post is one instruction, your first sentence must include the word rabbit. No rabbit, no review. It's not a trick; it's the job. Detail-orientation can't be interviewed for, but it can be tested before you've spent a minute.

“Your first sentence must include the word rabbit. If you don't, I don't even look at your application.”

Claire B. Soares·Academy live training on becoming a CEO, April 2024

The rest of the filter

  • Require a short video application. The first ten seconds tell you what a resume never will.
  • Ask situational questions where "I'd ask you" is a failing answer, you're hiring resourcefulness, not permission-seeking. And a candidate with no questions for you is a no.
  • Ninety-day probation, always. Both sides deserve an honest exit ramp.

Claire's own numbers

The framework, step by step

  1. 1

    Require a short video application

    The first ten seconds tell you what a resume never will.

  2. 2

    Ask situational questions where "I'd ask you" is a

    not permission-seeking. And a candidate with no questions for you is a no.

  3. 3

    Ninety-day probation

    always. Both sides deserve an honest exit ramp.

Claire's own framework from this essay, in the order she teaches it.

Source: Claire B. Soares, from her own travel business and live trainings.

Don't be nice. Be fair.

That's my entire management philosophy in five words. Nice avoids the hard conversation and calls it kindness; fair states the expectation, holds it, and phrases consequences honestly. Alongside it: correct the process, not the person, every mistake becomes an SOP improvement, which is how you build a team that reports errors instead of hiding them. And when someone's stuck, my favorite unblocking question: if you had to do this for your mom, what would you do? Nine times out of ten, they solve it on the spot.

Cameras on in every meeting, I want to feel your energy, and when it ends, end it cleanly: access locked the night before, a respectful exit, and an SOP that captures what the role learned. A global team isn't a compromise. Hired like this, it's an advantage.

Common Questions

How do you screen remote job applicants?

Bury one instruction in the job post, such as requiring a specific word in the first sentence. Detail-orientation cannot be interviewed for, but it can be tested before you spend a minute.

What makes a good remote hire for a travel business?

Resourcefulness. Situational questions where the candidate's answer is to ask you for the solution reveal someone who needs constant direction rather than someone who owns outcomes.

How should a small business manage a global team?

Claire's rule is do not be nice, be fair: state expectations plainly, hold them, and correct the process rather than the person so mistakes become documented improvements.

Claire B. Soares
Claire

Written By

Claire B. Soares

Claire B. Soares is the founder of Travel AI University, a 6x Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist, and a Certified AI Consultant with a B.S. in Computer Science. A top 10% enterprise sales executive, she sold $3.4B+ in enterprise software to Google, Microsoft, IBM, Boeing, the federal government, and the DoD, then built $16M+ in luxury travel sales.

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