How to approach a Chief of Staff take-home assignment
By Alice Huang, Chief of Staff and operator
Approach a Chief of Staff take-home with a clear decision, checked instructions, visible assumptions and a recommendation you can defend.
The assignment is a chance to show judgment, not to prove you can work all weekend. Start by understanding what the hiring team is asking you to decide.
Ask a Chief of Staff recommends acknowledging the assignment, confirming the deadline and not exceeding the suggested time. It also notes that the exercise varies by company. Treat the employer's actual instructions as the brief.
Check the boundaries first
Confirm the expected time, deliverable, audience, deadline and permitted tools. Ask how to handle missing information. If the assignment uses a live business problem, clarify confidentiality and how the work will be used. A request to demonstrate your thinking is different from an open-ended consulting project.
If AI use is permitted, check every fact and calculation yourself. If it is prohibited, do not use it. Do not put private company data into a tool without permission.
Write the decision at the top
State the question you are answering and your recommendation. Then explain the evidence, assumptions and tradeoffs. If the packet does not supply a fact you need, name the gap rather than inventing a number.
Peter Brack suggests exercises such as prioritizing a CEO's time, drafting a role charter and identifying operating gaps. Those are examples of work samples, not a standard test every Chief of Staff must pass.
Use a simple structure
- Decision or problem.
- Known facts and missing information.
- Options and constraints.
- Recommendation and reasons.
- Risks and what could change the answer.
- First actions and how you would check progress.
Show a sensible path with the information available. Do not hide uncertainty under a polished slide.
Leave time to check and rehearse
Verify calculations, source links, file access and any requested format. Then practice explaining the recommendation without reading it aloud. Expect a question about what you would do differently with more time or better data.
If you reached a limit, say what remains unresolved. A clear boundary is more useful than a confident answer built on facts the packet never gave you.