Effective Work Samples for Hiring Business-Focused Prompt Engineers

Business-focused prompt engineering has emerged as a critical skill at the intersection of artificial intelligence and business strategy. As organizations increasingly leverage AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and other large language models (LLMs), the ability to craft effective prompts that drive business outcomes has become invaluable. Unlike general prompt engineering, business-focused prompt engineers must understand both the technical capabilities of AI systems and the specific business contexts in which they operate.

Finding candidates with this specialized skill set presents unique challenges. Traditional interviews often fail to reveal a candidate's actual ability to create prompts that deliver business value. Theoretical knowledge about prompt engineering principles doesn't necessarily translate to practical application in real-world business scenarios. Additionally, the field is evolving rapidly, making it difficult to assess candidates based solely on past experience or credentials.

Work samples and practical exercises provide a window into how candidates approach prompt engineering challenges in authentic business contexts. They reveal not just technical proficiency but also business acumen, problem-solving abilities, and adaptability. These exercises allow you to observe candidates' thought processes, their ability to iterate based on feedback, and their understanding of how AI tools can address specific business needs.

The following four activities are designed to evaluate candidates' abilities to engineer prompts that drive tangible business outcomes. Each exercise simulates real-world scenarios that business-focused prompt engineers encounter, from optimizing existing prompts to designing comprehensive AI workflows. By incorporating these exercises into your interview process, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' capabilities and identify those who can truly leverage AI to create business value.

Activity #1: Prompt Optimization Challenge

This exercise tests a candidate's ability to refine and optimize an existing prompt to improve business outcomes. Effective business-focused prompt engineers must be able to identify weaknesses in current prompts and make strategic adjustments that enhance performance, accuracy, and business relevance. This skill is crucial for organizations looking to maximize the value of their AI investments.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a basic, suboptimal prompt related to a business function (e.g., customer service, marketing copy generation, data analysis).
• Include a clear business objective for the prompt (e.g., "This prompt should help our customer service team generate consistent responses to common inquiries").
• Provide sample outputs from the current prompt that demonstrate its limitations.
• Allow candidates 20-30 minutes to analyze and improve the prompt.
• Have an AI system available (like ChatGPT or Claude) for the candidate to test their optimized prompt.
• Example prompt to optimize: "Write a response to a customer who is asking about our return policy."

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the existing prompt and its outputs, noting strengths and weaknesses.
• Identify specific business requirements that the prompt should address.
• Create an improved version of the prompt that addresses the limitations while meeting the business objective.
• Test your optimized prompt with the provided AI system.
• Be prepared to explain your optimization strategy, including:
• What specific changes you made and why
• How your changes align with the business objective
• How you would measure the success of your optimized prompt

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their optimized prompt, provide feedback on one aspect they handled well (e.g., "Your inclusion of specific brand voice guidelines was excellent").
• Offer one suggestion for improvement (e.g., "The prompt could benefit from more structure around handling edge cases").
• Give the candidate 5-10 minutes to incorporate your feedback and further refine their prompt.
• Observe how receptive they are to feedback and their ability to quickly iterate.

Activity #2: Business Use Case Mapping

This activity evaluates a candidate's strategic thinking about AI applications in business contexts. A skilled business-focused prompt engineer must be able to identify valuable opportunities for AI implementation and develop appropriate prompt strategies for different business scenarios. This exercise reveals the candidate's business acumen and their ability to align AI capabilities with business objectives.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a brief description of a business department or function (e.g., HR, marketing, sales, customer support).
• Include key challenges this department faces and its primary objectives.
• Provide basic information about the department's current workflows and tools.
• Allow candidates 30-40 minutes to complete the exercise.
• Example scenario: "Our marketing team struggles with creating consistent social media content across multiple platforms while maintaining brand voice."

Directions for the Candidate:

• Identify 3-5 specific use cases where AI and prompt engineering could add value to the described department.
• For each use case:
• Describe the specific business problem it addresses
• Outline the prompt engineering approach you would take
• Explain how you would measure success
• Create a detailed prompt template for the highest-priority use case.
• Prepare to present your analysis, focusing on business impact and implementation considerations.
• Consider factors like:
• Required AI capabilities and limitations
• Integration with existing workflows
• Training needs for department staff
• Potential ROI and success metrics

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their use cases and prompt template, acknowledge one particularly insightful business application they identified.
• Suggest one area where they could better align their prompt engineering approach with business needs.
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to refine their highest-priority use case based on your feedback.
• Evaluate their ability to incorporate business considerations into their technical approach.

Activity #3: Prompt Troubleshooting Scenario

This exercise tests a candidate's problem-solving abilities when prompts aren't delivering the expected business results. In real-world settings, prompt engineers frequently need to diagnose issues, understand why certain approaches aren't working, and develop effective solutions. This activity reveals how candidates handle challenges and their technical depth in understanding AI systems.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a scenario where a prompt is failing to meet business requirements, along with examples of the problematic outputs.
• Include context about the business use case and why the current results are inadequate.
• Provide information about any constraints or requirements that must be maintained.
• Allow candidates 25-35 minutes to diagnose and address the issues.
• Example scenario: "Our sales team is using this prompt to generate personalized email follow-ups after initial customer calls, but the outputs are too generic and don't incorporate specific details from the call notes."

Directions for the Candidate:

• Analyze the problematic prompt and its outputs to identify potential issues.
• Consider multiple factors that could be causing the problem:
• Prompt structure and clarity
• Missing context or instructions
• Conflicting requirements
• Technical limitations of the AI system
• Develop an improved prompt that addresses the identified issues.
• Test your solution with the provided AI system.
• Prepare to explain:
• Your diagnosis of the core problems
• The rationale behind your solutions
• How your approach better meets the business requirements
• Any tradeoffs or limitations in your solution

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their solution, highlight one effective aspect of their troubleshooting approach.
• Identify one area where their solution could be further improved or where they may have missed an important consideration.
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to incorporate your feedback and refine their solution.
• Evaluate their ability to quickly adapt their approach based on new insights.

Activity #4: Prompt Engineering Workflow Design

This activity assesses a candidate's ability to design comprehensive prompt engineering processes that can scale across an organization. Business-focused prompt engineers often need to create systems and workflows that enable non-technical business users to leverage AI effectively. This exercise reveals the candidate's understanding of organizational dynamics and their ability to create sustainable AI solutions.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a scenario about a department or team that needs to implement prompt engineering at scale.
• Include information about the team's technical expertise, business objectives, and current challenges.
• Provide context about any compliance, security, or quality requirements.
• Allow candidates 40-45 minutes to complete this more complex exercise.
• Example scenario: "Our customer support team of 50 agents needs to use AI to help draft responses to customer inquiries. The team has varying levels of technical expertise, and we need to ensure consistency, compliance with regulatory requirements, and quality control."

Directions for the Candidate:

• Design a comprehensive prompt engineering workflow that addresses the scenario.
• Your workflow should include:
• A process for identifying and prioritizing use cases
• Templates or frameworks for prompt creation
• Quality assurance and testing procedures
• Implementation and training strategies
• Monitoring and improvement mechanisms
• Create a visual representation of your workflow (can be a simple diagram).
• Develop at least one template or tool that would support your workflow.
• Prepare to explain how your workflow:
• Scales across the organization
• Balances standardization with flexibility
• Addresses potential challenges or resistance
• Evolves as business needs and AI capabilities change

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their workflow design, commend one particularly innovative or thoughtful aspect of their approach.
• Suggest one area where they could better address organizational challenges or technical limitations.
• Give the candidate 10-15 minutes to refine one specific component of their workflow based on your feedback.
• Evaluate their ability to think systematically about prompt engineering in a business context.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for these exercises during the interview process?

Each exercise requires 20-45 minutes for the candidate to complete, plus time for explanation and feedback. We recommend scheduling at least 60-90 minutes for a single exercise or spreading multiple exercises across different interview stages. For senior roles, consider using the more complex exercises like the Workflow Design or Business Use Case Mapping.

Should we provide candidates with access to AI tools during the interview?

Yes, whenever possible. Providing access to tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or your organization's preferred AI system creates a more authentic assessment environment. If in-person, consider setting up a dedicated computer. For remote interviews, candidates can share their screen while working with the AI tools.

How technical should candidates be to complete these exercises?

These exercises are designed for business-focused prompt engineers, so candidates should have technical knowledge of prompt engineering principles but don't necessarily need programming skills. The emphasis is on their ability to apply prompt engineering to business problems rather than pure technical expertise.

Can we customize these exercises for our specific industry or use cases?

Absolutely! We strongly encourage customizing these exercises to reflect your organization's specific industry, challenges, and AI use cases. The more relevant the exercises are to your actual business needs, the better they'll predict a candidate's on-the-job performance.

How should we evaluate candidates' performance on these exercises?

Look beyond just the final output to evaluate their process, reasoning, and business thinking. Strong candidates will demonstrate clear understanding of business objectives, systematic approaches to prompt design, awareness of AI limitations, and ability to iterate based on feedback. Consider creating a rubric that weights these factors according to your specific role requirements.

Should we share these exercises with candidates in advance?

For complex exercises like the Workflow Design, consider providing basic information about the scenario in advance, but reserve specific details for the interview. This allows candidates to showcase their real-time problem-solving abilities while still having time to demonstrate thoughtful approaches to complex problems.

Business-focused prompt engineering is a rapidly evolving field that requires a unique blend of technical knowledge and business acumen. By incorporating these practical work samples into your hiring process, you'll be better equipped to identify candidates who can truly leverage AI to drive business value. Remember that the most effective prompt engineers combine technical skills with strategic thinking, adaptability, and a deep understanding of business contexts.

As you refine your interview process for prompt engineering roles, consider exploring additional resources to help you build comprehensive evaluation frameworks. Yardstick offers powerful tools to streamline your hiring process, including AI-powered job description generators, interview question generators, and complete interview guide creators. These resources can help you develop a consistent, effective approach to identifying top talent in this emerging field.

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