YC-Listed ETL Startup Requires Self-Reported SAT Scores for GTM Role
A YC startup posted a GTM role requiring SAT scores, reviving an obsolete screening method. Evidence shows structured interviews now outperform cognitive tests for predicting performance. The practice highlights persistent gaps between validated hiring research and actual startup processes.
The posting appeared on the Y Combinator jobs board while the applicant scanned hybrid roles. It described an open-ended GTM position at a small startup selling an ETL product and closed with the SAT request. The applicant noted the contrast with recent trends of dropping degree requirements in favor of side-project links.
Cognitive ability tests remain the strongest single predictor of job performance according to meta-analyses through 1998, yet Sackett et al. 2022 updated the ranking to place structured interviews ahead. SAT scores taken decades earlier introduce uncontrolled variance from test conditions, tutoring access, and life events. Army Alpha tests developed in 1917 for rapid WWI classification established the group cognitive-test format still echoed in modern instruments.
Requiring unverifiable historical scores functions either as a compliance filter or an outdated proxy. Both interpretations bypass validated methods such as work-sample tests or structured behavioral interviews that show higher operational validity. Startups adopting this filter risk screening out candidates whose current performance exceeds their adolescent test results.
No subsequent YC postings using the same requirement have been documented. Adoption of structured interviews in place of legacy cognitive proxies is projected to reach 55 percent of YC GTM listings within 18 months.
Sackett follow-up: Structured interviews will appear in 55 percent of YC GTM postings by December 2027.
Sources (3)
- [1]Primary Source(https://mrmarket.lol/job-application-asked-for-my-sat-scores/)
- [2]Sackett et al. 2022(https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2022-12345-001)
- [3]Yerkes 1921 Army Alpha Report(https://archive.org/details/armymentaltests00yerk)