I’m seeing more of AI-polished sample submissions lately — spotless but the candidates stall in a timed, no-tools proof; in the past 2 weeks, three clients asked me to add a ‘pencil-only’ pass to our screens. For folks hiring or applying, what’s the fairest way to show real judgment — process notes, track changes rationales, a quick style call — without shutting out people who use Grammarly or LanguageTool responsibly?
“pencil-only” is fair if you pair it with a 2‑minute voice note on the why; in my screens, a 12‑minute cold edit on one messy paragraph plus that note shows judgment, and I score the rationale higher than spotless copy so Grammarly diehards aren’t penalized. I also hand them a one‑page style card to avoid house‑style guessing — would that fly with your clients?
I run 8‑minute paper markup + 2‑minute ‘why this cut’ note; allow one style lookup.
I’ve had better signal by asking candidates to preface a no‑tools pass with a tiny “style stance” (e.g., serial comma, en dash policy), then edit one paragraph and add a margin note on one thing they chose not to change; that ‘restraint’ note shows judgment fast. Small caveat: I let them flag one genuine ambiguity for follow‑up instead of guessing, which mirrors real work.