A framework built to be checked, not just trusted.
We could just ask you to trust us. We built a framework instead.
S9 InnerView is built to be one of the most transparent, explainable, and auditable hiring platforms in the industry. Every hiring decision traces back to our proven framework– S9's 45 Performance-Based Skills™, weighted by Career, Role, and Culture. Scored consistently and reviewed by a person before it counts.
The Mechanism
Watch the framework come together
Four questions people ask before they trust a scoring system with a hiring decision.
What is a S9 Performance-Based Skill™?
A Performance-Based Skill™ (PBS) is a skill that directly influences job performance and can be taught, learned, applied, measured, and continuously improved— not a personality trait, not a resume keyword, not a vibe. S9 InnerView evaluates every candidate against a defined library of 45 of these skills, organized into three categories: Career, Role, and Culture.
How does the Career / Role / Culture weighting work?
A software engineer and a sales director don't need the same weighting. So neither one gets a formula imposed on them.
Career, Role, and Culture skills are drawn from the same 45-PBS library, but how much each category counts toward the final score is fully configurable — set by the hiring manager, per role. The categories combine into a single Stratum Score using whatever weighting actually fits the job in front of you.
What does "human-in-the-loop" actually mean?
Not a disclaimer buried at the bottom of the page. An actual gate.
Human-in-the-loop is a required step before any Stratum Score affects a real decision. A person reviews the candidates alignment, the evidence behind each skill, and the reasoning attached to it — and decides what happens next. S9 InnerView doesn't hire anyone. It makes the case reviewable.
Where does this framework come from?
The STRATUM 9 Framework is the culmination of more than 20 years of research, field testing, coaching, and real-world application by performance strategist Aaron Salko. Built by combining evidence from psychology, neuroscience, physiology, behavioral science, and performance research, the framework identifies the trainable human skills that consistently separate high performers from average performers. The result is a practical framework used to define, measure, develop, and apply high performance across careers, leadership, teams, and organizations. See Research & Validation for exactly what's being measured right now, during the beta.
Explore the science further
Research & Validation
The receipts, as they come — in what's being measured today, and how.
Read More...Responsible AI
Our approach to bias, stated plainly: known bias, not no bias.
Read More...Advisory Board
The people accountable for getting this framework right.
Read More...Frequently asked questions
No, not yet. That question specifically needs a group of hires who’ve been in their roles long enough to evaluate, and we’re in the process of collecting that now. We won’t call it proven until the data actually says so.
Right now, two things: whether each skill actually belongs to the role it’s applied to, and whether similar evidence gets scored consistently across different interviews. Whether the scores predict performance comes after that, once there’s enough real-world outcome data.
There’s no date we can give you honestly. It depends on how quickly design partners hire and how long it takes before someone’s performance can fairly be judged. We’d rather wait than hand you a number we made up.
See the thought leaders involved, or read exactly how we handle bias — known, not denied.
Still here? Respect.
You've read more than most interviewers read job descriptions.
Take five, here's something to listen to that isn't a cue card.