2 min lesson
Anatomy of a clean loop
Rebuild the parts of "Anatomy of a clean loop", then say why each one matters.
Step 1 of 2
A loop is not a list of meetings. It is a sequence you design so that a candidate who flew in for Cursor's process leaves having met the right people in the right order and every interviewer walks in already knowing what they are there to assess.
At Cursor the loops are short, roughly two weeks end to end and weighted toward in-person time at the Soho office. That compresses the margin for error. A loop you assemble carelessly doesn't just inconvenience people. It can read to a top AI engineer as a company that doesn't have its act together, which is exactly the wrong signal when you're trying to get them to say yes.
Before you touch a calendar, get the raw pieces in front of you. A loop fails when one input is missing, so the first move is an inventory.
- Candidate availability
- Their real windows in their real timezone, plus travel constraints for fly-ins (flight times, hotel check-in).
- Interviewer panel
- Named people, their focus area for this candidate and any hard blocks (standups, on-call, PTO).
- Durations
- How long each interview actually runs, including the debrief the interviewer needs after.
- Buffers
- Gaps between sessions for overruns, breaks and the candidate to breathe - never zero.
- Room / Zoom
- A booked physical room for onsite or a tested video link with no double-booking.
- Prep windows
- Lead time for interviewers to read the kit and for the candidate to receive the itinerary.
Miss one of these and the loop looks fine until the morning it breaks.