Stop losing employees in the first 90 days.
Project Ascend is a free, transparent screening tool that identifies applicants at elevated risk of early departure, before you advance them.
Run the Assessment →The Problem
Fast food and quick-service restaurants see 150% annual turnover. Each exit costs an estimated $5,864 (Cornell Center for Hospitality Research). For a 20-person crew running at that rate, that's $175,000 per year in replacement costs.
Most of that loss is preventable. Research consistently shows that early voluntary departures are predictable before hire, not from gut instinct, but from a small set of measurable factors that applicants reveal on their own if asked the right questions.
How It Works
Step 1
Applicant completes a short form
10 questions, 5 minutes. Work history, attendance, availability, wage expectations, and motivation.
Step 2
Employer scores the form
Each response maps to a fixed point value. No subjective judgment required; the rubric does the work.
Step 3
Decision matrix outputs a recommendation
Two subscores (Stability + Alignment) combine into one of three recommendations: Advance, Conditional Advance, or Do Not Advance.
Built on Evidence
Project Ascend is directly modeled on the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), developed by Arnold Ventures and used in pretrial risk evaluation across the United States. It applies the same weighted-factor, dual-score architecture to employment.
| PSA | Project Ascend | |
|---|---|---|
| Predicts | Pretrial failure (FTA + new offense) | Early voluntary departure |
| Factors | 9 empirically weighted factors | 9 empirically weighted factors |
| Subscores | FTA Score + NCA Score | Stability Score + Alignment Score |
| Output | Decision matrix for judges | Decision matrix for employers |
| Override | Violence risk flag | Termination-for-cause flag |
| Replaces | Subjective judicial discretion | Gut-feel hiring |
How It Compares
| Tool | Type | Transparency | Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Ascend | Weighted biographical screener | Fully transparent | Free | Small operators, hourly hiring |
| Harver / Outmatch | Algorithmic platform | Black box | Enterprise licensing | Large chains, high-volume |
| Criteria Corp | Cognitive + behavioral | Partial | Per-assessment fees | Mid-size employers |
| Predictive Index | Behavioral fit scoring | Partial | Subscription | Corporate, salaried roles |
| HireVue | AI video interview | Black box | Enterprise licensing | High-volume, tech-forward |
What It Is Not
Project Ascend is a first-pass filter, not a hiring decision. A high score does not guarantee tenure. A low score does not disqualify anyone from being a good employee. It narrows the pool before the full application and interview process, the same role the PSA plays before a bail hearing.
It doesn't measure personality, character, work ethic, cognitive ability, or cultural fit. The interview handles those. Project Ascend gets the right candidates there.
Ready to screen your next applicant?
Free. No account required. Takes 5 minutes per applicant.
Run the Assessment →