Knowledge catalogue / Team
Treat hiring as filtering, not gambling. Two steps, and neither is a showreel on its own.
An interview, or a short written exchange, tells you whether someone can think. A small paid test tells you whether they can actually deliver. Owners often put every candidate through the full process, then discover halfway that two of them were never ready, having burned time and goodwill. A showreel proves someone cut something well once. It doesn't prove they can hit your brief, in your style, on your timeline. The paid test does, and it's the cheapest way to find out before the stakes are real.
Never hire an editor on the reel alone. A small paid test job is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy on a hire.