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Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

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Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#21

Post by annexrichmond »

Have the candidate interview with their potential teammates really helps. The interviewer will also be more engaged than if they were interviewing for some other random team

I also try to make small talk, have a quick conversation and so on. This has been mostly good except with a couple candidates. They were hasty and basically like ok let’s get to the question

It’s so interesting how groomed candidates are with LeetCode and Sys Design videos. Sometimes when I ask anything off course, like a basic question, it’s like a huge curve ball for some people

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#22

Post by RationPhantoms »

glass3 wrote: post #18

Applicants could organize in a guild. The members can rate each other in a friendly environment with constructive feedback. Then, the guild knows who are the best matches for a given job. Employers at first communicate with the guild and only have to evaluate 5-10 candidates. All interviewed candidates pool their knowledge about the employer so the next suggestions from the guild will be even better matches. Medieval…

I love this idea. It's like a proxy for hiring. I see similarities to recruitment firms yet a lot better.

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#23

Post by noirbot »

sfe22 wrote: post #10
web3-is-a-scam wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one that isn't incentivized by referral bonuses? The last thing I want is the blame for a bad hire because I somehow referred someone ended up not being a good fit for whatever reason.

Well, you get it after 90 days, by then they will probably know if it is a bad fit.

Sure, but if it's a bad fit, it's still tied to you. Your team or some other team is now blaming you for their bad hire and you don't get the money.

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#24

Post by sebastianconcpt »

glass3 wrote: post #18

Applicants could organize in a guild. The members can rate each other in a friendly environment with constructive feedback. Then, the guild knows who are the best matches for a given job. Employers at first communicate with the guild and only have to evaluate 5-10 candidates. All interviewed candidates pool their knowledge about the employer so the next suggestions from the guild will be even better matches. Medieval…

Yes. How a modern could look like? From a UI/UX point of view?

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#25

Post by ldehaan »

Using all of these hiring tools is the issue.

They didn't work 20 years ago, still don't work, however interviewing someone like they're a person, asking questions, finding their passion, that has had 100% return for me and my companies.

Word of mouth has been the best way I've been able to hire a lot of really skilled people. My team members have told me many times that I'm the best manager they've ever had.

It's because I don't do anything the way you're supposed to.

Try being a place worth working for and you'll see skilled people show up, and they know how to get ahold of you since they're highly skilled and motivated.

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#26

Post by patel011393 »

glass3 wrote: post #18

Applicants could organize in a guild. The members can rate each other in a friendly environment with constructive feedback. Then, the guild knows who are the best matches for a given job. Employers at first communicate with the guild and only have to evaluate 5-10 candidates. All interviewed candidates pool their knowledge about the employer so the next suggestions from the guild will be even better matches. Medieval…

Interesting idea, but wouldn't it lead to groupthink and prevent outliers from pushing the envelope?

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#27

Post by ghaff »

web3-is-a-scam wrote: post #8
p1esk wrote: post #2

In one of the startups I worked at, when we really needed to find good people, CEO raised the referral bonus from 3k to 10k, paid 90 days after start date. In another startup, management asked every IC on hiring teams to find at least one potential candidates - every week. Time to find them was allocated into sprints. The referral bonus was raised from 2k to 3k. The first example was more successful from what I remem…

Am I the only one that isn't incentivized by referral bonuses? The last thing I want is the blame for a bad hire because I somehow referred someone ended up not being a good fit for whatever reason.

Yeah. I won't refer people I don't really know and certainly not someone I do know and am not impressed by.

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#28

Post by SirLJ »

We have an AI process trying to automate all matching and speed up the process, because we have a lot of candidates... The real problem I find is that the best candidates are not even looking for a new job or applying, so we are currently trying to offer part time opportunity for all open position to see if they are gong to like us...

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#29

Post by deadbeefinmoon »

roland35 wrote: post #12
p1esk wrote: post #2

In one of the startups I worked at, when we really needed to find good people, CEO raised the referral bonus from 3k to 10k, paid 90 days after start date. In another startup, management asked every IC on hiring teams to find at least one potential candidates - every week. Time to find them was allocated into sprints. The referral bonus was raised from 2k to 3k. The first example was more successful from what I remem…

One unfortunate side effect of referral bonuses is that they don't really help increase diversity since employees are most likely to refer friends from their existing social circles. I didn't realize that at first!

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: Why is hiring so dehumanized, and what can be done?

#30

Post by noirbot »

sokoloff wrote: post #13
lp0_on_fire wrote: post #4

> Applicants must wade through large volumes of job postings, which are often poorly written, and frequently lacking key information which is important to the applicant. > Employers are overwhelmed with large numbers of applicants, most of whom don't meet the requested minimum requirements. > Employers are then too overwhelmed to reply to all the applicants. Employers should stop casting such a wide net, then. If you…

Most of the problem in 2 is on the applicant side (shotgunning applications to every opening).

Sure, but that's a classic tragedy of the commons. I've been applying selectively to some places over time, and have had less than 10% even send me a rejection letter. As an applicant, if I actually needed a job, I can't afford to send out a handful of applications and wait 2-3 weeks to find out if I'm even being considered before sending out more.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I've often had companies who did interview me take weeks to initiate the process from when I applied.

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