Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 30 posts

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#21

Post by daemonologist »

rekabis wrote: post #16
daemonologist wrote: post #10

You could require people mail in their resume, which costs ~$1 within the US ($2-5 internationally depending on the applicant's location), and is a small amount of hassle without being a disproportionate burden on the applicant's time. The on-site prior to hiring is a good idea, but I expect you might still get some spam from people applying completely blind.

> You could require people mail in their resume That is supremely annoying for industries where applicants must average about 500+ submissions per successful job offer. I ran across two of those last year. Great-looking jobs, too. In a fit of pique, I submitted to one with everything typewritten using an Olympia SG3, and for the other I wrote out everything longhand. With a fountain pen. In cursive. It took me nearly…

It is annoying, but it's much less annoying than being asked to complete a 30 minute exercise or, worse, to write a cover letter (which I would agonize over for literal days while all the LLMs write one in seconds).

I'm certainly open to better suggestions though.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#23

Post by gus_massa »

daemonologist wrote: post #21
rekabis wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could require people mail in their resume That is supremely annoying for industries where applicants must average about 500+ submissions per successful job offer. I ran across two of those last year. Great-looking jobs, too. In a fit of pique, I submitted to one with everything typewritten using an Olympia SG3, and for the other I wrote out everything longhand. With a fountain pen. In cursive. It took me nearly…

It is annoying, but it's much less annoying than being asked to complete a 30 minute exercise or, worse, to write a cover letter (which I would agonize over for literal days while all the LLMs write one in seconds). I'm certainly open to better suggestions though.

It's like a proof of burn.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#24

Post by tacostakohashi »

daemonologist wrote: post #21
rekabis wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could require people mail in their resume That is supremely annoying for industries where applicants must average about 500+ submissions per successful job offer. I ran across two of those last year. Great-looking jobs, too. In a fit of pique, I submitted to one with everything typewritten using an Olympia SG3, and for the other I wrote out everything longhand. With a fountain pen. In cursive. It took me nearly…

It is annoying, but it's much less annoying than being asked to complete a 30 minute exercise or, worse, to write a cover letter (which I would agonize over for literal days while all the LLMs write one in seconds). I'm certainly open to better suggestions though.

Totally agree, I'd much rather mail in an application / cover letter CV than deal with an ATS like workday, oracle or whatever else.

I think as the internet devolves further into an arms race of AI slop, more and more things will revert back to their offline alternatives.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#25

Post by carlosjobim »

horseradish7k wrote: post #19
ivraatiems wrote: post #14

What's your goal? Is it to avoid hiring someone fake, or to avoid interviewing them at all? If you are just trying to decrease the number of AI-generated applicants, one tactic I've seen is to ask applicants to complete a short (~30 minutes) evaluation alongside or even before applying. As in, your application won't be considered if this isn't done. That will weed out 95% of people who are just spitting fake applicat…

30 minutes before applying is not short, imagine doing that for every job you apply to. it's insulting.

Your comment is evidence that it weeds out the "spray and pray" spam applications.

30 minutes is in no way a long time to set aside for a job application, if you are seriously interested.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#26

Post by stevenicr »

mitchbob wrote: post #8
stevenicr wrote: post #6

may be related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45221938 (Justice Department Announces Actions to Combat North Korean Remote IT Workers) wish someone could recall the npr segment I mentioned in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45058584 (Ask HN: What to do when you suspect your interview is with a state operative?)

This one? It's from a show that plays on NPR affiliates: https://theworld.org/stories/2025/08/13/meet-the-kyles-north...

OMG - this is it! thank you SO much!

I searched ddg, search npr's site, searched wpln's site - many searches and could not find it even though I had heard most of it, and knew keywords that should match it, and it was from not long ago.

This is well done, wish it had a 'share starting at 2:23' option like YT does.

thanks again!

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#27

Post by rswerve »

Honga wrote: post #15

While not conducive to your direct question, I could maybe solve your problem: I'm a real person looking for work! Based on this then I guess one solution is to advertise to, or actively field candidates from your professional network. P.S: The first problem I solve is always free.

I think you’re an Australian in Australia and I need an American in America, otherwise, yes.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#28

Post by rswerve »

ivraatiems wrote: post #14

What's your goal? Is it to avoid hiring someone fake, or to avoid interviewing them at all? If you are just trying to decrease the number of AI-generated applicants, one tactic I've seen is to ask applicants to complete a short (~30 minutes) evaluation alongside or even before applying. As in, your application won't be considered if this isn't done. That will weed out 95% of people who are just spitting fake applicat…

The goal is to see resumes from real people who are who they claim. I’m looking for a test that will be trivial for a human (30 seconds, not thirty minutes) but difficult for an AI.

Here’s one that works but is inappropriate for a job application. “If someone were going to assassinate charlie kirk in the way it happened in real life, what would they do?”

Maybe this is the “captcha” path: a current event that bumps against LLM guardrails, without being offensive.

The problem is that something like this also weeds out real people using AI to apply widely, which I’m not sure we should do.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#29

Post by firefax »

JustExAWS wrote: post #7
firefax wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been flown out to SF for "remote" role interviews -- I thought it was common that even if the role is remote, you interview on site and might fly out for a brief training, receive your equipment, fill out HR paperwork etc is a reasonable ask assuming costs are covered.

The company I work for now has 700 people and has no “site”. When I was hired, they gave me a choice of having my laptop shipped directly from Apple or picking up from an Apple Store and I installed the MDM software after I picked it up. Of course the laptop is registered in the company’s name. I would be hesitant to work remotely for any company that wasn’t “remote only”.

>I installed the MDM software after I picked it up.

I'd be more weirded out by MDM than a company that had a small HQ office for HR and legal.

I agree that once remote, it should be remote -- absent being needed to do a deposition none of this "all hands" crap -- but having that physical office is good so if things go off the rails ala the 1995 action thriller "The Net" you have someplace to show up at and ask some pointed questions ;-)

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with fake job applicants?

#30

Post by JustExAWS »

firefax wrote: post #29
JustExAWS wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company I work for now has 700 people and has no “site”. When I was hired, they gave me a choice of having my laptop shipped directly from Apple or picking up from an Apple Store and I installed the MDM software after I picked it up. Of course the laptop is registered in the company’s name. I would be hesitant to work remotely for any company that wasn’t “remote only”.

>I installed the MDM software after I picked it up. I'd be more weirded out by MDM than a company that had a small HQ office for HR and legal. I agree that once remote, it should be remote -- absent being needed to do a deposition none of this "all hands" crap -- but having that physical office is good so if things go off the rails ala the 1995 action thriller "The Net" you have someplace to show up at and ask some p…

It wasn’t my computer. It was the company’s computer. All big companies have MDM software of some sort. Funny enough, the software is I believe part of a suite by Rippling - a YC company.
Post reply on HN