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“Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

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Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#41

Post by pg »

starkfist wrote: post #22
Harj wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i agree the prospect of filming yourself is somewhat uncomfortable but i've been stunned during the YC application review process by just how much a video adds to the application. it's actually, for me, the most important part of the application while reviewing it. i believe employers will realize this too and once they do, they'll insist on having video as standard in applications. once that happens, uploading video…

it's actually, for me, the most important part of the application while reviewing it. why?

It is for me too, and the reason is that's it's so high bandwidth compared to text. At our stage, we care mostly about the people, and you can tell much more about people from watching them talk than from reading what they write, just as (though not to the same extent) you can tell more about someone from meeting them in person than reading a resume.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#42

Post by shazow »

old-gregg wrote: post #37

I don't know either this is good for employers/customers but one thing for sure: this makes me feel even more terrified of failure, of becoming a "candidate" again. This company is making the world even more hostile for people who need jobs for reasons stated here by others. Let me explain: my wife is looking for a job now. She's not an engineer so the progress has been slow: hundreds of resumes emailed, no response,…

Not necessarily hundreds of times. My understanding of HireHive's model is that you could film yourself answering a set of questions once and include it in multiple similar job applications (at least some day).

I look at video as a substitute for phone screenings rather than a substitute for a resume. I hate phone screenings.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#43

Post by pg »

rdl wrote: post #5

Maybe I'm just paranoid and have low expectations for humanity, but I think the main demand for video interviews would be to do racial/ethnic/attractiveness discrimination on candidates. Early in the process, it would be a lot easier to discard all people of [unfavored group] without any allegations of unfairness.

I think you have very low expectations for humanity indeed if you think that will be the main way companies use something so useful.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#44

Post by kingkilr »

I was considering a startup along exactly these lines within the last couple of weeks, but for college applicants. I ended up not going forward as I wasn't personally super interested, and the friend who had the original idea said there appeared to be a patent covering it.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#45

Post by old-gregg »

shazow wrote: post #42
old-gregg wrote: post #37

I don't know either this is good for employers/customers but one thing for sure: this makes me feel even more terrified of failure, of becoming a "candidate" again. This company is making the world even more hostile for people who need jobs for reasons stated here by others. Let me explain: my wife is looking for a job now. She's not an engineer so the progress has been slow: hundreds of resumes emailed, no response,…

Not necessarily hundreds of times. My understanding of HireHive's model is that you could film yourself answering a set of questions once and include it in multiple similar job applications (at least some day). I look at video as a substitute for phone screenings rather than a substitute for a resume. I hate phone screenings.

It is not: a phone screening involves a mutual time investment - there's a live person taking time to talk to you on the phone, so the "time complexity" for both parties is O(n). Posting a list of questions and requiring candidates to film themselves is free, so it is O(1) for the employer but still O(n) for a candidate. Don't be naive, if this service becomes popular, employers will recognize this advantage and exploit it in full.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#46

Post by aaronblohowiak »

coryl wrote: post #26
kiba wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bad discrimination will cost the company lot of money. Good discrimination will make the company lot of money. If a company discriminate based on race, they will get the kind of performance they deserve.

I'm perplexed by your statement about there being "Good" and "Bad" discrimination. In this context, discrimination means judging someone based on their looks or other visible features from their video. If nobody believes they should be judged by whether they're male/female, minorities, religious, attractive/ugly, etc., why would there ever be "Good" discrimination?

"In this context, discrimination means judging someone based on their looks or other visible features from their video." -- I think that is the point where ou disagree. You are also discriminating when you separate the wheat from the chaff.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#47

Post by [deleted] »

pg wrote: post #41
starkfist wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's actually, for me, the most important part of the application while reviewing it. why?

It is for me too, and the reason is that's it's so high bandwidth compared to text. At our stage, we care mostly about the people, and you can tell much more about people from watching them talk than from reading what they write, just as (though not to the same extent) you can tell more about someone from meeting them in person than reading a resume.

[deleted]

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#48

Post by coryl »

Harj wrote: post #12
paraschopra wrote: post #2

Does anyone else find the prospect of video résumé a bit frightening? Some people (myself included) are simply not that comfortable in front of a camera.

i agree the prospect of filming yourself is somewhat uncomfortable but i've been stunned during the YC application review process by just how much a video adds to the application. it's actually, for me, the most important part of the application while reviewing it. i believe employers will realize this too and once they do, they'll insist on having video as standard in applications. once that happens, uploading video…

I feel that it takes something away from applicants, and gives most of the value to the employer.

YC reviews are different; you're being reviewed by hackers who don't care if you hair is combed or if you wearing a hoodie with some nintendo character on it. I think employers would LOVE having this kind of rich information in their applications, but at what price to the applicants?

The rest of the world isn't as laid back as YC. If I'm going to have to start applying for jobs with video, I'm going to have to study the questions and write up scripts. Practice those scripts on video probably a dozen times, choose the best one. I have to dress up and gel my hair, clean up my background, clear my desk of cans and bottles. Worry about how my teeth look, if they can see that pimple on my cheek, etc. All for what will result in only a few mins of video. It sounds very trivial and superficial, but with video, a job application is now a pseudo-interview, if you mess that up, you don't get another chance. It takes much longer to cut a video reply you're happy with than it does to write a paragraph you're happy with.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#49

Post by kabuks »

pg wrote: post #43
rdl wrote: post #5

Maybe I'm just paranoid and have low expectations for humanity, but I think the main demand for video interviews would be to do racial/ethnic/attractiveness discrimination on candidates. Early in the process, it would be a lot easier to discard all people of [unfavored group] without any allegations of unfairness.

I think you have very low expectations for humanity indeed if you think that will be the main way companies use something so useful.

imho we are past the point where that's the main way people will use this tool, but we're not past the point where it's not happening anymore. And we are clearly not past the point where people assume it will happen.

Job boards are broken, and this is a good step in the right direction, and I wish them the best.

I would caution though against not looking at the discrimination piece head on, and addressing it clearly.

The reality is, video interviews do make it much easier, and less costly to discriminate, and easier to hide it. People who have been targets of discrimination might be less hesitant to use them. This might skew the candidate base...etc.

I don't have any good ideas about how to address this, and I'm excited about these guys making a dent in how we hire, but I do not think you can take more than a few steps in this direction without directly addressing its possible (and probable) misuse.

Re: “Good On Video” Is The New “Good On Paper” With HireHive (YC S10)

#50

Post by [deleted] »

coryl wrote: post #39
old-gregg wrote: post #37

I don't know either this is good for employers/customers but one thing for sure: this makes me feel even more terrified of failure, of becoming a "candidate" again. This company is making the world even more hostile for people who need jobs for reasons stated here by others. Let me explain: my wife is looking for a job now. She's not an engineer so the progress has been slow: hundreds of resumes emailed, no response,…

Interesting way of looking at it. Although this problem is more of a self-concious/insecurity issue. Rejection is simply a numbers game; there's tons of applicants applying for single job openings. On the other hand, if your wife has a sparking personality and an average resume, video response might actually help her stand out of the crowd.

[deleted]
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