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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)

#81

Post by nicholasjbs »

shelly wrote: post #79
nicholasjbs wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of our goals is to help people feel more comfortable recording short videos. We don't see HireHive has a "video resume" (i.e. something you agonize over carefully crafting long answers to) so much as a lightweight way to answer questions off-the-cuff. One of the challenges we face is to figure out how to set the tone so people can relax and be themselves. Is there anything that you think would help you feel more…

I would provide some pointers and a variety of example videos. Offer a few great videos, with some explanation of why each is good, and do the same with some less-than-spectacular specimens. Also, things like lighting and sound can make a pretty big difference, so providing basic info on optimizing your setup might help. I also like the idea of having each company do an intro video that sets the mood. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions, shelly! I think the both an intro video from the company and example videos with some advice for recording would be great additions.

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

#82

Post by jamiequint »

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 disagree that this will become standard on applications. The problem the majority of companies have with recruiting is sifting through large numbers of unqualified resumes that are total junk and a waste of time. Once past this phase video can add value, but just ask any recruiter if they would ever want to use this for screening. The answer will be 100% no. Many of these people have developed the ability to skim resumes in seconds, if you ask them to watch a 5 minute video instead they just won't.

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

#84

Post by jpeterson »

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.

Seems like kind of a strange filter to me. What is the connection between how well someone comes across on camera and how good they are at coding and developing a product? You say it's high bandwidth, but is the data useful? 50 terabytes per second of noise is still noise.

Also, I don't think this test fares very well in retrospect. Steve Jobs probably would've given a good video resume, but what about Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Evan Williams, and the like? These guys usually come across as duds on video.

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

#85

Post by nicholasjbs »

rdl wrote: post #40
nicholasjbs wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We support questions with a few different types of answers (video, short, medium and long text responses, file uploads). We're working on the grading/evaluation features on the employer-side right now. This is something we're excited about, because it allows for more people to give input in the hiring process and opens up the possibility for coordination among companies as we're doing with the YCommonApp. Always happ…

Time limits per question or per questionnaire would be useful. There are really two reasons: 1) Intelligence (and often job performance) is measured by how fast a problem can be solved. Within limits, it doesn't matter, and often a better solution that takes slightly longer to come up with is better overall. However, for a problem which is bounded in difficulty (such that a normal job applicant willing to put 2 hours…

All good feedback. We've got time limits per questionnaire already, and I'll add per-question limits to the list of feature requests.

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

#86

Post by nicholasjbs »

cglee wrote: post #57

The skeptical comments are interesting. But it doesn't seem like they are the primary market. At Active Interview, we've been doing video interviews for a while now. We've gotten good traction among organizations who have continuous hiring needs and/or those who need to process candidates who are geographically dispersed. For example, One Laptop per Child used Active Interview to screen a couple hundred applicants fr…

I agree. Videos are particularly good for time-shifting and getting a sense for interpersonal skills. We too think many people will prefer recording a short video to wordsmithing an essay.

AI's work with OLPC was awesome!

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

#87

Post by hugh3 »

jamiequint wrote: post #82
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…

I disagree that this will become standard on applications. The problem the majority of companies have with recruiting is sifting through large numbers of unqualified resumes that are total junk and a waste of time. Once past this phase video can add value, but just ask any recruiter if they would ever want to use this for screening. The answer will be 100% no. Many of these people have developed the ability to skim r…

Hopefully, adding the need to record a five-minute video will weed out some of the resume-spamming applicants, so the total stack of your resume size will become smaller. But I assume you'd only get around to watching videos once you'd narrowed down your stack of resumes to a manageable number, maybe twice as many as you plan to interview.

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

#89

Post by betterlabs »

I think most candidates who are good will find this to be way too much work to prove their point. They won't do it. Secondly, depending on the job a lot of people may get disqualified just because they seem lame on video, though they are stellar at what they do.

But as an idea, I like it for its novelty. The jobs space is broken in many ways and this is worth a shot. Just don't think it will work for every job type. For hiring at Crate & Barrel or Starbucks perhaps.

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

#90

Post by betterlabs »

pg wrote: post #58
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,…

In-person interviews have an even worse problem: if your wife is rejected after one of those, she has to worry not merely that she looks lame in a video, but seems lame in person. But you don't find the concept of interviews disgusting, presumably because it is already a familiar one. Which suggests that your real problem with this technology is its novelty.

Not sure I agree. Its not about technology or familiarity. Video is not (yet) a comfortable medium of communication for most people. They won't be confident on video, and most likely will come off less perfect than they really are. I think it could potentially be bad for employees as well as employers. Comfort is critical if an employer wants to truly evaluate someone's skill set. Maybe video becomes a comfortable medium in the future, but that would perhaps be another generation.
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