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Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

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Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#81

Post by ameister14 »

ronilan wrote: post #72
ztratar wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to try to explain more, Ronilan?

It should be one of those things that are self-evident, but since YC backed this “thing” I guess it is not. So in the shortest possible form: There exist an imbalance of power between the people “on the inside” (or “on the couch”) and the people on the outside. Generally speaking, a business meant to exploit the imbalance is wrong. One that does so at the expanse of the outsiders and for the benefit of the insiders i…

What about charging someone for education? Isn't that what this is? Education about the job from people who actually do it.

Personally, I don't have the idea that this is for people that don't currently have jobs - I see the main target as people that are unhappy with their current position and are looking to switch into investment banking. There are a lot of those but it's hard to know how to do something like that or who to talk to, particularly when you may have very specific questions about retraining or the consequences of shifting industries.

Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#82

Post by dchhugani »

Invictus0 wrote: post #75
dchhugani wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with a lot of this. One thing to note is that with this model the recruiter is incentivized for you to take the highest paying job, maybe not the best job for you. As stupid as that may sound (because everyone generally wants to make more money), it also means the first high paying job offer you get, they will probably push very hard (against your own interest) for you to accept it. That's the only way they'l…

To be fair, they didn't shut down so much as the founder sold out.

I don't know the details, will trust you on it :)!

Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#83

Post by dchhugani »

ameister14 wrote: post #81
ronilan wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be one of those things that are self-evident, but since YC backed this “thing” I guess it is not. So in the shortest possible form: There exist an imbalance of power between the people “on the inside” (or “on the couch”) and the people on the outside. Generally speaking, a business meant to exploit the imbalance is wrong. One that does so at the expanse of the outsiders and for the benefit of the insiders i…

What about charging someone for education? Isn't that what this is? Education about the job from people who actually do it. Personally, I don't have the idea that this is for people that don't currently have jobs - I see the main target as people that are unhappy with their current position and are looking to switch into investment banking. There are a lot of those but it's hard to know how to do something like that…

I really like this answer. This is something else we struggle with. It's not really "job seekers" it's for people who want to consider other roles, companies, or careers, which slowly is becoming every working professional who isn't planning on staying at their current role or company forever. Thanks for making this distinction!

Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#84

Post by dchhugani »

RockyMcNuts wrote: post #77
Anderkent wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree. Main reason why I don't talk to recruiters is the incentive mismatch - they work for the company, not for the job seeker, and I can't really trust their advice. In a model where a recruiter is paid by the jobseeker; i.e. he's the agent, this problem mostly goes away. A recruiter who say takes 5% of my next years salary if I accept a job, and therefore is incentivised to find me the best job possible... That…

wait...recruiters do take x% of your salary if you take the job, that's what pays for all the spam.

Yes but recruiters are paid by a specific company usually not by the job seeker. So their allegiance is with the company and filling the role, not with the job seeker and making sure you get the best possible job.

Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#85

Post by dchhugani »

ronilan wrote: post #72
ztratar wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to try to explain more, Ronilan?

It should be one of those things that are self-evident, but since YC backed this “thing” I guess it is not. So in the shortest possible form: There exist an imbalance of power between the people “on the inside” (or “on the couch”) and the people on the outside. Generally speaking, a business meant to exploit the imbalance is wrong. One that does so at the expanse of the outsiders and for the benefit of the insiders i…

thanks for the detailed points. again - merits to all your points but i think it's worth trying to think objectively about how to change and eliminate the imbalance.

we're not charging job seekers for the "hope" of getting the job. we're charging them to get the information that can begin to remove that imbalance - so they get the same information that insiders have on how to progress and penetrate elite careers.

if you don't think that's worth paying for, then it's the same as saying that paying for a private or Ivy League university is also wrong, because by attending one of those schools you become an insider and those in 4th and 5th tier schools are condemned to forever be outsiders.

If some novel solution doesn't creatively start bridging that gap - then what would you do to fix it?

Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#86

Post by iblaine »

First thing that comes to my mind is will any of these calls violate part of an employment agreement.

Consider a tech company that has unique problems for candidates to solve. A service like this could encourage an employee to get paid to release these problems to the public. In theory you'd hope an NDA stops this type of thing, but in practice a bit of money could incentivize people to do otherwise.

Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#87

Post by collyw »

ronilan wrote: post #72
ztratar wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to try to explain more, Ronilan?

It should be one of those things that are self-evident, but since YC backed this “thing” I guess it is not. So in the shortest possible form: There exist an imbalance of power between the people “on the inside” (or “on the couch”) and the people on the outside. Generally speaking, a business meant to exploit the imbalance is wrong. One that does so at the expanse of the outsiders and for the benefit of the insiders i…

The system could be gamed easily. How do I know the jobs are real?

Re: Launch HN: The Lobby (YC W18) – 1-on-1 calls with company insiders to get hired

#88

Post by dchhugani »

iblaine wrote: post #86

First thing that comes to my mind is will any of these calls violate part of an employment agreement. Consider a tech company that has unique problems for candidates to solve. A service like this could encourage an employee to get paid to release these problems to the public. In theory you'd hope an NDA stops this type of thing, but in practice a bit of money could incentivize people to do otherwise.

Definitely agree that this could be a problem.

Practically speaking - we keep identities anonymous and so employees are protected.

Ethically speaking - if you have a buddy inside the company, they'll tell you how to prep for these questions anyways.

It all comes back to our main point - if you don't have an inside connection, you don't get the juicy insights someone with that advantage does. So your odds of landing the job, let alone knowing what it takes to land it, are always lower. We bridge that gap - everything else in our view is a solvable problem because this engages current/former employees in the recruiting process + helps companies discover more talent.

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