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

Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 51 posts

Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#1

Post by shail »

Hello Everyone,

TL;DR

I am offering interview as a service (taking first round on your behalf) for technical roles (0-8 yrs exp) for $150 each. Would you be interested?

Generally (assumption) even after the resume has been filtered by HR folks (who are mostly non-tech), you end up with 1 out of 5 candidate cleared after the telephonic rounds. This is definitely time consuming as developers are getting involved here and their hours are getting wasted.

If you do the calculation (assumption here), so to hire 1 candidate, you end up wasting 15-20 hours (at least) of developers time on unsuccessful interviews.

My proposal:

I will study your company, team and requirements beforehand.

Once you have identified a candidate, you can let me know and I will conduct the first round and give you a feedback.

My assumption again, this will improve the ratio to 1 out of 2. My confidence is that it will be far better than 0.5

Who can I interview: Technical (hands on) roles for software development (for startups and bigger corporations). Experience 0-8 yrs.

What can I interview: CS fundamentals (OS, systems, networking, DB, Algorithms, Data Structures etc.), Technologies: C/C++, Ruby, RoR, HTML, Javascript.

I believe that cs fundamentals are the key though.

Pricing: $150 per interview (payable by paypal or direct account transfer to bank of america)

I think this proposal suits small to medium sized startups.

About me: I have BS (IIT G) and MS (USC) in computer science with more than 8 years of work experience. 2-3 years on RoR.

I have given tons of interview and taken tons of them too during my career.

You can checkout more about me at: http://shail2.co Contact me at: shail2@live.com, if interested.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#3

Post by MaggieL »

If I were hiring somebody to do tech interviews for me I'd want them to have broader skills than "what I learned in school + Ruby". But frankly, the idea of hiring somebody to do interviews for me sounds a bit like hiring somebody to sleep with my lover...it's a job that really should be done personally.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#4

Post by shail »

MaggieL wrote: post #3

If I were hiring somebody to do tech interviews for me I'd want them to have broader skills than "what I learned in school + Ruby". But frankly, the idea of hiring somebody to do interviews for me sounds a bit like hiring somebody to sleep with my lover...it's a job that really should be done personally.

Sorry if I miscommunicated. I think you should go through my resume.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#5

Post by quesera »

Interesting idea.

This is part of what employers think they're buying when they use a recruiter to bring in candidates. Of course they aren't getting what they pay for, and there's also the problem of inherently misaligned interests.

You might be able to sell that same service to job-seekers too. Many candidates are so poorly practiced that they hide genuine talent. Some are even aware of those shortcomings.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#6

Post by ciclista »

I haven't done that many interviews, so take this FWIW, but I'd be reluctant to be interviewed by a 3rd party. I'd have no way of getting a feel for company culture, plus you probably wouldn't be able to answer MY questions about the company.

If you're focusing on the tech only, it's still another layer that adds more time and money, plus if it's specialized enough they'd probably do an internal review of code samples anyway.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#7

Post by quesera »

MaggieL wrote: post #3

If I were hiring somebody to do tech interviews for me I'd want them to have broader skills than "what I learned in school + Ruby". But frankly, the idea of hiring somebody to do interviews for me sounds a bit like hiring somebody to sleep with my lover...it's a job that really should be done personally.

> it's a job that really should be done personally.

He's not proposing to hire the person for you, just to be an objective, presumably talented and qualified interviewer.

To use your analogy, he's the friend that vets the suitor, or offers a (solicited) opinion on your paramour. Nice line tho.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#8

Post by shail »

quesera wrote: post #5

Interesting idea. This is part of what employers think they're buying when they use a recruiter to bring in candidates. Of course they aren't getting what they pay for, and there's also the problem of inherently misaligned interests. You might be able to sell that same service to job-seekers too. Many candidates are so poorly practiced that they hide genuine talent. Some are even aware of those shortcomings.

Absolutely agree with that. A few rounds of practice before appearing will not hurt and will definitely increase your chances. But I am guessing selling it to fellow developers will be difficult. So I am starting with companies. But I agree with your idea and will give your idea a try as well.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#9

Post by shail »

ciclista wrote: post #6

I haven't done that many interviews, so take this FWIW, but I'd be reluctant to be interviewed by a 3rd party. I'd have no way of getting a feel for company culture, plus you probably wouldn't be able to answer MY questions about the company. If you're focusing on the tech only, it's still another layer that adds more time and money, plus if it's specialized enough they'd probably do an internal review of code sample…

Valid points for sure. This is one of the downsides. But if you clear this round you are definitely going to talk to them. Its just that instead of answering those initial filtering questions to them, you would answer to me and I will convey that to them.

But I see your point and its a good point to consider before considering my idea.

Re: Ask HN: Interview as a Service – Any interest?

#10

Post by potatolicious »

shail wrote: post #9
ciclista wrote: post #6

I haven't done that many interviews, so take this FWIW, but I'd be reluctant to be interviewed by a 3rd party. I'd have no way of getting a feel for company culture, plus you probably wouldn't be able to answer MY questions about the company. If you're focusing on the tech only, it's still another layer that adds more time and money, plus if it's specialized enough they'd probably do an internal review of code sample…

Valid points for sure. This is one of the downsides. But if you clear this round you are definitely going to talk to them. Its just that instead of answering those initial filtering questions to them, you would answer to me and I will convey that to them. But I see your point and its a good point to consider before considering my idea.

Right, so the candidate has everything to lose and nothing to gain. The only beneficiary is the employer - which in the current supply/demand climate for engineers, makes the viability of this idea suspect.
Post reply on HN