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Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

newscientist.com

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Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#11

Post by tptacek »

bcg1 wrote: post #10

I like the idea, although personally I wouldn't be excited about being "interviewed" like this. I am supportive of its existence however because it has definite upsides (i'm sure there are more, just enumerating a few): 1) eliminates some cultural/gender/language/fashion/appearance/disability biases 2) its not subjective 3) no difference between local and out-of-town candidates I'm glad that the toolbox for candidate…

The biggest misconception we've managed to foster about what we're doing is that Starfighter is a form of interview. It isn't. At all. A better way to think about it is that it's a sort of Venn intersection between "Github resume", "Coursera course", "Dwarf Fortress", and "recruiting firm".

Our crusade against the tech job interview is roughly analogous to Google's "organizing all of the world's information". It's a mission statement, but it isn't a description of our first offering.

That said: the technology we're working on ports beautifully to actual interview processes (it came from a successful process I built at Matasano). We're also very happy to talk to companies building hiring processes and evangelize and help. Companies with smart, modern hiring processes are especially fertile ground for what we're doing, so we'd like to help more of them come into being!

Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#13

Post by ZebraCakes »

tptacek wrote: post #11
bcg1 wrote: post #10

I like the idea, although personally I wouldn't be excited about being "interviewed" like this. I am supportive of its existence however because it has definite upsides (i'm sure there are more, just enumerating a few): 1) eliminates some cultural/gender/language/fashion/appearance/disability biases 2) its not subjective 3) no difference between local and out-of-town candidates I'm glad that the toolbox for candidate…

The biggest misconception we've managed to foster about what we're doing is that Starfighter is a form of interview. It isn't. At all. A better way to think about it is that it's a sort of Venn intersection between "Github resume", "Coursera course", "Dwarf Fortress", and "recruiting firm". Our crusade against the tech job interview is roughly analogous to Google's "organizing all of the world's information". It's a…

Will Starfighter be focusing mostly on security? That seems to be most of the examples that I find, and it's not a field I'm terribly interested in. I love the idea though, and would like to see it applied to other areas.

Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#15

Post by patio11 »

waspleg wrote: post #12

Because IT worker shortage, right? (Now with more flaming hoops!!)

Companies which are satisfied with their ability to hire and employees who are satisfied with their ability to find jobs don't have to even care we exist, though they're certainly welcome to play our games.

Sadly, many companies are dissatisfied with their ability to hire and many qualified engineers are dissatisfied with their ability to secure desirable jobs. In economics, they call this a market failure. In CS, a search problem. In business, "a shedload of money available for the taking."

In Starfighter, I guess we categorize that as "the mid-boss."

Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#16

Post by tptacek »

ZebraCakes wrote: post #13
tptacek wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest misconception we've managed to foster about what we're doing is that Starfighter is a form of interview. It isn't. At all. A better way to think about it is that it's a sort of Venn intersection between "Github resume", "Coursera course", "Dwarf Fortress", and "recruiting firm". Our crusade against the tech job interview is roughly analogous to Google's "organizing all of the world's information". It's a…

Will Starfighter be focusing mostly on security? That seems to be most of the examples that I find, and it's not a field I'm terribly interested in. I love the idea though, and would like to see it applied to other areas.

Security is the through-line of the game; it gives us structure, incentives, little dopamine hits, and makes it so that the systems we're building reward exploration. But the game is not about security; it's about programming and interacting with complex systems.

If you're a software developer with no security domain expertise, one benefit of goofing around with Starfighter is that you'll come out knowing a lot more about software security. But it's not a tool for getting people security jobs.

It'll make a little more sense when Erin posts the game details.

Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#17

Post by patio11 »

ZebraCakes wrote: post #13
tptacek wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest misconception we've managed to foster about what we're doing is that Starfighter is a form of interview. It isn't. At all. A better way to think about it is that it's a sort of Venn intersection between "Github resume", "Coursera course", "Dwarf Fortress", and "recruiting firm". Our crusade against the tech job interview is roughly analogous to Google's "organizing all of the world's information". It's a…

Will Starfighter be focusing mostly on security? That seems to be most of the examples that I find, and it's not a field I'm terribly interested in. I love the idea though, and would like to see it applied to other areas.

We will not primarily be a security company. It's a fun and interesting field(s), but it's a small subset of engineering skill, and we plan to be substantially broader in focus.

Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#18

Post by ConfuciusSay »

This is awesome. I'll definitely become an avid player, right after I contribute meaningfully to several open source projects, have an active GitHub profile, while keeping my Stack Overflow reputation high, and having a fleshed out CodeCombat profile, and of course making sure my LinkedIn page is up to snuff.

I hope when I get this awesome job my employer doesn't mind me keeping all my profiles updated on company hours!

Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#19

Post by sputknick »

Would this be a good way to teach my son technical skills? He's 6 years old, homeschooled and is interested in technology. He's already figured out how to bipass the parental controls on his Kindle. We're trying to figure out how to stimulate that desire when you can't read well yet.

Re: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best

#20

Post by log_n »

bcg1 wrote: post #10

I like the idea, although personally I wouldn't be excited about being "interviewed" like this. I am supportive of its existence however because it has definite upsides (i'm sure there are more, just enumerating a few): 1) eliminates some cultural/gender/language/fashion/appearance/disability biases 2) its not subjective 3) no difference between local and out-of-town candidates I'm glad that the toolbox for candidate…

I am super excited for these gaming hiring funnels to take off due to your first reason. Dollars to donuts there's a ton of unidentified talent out there that is being filtered out due to those biases (I would also add in academic pedigree bias which is correlated with economic/cultural upbringing). Granted these types of funnels also select for those who have free time to play games so they are not perfect.

Knack, the other company mentioned in the article, seems to have profiles with pictures and names that I assume are visible to hiring managers and others. In my opinion that's a bad move. I want to see a completely objective view of how a candidate is performing without age/experience/appearance getting in the way. These gaming funnels aren't perfect solutions but they are certainly a step in the right direction.

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