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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)

#21

Post by nicholasjbs »

warpwoof wrote: post #7

My initial response is definitely skeptical. If I'm asked to record a video for an interview question, I'm going to write down my answer first, and then read it in a casual way. You're going to be judging my skill at speaking into a little square at the top of a computer. I hope this isn't treated as a tool to judge interpersonal skills. What value is added, beyond making it easier to dismiss people based on appearan…

I appreciate your skepticism :) We think there's actually a lot you can learn about someone by watching and listening to them speak, particularly when they're talking about what they're passionate about or why they want to work at your company.

Another advantage is that, for some people at least, it's a lot easier to just record yourself speaking for 60 seconds than to write a cover letter (which have become engineered to point of being pretty bland, IMHO).

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

#22

Post by starkfist »

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…

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

why?

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

#23

Post by nicholasjbs »

cal5k wrote: post #19

The idea is actually a good one, but there is much talk of "killing" Monster.com - what's to stop Monster.com from developing a similar scheme and piloting it to its massive user base as soon as this idea catches on?

This is the problem every startup faces when going against established competitors. We have to compete by focusing, working fast, and always doing right by our users and customers :)

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

#24

Post by detst »

warpwoof wrote: post #7

My initial response is definitely skeptical. If I'm asked to record a video for an interview question, I'm going to write down my answer first, and then read it in a casual way. You're going to be judging my skill at speaking into a little square at the top of a computer. I hope this isn't treated as a tool to judge interpersonal skills. What value is added, beyond making it easier to dismiss people based on appearan…

Agreed. I'm pretty good in interviews because I can interact with the interviewer, making a personal connection that calms me down and then I'm just myself.

This sounds of little value beyond evaluation of acting skills. Might be of some use for a sales position.

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

#25

Post by nicholasjbs »

rdl wrote: post #13
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 think you're right to want people to be off the cuff, and also relaxed. I would personally try to emulate the traditional phone interview, optionally with video -- start off with some chitchat and background on the company to get candidates comfortable, and then ask questions which demand immediate and realtime, unrehearsed responses. You have the chance of making the process more efficient, especially when there a…

Thanks, these are all excellent suggestions! I particularly like the idea of having companies post intro videos to help set the tone and make people feel a little more comfortable.

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

#26

Post by coryl »

kiba wrote: post #16
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.

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?

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

#27

Post by dannyr »

There is a startup called SayHired.com that does something similar but just audio. They found a niche with call center agents.

I'm not entirely sold yet that this is good for hiring developers since some of us are probably not comfortable talking on video.

Maybe the niche for this service is for hiring receptionists or sales/marketing people.

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

#29

Post by nicholasjbs »

rdl wrote: post #20
MichaelGlass wrote: post #17

I wonder how many of these comments are based on experience hiring. The challenge isn't from the applicant's standpoint but from the other end. Certainly video can be used for discrimination. But that is absolutely not the only use case.

I have hired for or at 5 companies so far. I've never used video, and I have hired people based solely on phone conversations, or IRC conversations -- but usually phone/irc followed by an in-person interview. I can't think of any value of recorded video over realtime chat for anything except "create a video clip for me!" For a sales job involving in-person meetings with clients, a realtime video chat might be a bit b…

The response we've heard so far is that companies have found the videos to be quite helpful. We don't see them as a replacement for the entire hiring process, and certainly for hiring developers it's still important to do in-person interviews, have them write code (which they can also do using HireHive, since we support multiple types of responses, not just videos), etc.

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

#30

Post by kiba »

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?

The boarder definition of discrimination is well...judgement.
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