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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)

#51

Post by nicholasjbs »

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,…

Our goal is exactly the opposite: We want to make the hiring process more human.

The current job market is definitely a slog for non-engineers (somehow the market for engineers has remained strong). We'd like HireHive to be a way for people like your wife to be able to stand out from the crowd.

I'm in contact with a good number of companies that are hiring. I'd be happy to pass her info along if there's a good fit. Email me at nick [at] hirehive.com.

I appreciate your blunt feedback.

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

#52

Post by orangecat »

ktsmith wrote: post #31
nicholasjbs wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 engineer…

There's also the exact opposite issue for some people. I don't really have a problem opening up or making a personal connection in person. I cringe hearing or seeing myself on video. I can't stand it, even if I'm seeing a video of my son and I playing which I love. A company requiring a video recording as part of the application process would be an instant pass for me since you wouldn't be getting me, you'd be gettin…

Ditto. This strikes me as great for extroverts and terrible for introverts.

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

#53

Post by rdl »

old-gregg wrote: post #45
shazow wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily hundreds of times. My understanding of HireHive's model is that you could film yourself answering a set of questions once and include it in multiple similar job applications (at least some day). I look at video as a substitute for phone screenings rather than a substitute for a resume. I hate phone screenings.

It is not: a phone screening involves a mutual time investment - there's a live person taking time to talk to you on the phone, so the "time complexity" for both parties is O(n). Posting a list of questions and requiring candidates to film themselves is free, so it is O(1) for the employer but still O(n) for a candidate. Don't be naive, if this service becomes popular, employers will recognize this advantage and expl…

I already try to get transcripts/notes from interrogations^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hinterviews for this very reason. 90% of the information in 1% of the time (for a live interview, with hassle) or 10% of the time (for watching a recorded video/audio).

It's actually sort of good for marginal candidates, though -- if it costs me much less to interview 100 vs. 10 people, I might look over a lot of people who would get rejected at an even earlier stage otherwise.

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

#54

Post by ericd »

rdl wrote: post #11
rokhayakebe wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We did something similar with FacesForce.com and tried a few markets. Video is very tricky. It appears it is best to let users submit a video without being asked, but the issue with this is users do not want to pay. So the HH model will definitely bring in revenue faster. A few people are worried they may be discriminated against if they send a video, but if someone is going to disqualify you based on what they see,…

I think it's a lot easier for one interviewer in a team of a few, going over a big pool of applicants, to reject people for personal/stupid/illegal reasons if he can do so anonymously. Say there are 20 women applying out of 100; if only 5 people are brought in for in-person interviews, and 0 are women, it's a lot easier and less open to potential liability than if 5 candidates include one perfect female candidate and…

It's so weird and perhaps a sign that the US hiring market has some deep flaws that the discussion here has focused so much on discrimination. That really shouldn't be at the top of a business person's mind when they hire - hiring an employee is supposed to help make the company perform as best as it can in the future, full stop.

I see hire hives approach as great for everyone if they can execute well - it gives a much better idea of what a candidate is actually like than paper, without the expense or huge time sink (for both parties) of an in-person interview.

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

#55

Post by riffer »

nicholasjbs wrote: post #23
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 :)

This is the problem every startup faces when going against established competitors.

Only if the technology is trivial

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

#56

Post by coryl »

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.

If video is the most important thing in a YC app, why is it optional and not required?

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

#57

Post by cglee »

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 from around the world. They used us to test:

1. interpersonal skills & communication

2. language proficiency

How much time/money would it cost to coordinate and phone screen everyone?

We've also gotten a lot of interest from academic organizations, who need to process applicants every semester. We've especially been working with graduate departments, like MBA programs, who have a high number of international applicants. They use us because:

1. Time shifting - it's difficult to set up a mutual time with candidates around the world.

2. Language - many international applicants have through the roof English scores and can write like Steinbeck, but can't speak a lick.

3. Normalize interviews - different recruiters assess candidates with varying degrees of leniency. Active Interview lets the entire recruiting team view, score and comment on every candidate response. The scores are tallied and averaged.

4. Most candidates like taking a video interview over writing yet another essay.

I understand why some may be skeptical, but there's definitely a need for video interviewing for some types of organizations and I'm glad Hirehive is getting some publicity for all of us in this area.

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

#58

Post by pg »

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.

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

#59

Post by [deleted] »

[deleted] wrote: post #47
pg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

[deleted]

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

#60

Post by pg »

coryl wrote: post #56
pg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If video is the most important thing in a YC app, why is it optional and not required?

At first we didn't realize how useful it was. We kept the optional-ness afterward because it is itself a test.
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