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Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

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Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#91

Post by [deleted] »

eightys3v3n wrote: post #76
thaumasiotes wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is raising the stated qualifications going to help with that?

Well, if the majority of candidates are applying to a job where they only meet four out of five of the requirements, if the employer can add a sixth requirement they may naively think then applicants will have five out of six requirements. Alternatively, if they receive too many applications, a solution is to be more specific so they receive fewer or they can filter out more earlier. Adding additional requirements is…

[deleted]

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#92

Post by avmich »

x0x0 wrote: post #43
vulcan01 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the flood of obviously not qualified at all applicants we got was insane From speaking to folks looking for jobs in tech over the past few years, this is a natural result. 1. Companies write requirements on the job posting that are a little beyond reasonable for the role and salary. 2. Applicants learn over time, and start applying to jobs for which they only meet most of the qualifications. 3. Companies adjust and…

The last req I opened I closed around 500 applicants. I opened it Thursday afternoon and closed it Tuesday morning. Over 40% were totally nonqualified. The job was for a rails engineer. In the current market, I wanted exactly what I asked for: a senior rails eng. But as long as the applicant had shipped a web app in a dynamic language -- node, react, vue, svelte, django, flask, phoenix, whatever the php folks use, et…

> And I can't be in a position where I spend effort while the applicant spent none

Looks like the root point of the arms race.

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#93

Post by Amezarak »

mckn1ght wrote: post #17
ralph84 wrote: post #5

They already do this, listen to the radio at off hours and there will be many job ads with instructions to apply via postal mail. Of course the reason isn't to deter LLMs it's to deter Americans so the employer can claim no Americans applied in their visa and green card filings.

Do FAANG, FAANG wannabes, or startups do this for software development roles? I've never heard of that.

Yes.

https://www.newsweek.com/h1b-job-ads-green-cards-targeted-im...

https://www.jobs.now/

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#94

Post by nradov »

vulcan01 wrote: post #18
stackskipton wrote: post #6

After seeing the flood of resumes for application, I do think a small cost to apply wouldn't be a bad thing for either applicants or companies. I also realize that if someone is unemployed, getting them to pay money they don't have to find a new job is counterproductive. However, when we wanted to hire a new Ops person at work, the flood of obviously not qualified at all applicants we got was insane.

> the flood of obviously not qualified at all applicants we got was insane From speaking to folks looking for jobs in tech over the past few years, this is a natural result. 1. Companies write requirements on the job posting that are a little beyond reasonable for the role and salary. 2. Applicants learn over time, and start applying to jobs for which they only meet most of the qualifications. 3. Companies adjust and…

That's nothing new. From the job applicant perspective it has always been stupid to filter yourself out if you're even slightly qualified. I mean if you're already unemployed then you have plenty of free time to submit applications so there's nothing to lose.

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#95

Post by pixl97 »

staticshock wrote: post #48

Instead, the approach that will continue increasing in dominance is hiring referrals and finding jobs through personal networks. In a world that increasingly resembles The Library of Babel, - the main way to know what's true is to tune into news sources you trust (monolithic old school media, or personality driven new-school media, social media, etc.), - the main way to learn what to watch/listen/read is to take reco…

>monolithic old school media,

Unfortunately these have been bought up by billionaires that use them as play things to get richer.

>from people you trust,

In one particular area where they understand what is going on. I have lawyers I would trust with my life on legal matters, but should not be trusted around any digital device.

>y exploiting a network of people you trust.

agreed, but sucks for people that don't have that.

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#96

Post by pixl97 »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #62
ralph84 wrote: post #5

They already do this, listen to the radio at off hours and there will be many job ads with instructions to apply via postal mail. Of course the reason isn't to deter LLMs it's to deter Americans so the employer can claim no Americans applied in their visa and green card filings.

As much hate as H1Bs get, I’ve worked at two large companies where the publicly posted salary range for H1B applications were consistently higher than my own. In all humility, I was more qualified and more experienced than required by the position. Maybe there is a dearth of talent, maybe it’s about control, maybe is someone trying to get a friend hired. I don’t think it’s about the money.

> maybe it’s about control, maybe is someone trying to get a friend hired

Control of the employee is a huge one.

When telling a US citizen they have to work 80s, the citizen can tell you to fuck off and leave for the weekend. The H1B debates the risk of their visa not getting renewed/revoked.

The second issue is a huge problem in some large companies. Instead of a branch being a random assortment of people based on merit it becomes a tight knit group based on loyalty to the person that got them hired with few actual interests in the company itself. These can become serious risks for companies as classism and racism very commonly occur. Also with everyone covering for everyone else fraud and other means of overcoming accounting controls is at higher risk of occurring.

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#97

Post by pixl97 »

behringer wrote: post #51
mckn1ght wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for me, I'd still rather mail a letter versus input all my personal details and job experience into yet another CRM with a crappy data entry interface.

Oh no, you still have to do that too.

"Thank you for uploading the PDF with all the information we need. Now, fill all that information in on this page that asks for 2 bits of information at a time and takes a minute to go to the next page. You are on page 1 of 50".

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#98

Post by pavel_lishin »

> Handwriting is unique- if you're skeptical that an applicant wrote/sent the original letter, witness them write something else and compare

I like this suggestion, but please don't practice some equivalent of phrenology to deny me a job.

Re: Employers, please use postmarked letters for job applications (2025)

#100

Post by mckn1ght »

mejutoco wrote: post #85
mckn1ght wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do FAANG, FAANG wannabes, or startups do this for software development roles? I've never heard of that.

Remember when they would put some minor text in the dev console with some sort of challenge? That was an interesting approach.

The one where the google results page would open up and show an application to apply was cool.
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