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Summary
A discussion about hiring and applying for jobs. What’s the best way to find candidates? What makes for a good “help wanted” post/ad? What’s the key to a good cover letter? What happens in an interview with 37signals?
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Functional Illiterate
on 17 Jan 11Everyone’s resume can look alright, but you can’t fake the funk on a writing sample.
Nate
on 17 Jan 11Is this what you guys said you are using for personality tests?
http://www.calipercorp.com/
Would you be able to share any more details of that? Do you have a consultant with that company review the test and work with you guys on this stuff? Or do you just have a standardized test you bought from them that you analyze yourselves?
Eli
on 17 Jan 11I’m curious, is one of you criteria for hiring developers that they’ve shipped product? I have a theory that good developers have running apps in the wild… is that a valid requirement in your opinions?
Phil Willis
on 17 Jan 11Great to hear the inside workings of your recruitment process.
I’ve been involved in hiring programmers and engineering graduates for years – and it’s encouraging to hear people use methods and criteria other than just interviews to select their candidates.
Interviews alone are actually a pretty poor selection tool in working out whether someone is a good fit for a position.
Adding short work-related tests and personality profiles certainly makes a big difference.
It surprised me a little bit that you didn’t use a structured interview (or maybe you didn’t want to give away your special sauce).
Structured behavioral interviews where you ask about what people have actually done in the past are much more helpful than hypothetical “what would you do in this situation” questions.
Past behavior is the most reliable prediction for future behavior.
Thanks for the insights.
Steven
on 18 Jan 11The volume of shitty resumes and canned cover letters is insulting. Is it just me, or is it getting worse?
Michael
on 18 Jan 11The amount of bad job postings is increasing too.
Ian Lotinsky
on 18 Jan 11Steven@ and Michael@, as long as laziness and sense of entitlement continue to feed-off each other, the number of atrocious resumes and bad postings will multiply. It’s a sad assessment of where we’re headed, but I don’t mind it myself. It makes it easier to spot outliers as a hirer or as someone looking for a place to work.
hasen
on 20 Jan 11Are you really surprised that people apply for other companies? I don’t understand why you’re shocked. I’m surprised at your surprise.
Geoff
on 21 Jan 11I like almost everything I’m hearing about the hiring process, but I really don’t like filling out on-line personality assessments. I’m not saying they aren’t useful, but they kind of creep me out. I’m not completely sure why, maybe it feels a bit invasive, or that maybe I just don’t like the notion that someone thinks they can get a snapshot of my personality through a series of multiple choice questions? I dislike them enough that this might be the end of the hiring process for me as a candidate, though obviously if I want the job badly enough I might go ahead with it… anyway, kind of curious to see how other people feel about these.
This discussion is closed.