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We pay our applicants $50/hour for the later stages of skills tests because they can take 15+ hours to complete. More details on previous comment if interested

We pay our applicants $50/hour for the later stages of skills tests because they can take 15+ hours to complete. More details on previous comment if interested: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20710884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20710884

pmiller2 7y ago
I read the linked comment. While I appreciate that the time commitment on your side is significant, and that a large part of the interview is paid, I don’t think I’d be willing to spend 16-18 hours, plus 1-2 workdays onsite to get a job. That’s basically 3-4 entire work days. Round up a little for all the preliminary tests before you even get to the 16-18 hours, and you might as well call it a full work week. What’s so compelling about your company that people are willing to put in 5x the time commitment to apply as for most other companies? I can literally do 4 rounds of “phone screen -> on-site” with other companies in that time. If I’m working, why would I want to blow 1/3 of my yearly vacation to go through one interview process?
- shishy 7y ago
  I get paid for it, and also get to work more closely with potential future teammates to better test the relationship. Having had interviews at companies where it was NOT as advertised during the interview phase, I'd value that. If I was already interviewing for another job outside of my existing one, I'd gladly take a week off to do it. But if they were trying to get me to leave a job I already liked, I wouldn't commit that much time for it.
- rsyring 7y ago
  I think, it ends up being different strokes for different folks. We have a very detailed, and for some, a very compelling job description and offer. The time commitment is relatively small up front and as they engage with us, they get a sense of who we are, how we operate, and they like it. So, by the time we ask if they want to put the time into the skills test, they've had a chance to evaluate us and ultimately feel like it's worth it. Simplisticly, it might boil down to something like a preference for quality* interviewing over quantity. * not saying our process is definitively better than others, just that some candidates want fewer interviews that they feel are a better potential fit for them.
- waisbrot 7y ago
  > What’s so compelling about your company Paying for the interview is compelling. Almost nobody does that, so it's a differentiator. My first assumption on hearing that is "it sounds like they respect their engineers as professionals more than most companies do".
  - wolco 7y ago
    3-4 days of testing with two being on site. They don't hire people who have jobs because no one would/could do this.
    - rsyring 7y ago
      We often hire people with jobs. At most, it's three work days needed. If that's a problem, we can do the proctored skills test on a Saturday and we can cut the on-site down to 1 day. That's then one business day needed. Most devs with existing jobs have good jobs with decent vacation/PTO policies. So they have days to invest if they want to. Don't be so quick to assume the worst. :)
wolco 7y ago
If you pay only for the later stages of skill tests that's 4-8 hours. You probably don't pay over $250. But you do use the work to build your backend/office applications. In the end you are paying someone $250 for a 15 hour project + two days of in person development time. Great idea. Many with follow. "The costs of travel and lodging are compensated at this stage, but we are not paying them hourly. The work they do for us is not customer based work and does not generate revenue for us."

pmiller2 7y ago

I read the linked comment. While I appreciate that the time commitment on your side is significant, and that a large part of the interview is paid, I don’t think I’d be willing to spend 16-18 hours, plus 1-2 workdays onsite to get a job. That’s basically 3-4 entire work days. Round up a little for all the preliminary tests before you even get to the 16-18 hours, and you might as well call it a full work week. What’s so compelling about your company that people are willing to put in 5x the time commitment to apply as for most other companies? I can literally do 4 rounds of “phone screen -> on-site” with other companies in that time. If I’m working, why would I want to blow 1/3 of my yearly vacation to go through one interview process?

shishy 7y ago
I get paid for it, and also get to work more closely with potential future teammates to better test the relationship. Having had interviews at companies where it was NOT as advertised during the interview phase, I'd value that. If I was already interviewing for another job outside of my existing one, I'd gladly take a week off to do it. But if they were trying to get me to leave a job I already liked, I wouldn't commit that much time for it.
rsyring 7y ago
I think, it ends up being different strokes for different folks. We have a very detailed, and for some, a very compelling job description and offer. The time commitment is relatively small up front and as they engage with us, they get a sense of who we are, how we operate, and they like it. So, by the time we ask if they want to put the time into the skills test, they've had a chance to evaluate us and ultimately feel like it's worth it. Simplisticly, it might boil down to something like a preference for quality* interviewing over quantity. * not saying our process is definitively better than others, just that some candidates want fewer interviews that they feel are a better potential fit for them.
waisbrot 7y ago
> What’s so compelling about your company Paying for the interview is compelling. Almost nobody does that, so it's a differentiator. My first assumption on hearing that is "it sounds like they respect their engineers as professionals more than most companies do".
- wolco 7y ago
  3-4 days of testing with two being on site. They don't hire people who have jobs because no one would/could do this.
  - rsyring 7y ago
    We often hire people with jobs. At most, it's three work days needed. If that's a problem, we can do the proctored skills test on a Saturday and we can cut the on-site down to 1 day. That's then one business day needed. Most devs with existing jobs have good jobs with decent vacation/PTO policies. So they have days to invest if they want to. Don't be so quick to assume the worst. :)

wolco 7y ago

If you pay only for the later stages of skill tests that's 4-8 hours. You probably don't pay over $250. But you do use the work to build your backend/office applications. In the end you are paying someone $250 for a 15 hour project + two days of in person development time. Great idea. Many with follow. "The costs of travel and lodging are compensated at this stage, but we are not paying them hourly. The work they do for us is not customer based work and does not generate revenue for us."