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That's assuming Automatic really is a great place to work. Why would anyone believe that Automatic is such a great place to work if they value the time of thei

That's assuming Automatic really is a great place to work. Why would anyone believe that Automatic is such a great place to work if they value the time of their candidates so little? If they think it's fine to throw an extra 10 hours/week of work at candidates for little to no pay, how will they treat you once you're salaried? They may think that this is the one true hiring system, but it's seriously weird. Other companies have figured out how to hire people without this nonsense. Imagine if this was the standard in the industry. Some company would have the brilliant idea of hiring people without a 2 month trial period and write a breathless blog post about how they're so cool that they hire people based on interviews alone! HN would go nuts over this forward thinking company that treats its candidates so much better.

blowski 7y ago
I don’t work there, but have a few friends who do, and they have all said it’s a great company to work for and the compensation is good.
breck 7y ago
> if they value the time of their candidates so little? Get out of the bubble anonCow. $25/hour is nearly double the USA median wage, for a trial position. Here's a dirty little secret for you: the only reason software developers are making unnaturally high amounts relative to everyone else is because of unjust intellectual monopoly laws.
lsinger 7y ago
I don’t think that companies in general have really figured out hiring. I liked the trial at Automattic much more than whiteboard coding and theoretical architectural discussions. And it also helped me find out whether I would like to work there — it’s a trial in both directions, really. For the applicant it’s a much better way to figure out whether they like the company and its people than, say, things a recruiter tells you on the phone. I can’t find the study right now, but there was one that evaluated predictors of job performance and found that only work samples and general cognitive ability were really usable and reliable measures.
sailfast 7y ago
Isn't the purpose of the trial so that you can figure that out? It beats on-site full day unpaid demo work, gives you a task and allows you to work remotely with a team around the world for a wage outside of working hours. Seems pretty straightforward to me. It avoids a lot of risk / heartburn on all sides to figure out early if the (relatively novel remote work culture there) is going to work out.

blowski 7y ago

I don’t work there, but have a few friends who do, and they have all said it’s a great company to work for and the compensation is good.

breck 7y ago

> if they value the time of their candidates so little? Get out of the bubble anonCow. $25/hour is nearly double the USA median wage, for a trial position. Here's a dirty little secret for you: the only reason software developers are making unnaturally high amounts relative to everyone else is because of unjust intellectual monopoly laws.

lsinger 7y ago

I don’t think that companies in general have really figured out hiring. I liked the trial at Automattic much more than whiteboard coding and theoretical architectural discussions. And it also helped me find out whether I would like to work there — it’s a trial in both directions, really. For the applicant it’s a much better way to figure out whether they like the company and its people than, say, things a recruiter tells you on the phone. I can’t find the study right now, but there was one that evaluated predictors of job performance and found that only work samples and general cognitive ability were really usable and reliable measures.

sailfast 7y ago

Isn't the purpose of the trial so that you can figure that out? It beats on-site full day unpaid demo work, gives you a task and allows you to work remotely with a team around the world for a wage outside of working hours. Seems pretty straightforward to me. It avoids a lot of risk / heartburn on all sides to figure out early if the (relatively novel remote work culture there) is going to work out.