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Should be reposted into almost every HN discussion on startup hiring. Conclusion summarizes nicely: > If we brought you in for an interview, we already think y

Should be reposted into almost every HN discussion on startup hiring. Conclusion summarizes nicely: > If we brought you in for an interview, we already think you’re awesome. Period. Now we’re just trying to figure out if you narrowly intersect the skill sets we are lacking that we need to succeed this year... We know this is as much of a referendum on us as it is on you. And we are not perfect.

linuxftw 7y ago
I think this applies to some companies and not others. In my personal experience, if you aren't interviewing for an exact role and you don't speak with the manager you'll be working under before going on site, you're going to have to impress random people in the room and convince them that you're some kind of superstar.
- ghaff 7y ago
  Yeah, I'd replace "awesome" with "interesting," "has potential," etc. Not always. Sometimes it's someone people know or their resume seems just a perfect fit if they're half as good in person. But, in my experience, more often than not making it to the onsite stage means they got through some pretty preliminary screening.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
commandlinefan 7y ago
… if the only person you’re thinking about is yourself, sure. But it’s really shitty to ask somebody to take time off (from the other job that they likely already have) for an in-person interview if you’re not already pretty sure that it’s going to be a good fit. If you’re rejecting 90% of the in-person interviewees without pre-screening them first, you’re a bad person and you should feel bad.
- theshrike79 7y ago
  How would you pre-screen for culture fit an personality? I think there’s a prejudice here for huge American cities where an in-person interview might be hours of commuting both ways on top of the actual interview. In Europe it’s most likely a 20 minute drive or a short bus/metro ride away, something you can tackle just by arriving a bit late to your actual job or leaving early. Or just during a long lunch.
  - itronitron 7y ago
    I think the reasonable way to do this prior to an onsite interview is by having two different phone screens, first one with the recruiter, second one more technical or with the hiring manager. They can then compare notes and see if the candidate checks all the requisite boxes from a social/professional interaction viewpoint.
itronitron 7y ago
The flaw in this approach is that it assumes that people aren't capable of adding to their skill set in the time that it will take the company to find another 'awesome' candidate.

linuxftw 7y ago

I think this applies to some companies and not others. In my personal experience, if you aren't interviewing for an exact role and you don't speak with the manager you'll be working under before going on site, you're going to have to impress random people in the room and convince them that you're some kind of superstar.

ghaff 7y ago
Yeah, I'd replace "awesome" with "interesting," "has potential," etc. Not always. Sometimes it's someone people know or their resume seems just a perfect fit if they're half as good in person. But, in my experience, more often than not making it to the onsite stage means they got through some pretty preliminary screening.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

commandlinefan 7y ago

… if the only person you’re thinking about is yourself, sure. But it’s really shitty to ask somebody to take time off (from the other job that they likely already have) for an in-person interview if you’re not already pretty sure that it’s going to be a good fit. If you’re rejecting 90% of the in-person interviewees without pre-screening them first, you’re a bad person and you should feel bad.

theshrike79 7y ago
How would you pre-screen for culture fit an personality? I think there’s a prejudice here for huge American cities where an in-person interview might be hours of commuting both ways on top of the actual interview. In Europe it’s most likely a 20 minute drive or a short bus/metro ride away, something you can tackle just by arriving a bit late to your actual job or leaving early. Or just during a long lunch.
- itronitron 7y ago
  I think the reasonable way to do this prior to an onsite interview is by having two different phone screens, first one with the recruiter, second one more technical or with the hiring manager. They can then compare notes and see if the candidate checks all the requisite boxes from a social/professional interaction viewpoint.

itronitron 7y ago

The flaw in this approach is that it assumes that people aren't capable of adding to their skill set in the time that it will take the company to find another 'awesome' candidate.