3 ms·

> I can sift a pile of 20-30 resumes in maybe 10 minutes and determine with near certainty the 20% or so that are even worth contacting. Devil's Advocate: Do y

> I can sift a pile of 20-30 resumes in maybe 10 minutes and determine with near certainty the 20% or so that are even worth contacting. Devil's Advocate: Do you contact the bottom 80%? When you encounter a dud in the top 20%, do you consider that a potential failure in filtering, or do you say "thank god we filtered out the other 80% who must be worse than this candidate!" It sounds to me like a process rife with feedback loops.

downerending 7y ago
It hasn't been my role to handle contacts. I hope the org is sending out "position has been filled" courtesy letters, but as a candidate, I usually don't care unless it's a position I was particularly hopeful about. To clarify, I don't consider anyone a "dud". I'll happily work with someone at any skill level as long as they want to learn and aren't a jerk. By "not worth contacting", I just mean that they're clearly dominated by the top 20% of the candidates, in terms of likely success in the role. Is there noise in all of this? Sure. Am I a genius? Yes, but not when it comes to hiring. ;-) I've been crapped on plenty by the hiring process (esp those FAANG weenies), so I try to be kind to everyone.
- reificator 7y ago
  I'm not talking about contacting people to tell them you didn't hire them. I'm saying, you're taking 20%, claiming it's the top 20%, and saying they're the ones who will be successful in the role. But if you're only ever talking to that "top 20%", then you don't know whether they're really the best.
  - downerending 7y ago
    That's true. I'm making a guess based on the limited time I can spend--that's part of why resumes are so valuable. In my limited experience, there tends to be a fairly pronounced cutoff below which candidates obviously lack the basic skills or inclination for the position, or even didn't bother to read the job spec at all.

downerending 7y ago

It hasn't been my role to handle contacts. I hope the org is sending out "position has been filled" courtesy letters, but as a candidate, I usually don't care unless it's a position I was particularly hopeful about. To clarify, I don't consider anyone a "dud". I'll happily work with someone at any skill level as long as they want to learn and aren't a jerk. By "not worth contacting", I just mean that they're clearly dominated by the top 20% of the candidates, in terms of likely success in the role. Is there noise in all of this? Sure. Am I a genius? Yes, but not when it comes to hiring. ;-) I've been crapped on plenty by the hiring process (esp those FAANG weenies), so I try to be kind to everyone.

reificator 7y ago
I'm not talking about contacting people to tell them you didn't hire them. I'm saying, you're taking 20%, claiming it's the top 20%, and saying they're the ones who will be successful in the role. But if you're only ever talking to that "top 20%", then you don't know whether they're really the best.
- downerending 7y ago
  That's true. I'm making a guess based on the limited time I can spend--that's part of why resumes are so valuable. In my limited experience, there tends to be a fairly pronounced cutoff below which candidates obviously lack the basic skills or inclination for the position, or even didn't bother to read the job spec at all.