5 ms·

Also other trends that, thankfully in my experience, have not yet made their way to tech. I suspect it is only a matter of time, though... A lot of non-techni

Also other trends that, thankfully in my experience, have not yet made their way to tech. I suspect it is only a matter of time, though... A lot of non-technical positions I have seen and heard about (including non entry-level positions) require a video of the candidate to describe themselves and why they would be a good fit for the position. That just sounds awful to me.

agumonkey 7y ago
Is it that different from a cover letter ?
- steve_taylor 7y ago
  Yes. It’s a tool to filter candidates based on race and appearance.
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    oh yeah, I was totally naive.
- samkater 7y ago
  For some people maybe not. A video would be far more stressful for me. I'm sure my voice would be up an octave (along with my blood pressure) trying to get the recording just right. Speaking aloud is also not my forte. One benefit of a cover letter is it is easier to re-use the base story and update the details as appropriate. Unless you want to spend time editing (which depending on your skill impacts the quality) you have to re-record the whole thing.
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    I find motivation letters to be stressful too and an emotional rape 99% of the time (I just want a job). Hence my question, a video would be just a tiny step lower in happiness compared to a letter.
    - Aeolun 7y ago
      Nah, when I write something wrong in a letter. I just backspace and fix it there and then. The one time I recorded a video I had to redo it like 10 times and I eventually just submitted it because I was tired of the shit.
  - BlueTemplar 7y ago
    I was taught that the CV was to be re-used, but the cover letter written from scratch each time after researching the company?
    - Aeolun 7y ago
      I have found that 0% of my cover letters have made any difference. Every company that required a cover letter has so far rejected me.
- bllguo 7y ago
  well adding the visual element just introduces another source of bias.. and even if we set that aside, depending on the position it may be selecting for an irrelevant skill cover letters are terrible anyway. the signal to noise ratio there must be comical.
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    what are better recruitment ideas replacing cover letters ? (honest question)
    - bllguo 7y ago
      I wish I had answers. I don't - I just know that cover letters aren't it. I've been on both sides of hiring at this point. On the applicant side, I have never seen any indication that anyone has ever read my cover letters. Writing them is a chore. And though my sample size is very limited, I have never had success with bespoke cover letters/cold emails/etc.; the time has always been better spent on reaching more people. On the hiring side, I've read a few cover letters. Nothing has ever stood out. I read it over once and that's that. Honestly I feel like it can only hurt you. What kind of powerful, moving statement could you possibly write that would persuade someone to give you a chance when you otherwise had none? I'm sure it's happened, but to force people to write these things at the cost of millions of man-hours, just to cover this absurdly rare and mythical case? And on the other side, there are so many things you could do in a cover letter that would give a _negative_ impression. Maybe the tone is inappropriate, or there are inadvertent grammatical errors, or it's written poorly, and on and on and on. Just more exposed surface area for the naturally critical interviewer's mind to attack.
      - agumonkey 7y ago
        Often I think all these (cover letters are not the only artefact) are just postural items to see who's gonna make the effort no matter what use it has. A kind of faith leap.
        7y ago
tmpz22 7y ago
You'd think this would be a massive liability seeing the candidate's race, sex, attractiveness, etc. Unless that was the intention so that they could optimize for specific demographics they want to hire for - even if it is illegal.
ros65536 7y ago
I've had that exact thing happen to me once, and it was for a developer internship position no less. This type of stuff might be coming, at least where I am currently.
bobbytran 7y ago
One company said I had to make a video of myself..and then the final interview would be singing a song of my choice in front of the entire company through video conferencing. This was for a software engineer position. I didn't even bother going on the interview. I feel like the purpose was to see what they could get you to do.
- itronitron 7y ago
  I want to interview at this company just so I can rick-roll them during the song singing part.
  - Aeolun 7y ago
    And force them to listen to the entire song.
- runawaybottle 7y ago
  Wait, so, you did’t find them having you sing a song to be a light hearted suggestion that would warm you to their apparently super fun culture?
- cableshaft 7y ago
  You should have gone to the interview and chosen this as your song to sing (the company song from the Postal movie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnb7WdHEPao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnb7WdHEPao
Aperocky 7y ago
Been through that one time, I should do more of those and just sing Merry Christmas for fun, ideal for wasting time and potentially lighten up the day of the other person who had to watch/listen to these nonsense.

agumonkey 7y ago

Is it that different from a cover letter ?

steve_taylor 7y ago
Yes. It’s a tool to filter candidates based on race and appearance.
- agumonkey 7y ago
  oh yeah, I was totally naive.
samkater 7y ago
For some people maybe not. A video would be far more stressful for me. I'm sure my voice would be up an octave (along with my blood pressure) trying to get the recording just right. Speaking aloud is also not my forte. One benefit of a cover letter is it is easier to re-use the base story and update the details as appropriate. Unless you want to spend time editing (which depending on your skill impacts the quality) you have to re-record the whole thing.
- agumonkey 7y ago
  I find motivation letters to be stressful too and an emotional rape 99% of the time (I just want a job). Hence my question, a video would be just a tiny step lower in happiness compared to a letter.
  - Aeolun 7y ago
    Nah, when I write something wrong in a letter. I just backspace and fix it there and then. The one time I recorded a video I had to redo it like 10 times and I eventually just submitted it because I was tired of the shit.
- BlueTemplar 7y ago
  I was taught that the CV was to be re-used, but the cover letter written from scratch each time after researching the company?
  - Aeolun 7y ago
    I have found that 0% of my cover letters have made any difference. Every company that required a cover letter has so far rejected me.
bllguo 7y ago
well adding the visual element just introduces another source of bias.. and even if we set that aside, depending on the position it may be selecting for an irrelevant skill cover letters are terrible anyway. the signal to noise ratio there must be comical.
- agumonkey 7y ago
  what are better recruitment ideas replacing cover letters ? (honest question)
  - bllguo 7y ago
    I wish I had answers. I don't - I just know that cover letters aren't it. I've been on both sides of hiring at this point. On the applicant side, I have never seen any indication that anyone has ever read my cover letters. Writing them is a chore. And though my sample size is very limited, I have never had success with bespoke cover letters/cold emails/etc.; the time has always been better spent on reaching more people. On the hiring side, I've read a few cover letters. Nothing has ever stood out. I read it over once and that's that. Honestly I feel like it can only hurt you. What kind of powerful, moving statement could you possibly write that would persuade someone to give you a chance when you otherwise had none? I'm sure it's happened, but to force people to write these things at the cost of millions of man-hours, just to cover this absurdly rare and mythical case? And on the other side, there are so many things you could do in a cover letter that would give a _negative_ impression. Maybe the tone is inappropriate, or there are inadvertent grammatical errors, or it's written poorly, and on and on and on. Just more exposed surface area for the naturally critical interviewer's mind to attack.
    - agumonkey 7y ago
      Often I think all these (cover letters are not the only artefact) are just postural items to see who's gonna make the effort no matter what use it has. A kind of faith leap.
      - 7y ago

tmpz22 7y ago

You'd think this would be a massive liability seeing the candidate's race, sex, attractiveness, etc. Unless that was the intention so that they could optimize for specific demographics they want to hire for - even if it is illegal.

ros65536 7y ago

I've had that exact thing happen to me once, and it was for a developer internship position no less. This type of stuff might be coming, at least where I am currently.

bobbytran 7y ago

One company said I had to make a video of myself..and then the final interview would be singing a song of my choice in front of the entire company through video conferencing. This was for a software engineer position. I didn't even bother going on the interview. I feel like the purpose was to see what they could get you to do.

itronitron 7y ago
I want to interview at this company just so I can rick-roll them during the song singing part.
- Aeolun 7y ago
  And force them to listen to the entire song.
runawaybottle 7y ago
Wait, so, you did’t find them having you sing a song to be a light hearted suggestion that would warm you to their apparently super fun culture?
cableshaft 7y ago
You should have gone to the interview and chosen this as your song to sing (the company song from the Postal movie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnb7WdHEPao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnb7WdHEPao

Aperocky 7y ago

Been through that one time, I should do more of those and just sing Merry Christmas for fun, ideal for wasting time and potentially lighten up the day of the other person who had to watch/listen to these nonsense.