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Startup using a custom Portal 2 level to recruit engineers
- niggler 14y agoAnyone try portal 2 on Linux? How is the performance ?
- ryan-c 14y agoWineHQ has it listed as 'Platinum'. I've played all the way through Half Life 2 and Portal using wine a while ago and they worked very well, but I can't speak from experience on Portal 2. http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=23278 http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&...
- blktiger 14y agoNeat! Not great for applicants that they have to purchase a copy of Portal 2 on steam, but at least it should be fun. Also, I don't know if it's a good thing to require engineers to apply by playing a game - but I guess it might be good to identify people who would be a good cultural fit.
- mrgoldenbrown 14y agoCan you explain where it says this is required? I just looked at their web site and you can apply normally. The puzzles are optional.
- blktiger 14y agoI guess it's technically not required unless you want to play the levels.
- makmanalp 14y agoI like these sort of recruitment teasers, mainly because if done well they self-select for exactly the kind of person you want. I think this is similar in effect to website job boards like the joelonsoftware board or the hn jobs section, where the people who answer are likelier to share your vision and opinions. In this case you'd have to have Portal 2 already, but anyway. Maybe they're looking for that :)
- evan_ 14y ago> I like these sort of recruitment teasers, mainly because if done well they self-select for exactly the kind of person you want. In this case, 20-30 year old males.
- pattern 14y agoWhat percentage of 20-30 year old males do you believe have played Portal (2), saw this posting, had the inclination to download the mod, and the inquisitiveness and persistance to actually complete the puzzle/test? Rarely is a filter perfect, but this is likely a lot better than taking a random sample from the population :)
- Homunculiheaded 14y agoI think what the parent is pointing out that P(male, 20-30 | played through the level) is higher than the existing P(male, 20-30 | applied for job)
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- MartinCron 14y agoIn this case, 20-30 year old males This perfectly encapsulates my unease with this kind of recruiting/self selection approach. I get that culture fit is important, but I also don't like the sort of groupthink and monoculture that you get by just hiring a bunch of people who are all into the same narrow pop culture niches. I'm guilty of this kind of monocultural preference myself. I used to joke about starting interviews with "What's your favorite Hayao Miyazaki film and why?" although I never actually did it.
- pattern 14y agoI understand your point, but just because we all love Miyazaki films (the objective truth :D) doesn't mean we each don't have our own unique traits/interests/hobbies/etc. that provide a well-rounded cultural outlook. I agree with your notion that in hiring one should maintain a good balance of breadth and culture fit!
- malcolmong 14y agohaha, this is awesome!
- anonymouz 14y agoKind of neat, but strange as a recruitment device: It seems difficult enough to get good people, why would one put such an arbitrary filter as a first barrier? People who don't play computer games or Portal 2 are probably much less likely to apply that way.
- dsl 14y agoBecause they made the front page of HackerNews (likely the target audience), and will probably be picked up by a few other techie sites as well. As with all the other "hiring games" that Google and others do, you can also just submit your resume, you don't have to play.
- tobyjsullivan 14y agoI don't think this is in any way a necessary step for applying there, which is good. It's simply one more avenue of lead generation for recruitment. And a very creative one that's likely to get them quite a bit of exposure. It also has the benefit of clearly demonstrating that they are a "fun" company, not your run-of-the-mill boring enterprise product corporation.
- anonymouz 14y agoAh, if it's optional it is indeed nice. That was not clear to me from the page.
- OGC 14y agoIt's a PR stunt
- jiggy2011 14y agoI see your point. I've been put off jobs in that past where the requirements have listed stuff like "You must kick ass at Xbox games!" for completely non gamedev jobs. Now I love video games as much as the next geek and I've always assumed it was a light hearted hint towards company culture rather than a hard requirement. But I just find something a little off about stuff like this, like it sets off a little red light in my brain that I can't put my finger on. We would probably think it was weird if they said "we all love cricket so you should too!", I guess it feels a little patronising to be told "of course you love Xbox, you are a geek after all!" As a Segue the use of the term "geek" in job descriptions irks me also. Edit: Wording corrected
- waylonflinn 14y agoThis is a fantastic idea. Cultural fit as selection criteria is more appreciated than it used to be, but still underrated. This nails it. I'll do this next time I need to recruit.
- juan_juarez 14y agoThe irony is that, if they weren't busy designing Portal maps, they'd have enough manpower to develop their product.
- Falling3 14y agoThat's really not how people work. Haven't you ever programmed all day at work and then gone home to work on a personal project? It's very easy to get a second wind when changing projects, especially if it is something you find enjoyable. And for all we know this was something that someone built outside of work they realized could be put to this use.
- endtime 14y agoFrom the trailer, this looks like high quality stuff. I wonder what their budget was! They certainly got my attention.
- Osmium 14y agoI say this partly in jest but... it's nice to see a lean startup using its limited resources correctly by creating levels for Portal 2. For all I know, this could've been an employee's pet project, but if not I'm not sure I see the value. Also, the jobs homepage lede is a little grating: "We're seeking brilliant people ..." [Click "I'm brilliant" to continue] Because who doesn't think they deserve brilliant people? Nice employers and a good corporate culture are obviously very important, but can't it be taken too far? I think, what it comes down to, is that I don't like seeing a company's ego on display so brazenly, especially when they're a startup which still has a lot to prove.
- TillE 14y agoThis whole obsession over Super Ninja Rockstar MegaUltraDevelopers is getting to be a bit much. Everyone says they want the top 0.1%, which they just aren't going to get. Maybe it's because I don't consider myself "brilliant". I'm a reasonably intelligent guy with a good education, loads of experience, and a diverse skillset. But I'm not a genius. Very few are. You've gotta be realistic, and I get the impression that unless a company is paying rather large salaries and/or offering extremely interesting problems to solve, they're only likely to attract people with overinflated egos with that kind of rhetoric, rather than the true best of the best.
- rhizome 14y ago"Getting?" Frankly I'm a little shocked that people are still using it after all the derision it's received. It's getting to be (I'd like to think) a black mark along the lines of the Web Economy Bullshit Generator.
- madaxe 14y agoThe best hires are fresh CS/maths grads with little commercial experience and a burning desire to learn. All you have to do is provide an environment in which they can, provide a raise as and when they "level up", provide infinite caffeine, interesting problems, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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- drivingmenuts 14y agoOn a side note: I wish startups would start putting the company location somewhere in an easily accessible place. This would allow me to decide if an application is a valid option due to geography.
- mrgoldenbrown 14y agoI think these guys did that just fine - the same pages that lists open positions includes locations: From the homepage, I clicked "jobs" then "see our open positions" and I got a list of all open positions and their location. http://wibidata.theresumator.com/ http://wibidata.theresumator.com/ "Current Openings Administrative Assistant Location: San Francisco, CA Department: Operations ..."
- jaredsohn 14y agoBeyond the city, it is useful to know more precisely where in the city it is located, so that one can determine if the commute will be worth it and if they are okay with spending their workday in that neighborhood. Fortunately, they also have a map on their about page (http://jobs.wibidata.com/about/ http://jobs.wibidata.com/about/).
- danielweber 14y agoNot for this, but this is usually my #1 complaint with job postings on VC. Location is really the single most important thing, say it right away, preferably in the title.
- gstar 14y agoIs the typo deliberate? recuriting?
- georgemcbay 14y agoPerhaps it is more "culture fitting". Only rokstar geniouses need aply.
- blindhippo 14y agoSeems like fun... But this type of thing doesn't help our profession be taken seriously. If WibiData was a game company this would fit - but they do data analytics as far as I can tell. I am a professional software developer. I have a very specific skill set and I expect to be treated properly. I do not appreciate it when people think I am a "geek", or that I obviously play video games or are in to Star Trek[1]. When it comes to my professional career I expected to be treated as an adult with a valuable skillset that can add value to a business. I wouldn't apply to this company frankly because this strategy belies a culture that thinks development is all fun and games. Whether that's true or not, doesn't matter. What they are communicating to me as a potential applicant turns me off. (and the photos of a giant open room don't help either - who the hell wants to work in an office like that?) [1]note, just because I am totally into all that doesn't invalidate my point
- fixedd 14y agoOne of the other concerns when hiring is finding a fit for the company's culture. Perhaps that's what they're trying to achieve.
- blindhippo 14y agoThat's probably exactly what they are doing. So I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on them - they are conveniently broadcasting they have a youngish "play" culture at work.
- jarin 14y agoMaybe the problem is that we think we're supposed to be serious. Writing code is fun, or at least it should be whenever possible.
- blindhippo 14y agoWriting code can be fun. Writing code professionally should be serious. These are not mutually exclusive points.
- kriro 14y agoemail template for people who want to apply: I estimated it would take X time units to finish this game. Instead I wrote this neat piece of software (github-link) in that timespan. Hire me, gg no re
- mephi5t0 14y agoSome people don't like video games, prefer sports, like skiing... Some people play Settlers and/or Civilization or turn based strategies... They won't be able to react or move quickly in Portal. It's like saying - we will hire you but you need to BUY and DRIVE this motorbike through this hoop of fire... And person don't even have driving license. Not to mention they were busy building that hoop of fire instead of making their product in the first place (but that's for them to decide how they want to run their business). I juts think being a gamer is not requirement. If you can opt out and solve a chess puzzle or a super fast Tetris or whatever - there should be alternatives, just like audio capcha or sites for color blind people
- mieubrisse 14y agoAs others have pointed out, you can just submit your resume without playing.
- madaxe 14y agoSurely any engineer worth their salt will just grab a map decompiler - like this one. https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/BSPSource https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/BSPSource
- blahpro 14y agoMaybe this is part of the test ;-)
- IWentToTheWoods 14y agoIt's interesting to me how negative most of the comments are here, compared to how positive they were for a very similar idea last week: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5081053 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5081053
- eric-hu 14y agoHas anyone downloaded the mod and tried it? I'm curious why they use this mod for recruiting, though I don't own Portal 2 and I'm not interested in applying to Wibidata. What the video shows of the gameplay and puzzles are what I'd expect from Portal 2.
- dsil 14y agoI played through it. There's 5 "tests", and it took me about 2 hours, though now knowing the solutions I could play through again in probably 15 minutes, so it just depends how long it takes you to figure them out. Overall they're very good levels. A good bit more difficult than the base game, and most of the other user-created levels I've played. I was a little surprised that a couple places were more about reflexes than brainpower, since I assume they're looking for good problem solvers rather than good first-person-shooter players. But in general, very good puzzles implemented very well.
- kstenerud 14y agoI tried it, but it seems to have gotten stuck after I read the email =/
- toonse 14y agoClever idea although as others mention it's obviously a very biased selection, but if they are OK with that, that's fine with me. I was all set to try it just for kicks, but this turned me off and I quit the install: "In this mod you're placed into the Wibi!Data office to reset a PIN for the CEO of the company. You reset this by gathering reset keys and slowing figuring out the reset code."
- devmach 14y agoI think it's a fun. But while "brilliant" people playing* portal 2, a clever and unemployed person who has to pay his bills, will spend his time applying for jobs, networking or/and building a product and try to maximize his utility. * : I mean really playing, not decompiling..
- Stratoscope 14y agoCan someone tell me what Portal 2 is? Ah, forget it. I'm obviously not qualified for this job.
- CWIZO 14y agoI think all of you are missing the point. They might have done this to create a filter that would weed out people who wouldn't fit. But, I think the main point was to attract as much attention as possible to the fact that they are hiring. "Free" advertisement. This thread proves they succeed beautifully.
- alphadogg 14y agoWould this kind of recruitment tactic expose one to an EEOC lawsuit?