The problem with hiring is that there are too many applicants, and too many disincentives in the process for companies looking to hire. Lots of people are look

The problem with hiring is that there are too many applicants, and too many disincentives in the process for companies looking to hire. Lots of people are looking to catch a break, score their dream job, or just see what's out there, while many more just need something to pay the bills. In almost every case, applicants can't win what they don't put in the middle -- which means that they have to apply if they meet even some of the position requirements. Unfortunately, for every well-qualified applicant there are many less-qualified applicants, and the deluge of applicants means that it's simply not possible to review each person individually. Instead they get run through a filter built from loose heuristics that try to capture job requirements. I've long felt that the solution here is the same as a busy nightclub: charge a cover. For someplace like Google that gets hundreds of thousands of resumes, that'll cut down on the applicant pool quickly. Reimburse it with a bonus for candidates who make it to the interview stage. It's not about penalizing applicants, it's about encouraging applicants to be honest about the fit between their skills and the position requirements. I predict there would certainly be fewer applicants failing FizzBuzz. Employers are also hypersensitive to false positives (candidates who don't work out), and a (justified) fear that they'll invest in a candidate who will move on after learning and maturing in the company. It sucks having to fire someone who isn't working out, and it can hurt morale even if the employee wasn't producing. The cost of onboarding, training, and firing a candidate sets a high threshold against false positives. It's just as bad when a new employee is working out well but leaves abruptly for a better offer. I don't have a solution to the former, but the latter is usually a good indication that you need to review your compensation policies and the overall competitive positioning of your total package compared to the market. Happy employees don't usually leave; people quit when they don't have advancement potential, when they don't feel fairly compensated, and when they're bored. [1][2] [1] http://randsinrepose.com/archives/bored-people-quit/ http://randsinrepose.com/archives/bored-people-quit/ [2] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000038.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000038.html