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Comment by mateo411 | Hacker News Reader

Well no.

It's expensive for the company too. All of the people involved in the interview process are still getting paid while they are interviewing the candidates. They aren't working on their projects that they have to complete. The company probably has a recruiting or talent acquisition team and the people on that team don't work for free. The company might also work with outside agencies or external recruiters. If you hire one a candidate from one of these sources, you have to pay them too.

It's really expensive in terms of time and money to hire people. It's really hard to build a great team.

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> All of the people involved in the interview process are still getting paid

Except the interviewee.

There's often a signing bonus. If there's a 10% chance of getting the job and a $50k signing bonus is common, then your EV is $5000 per interview.

Even if there weren't, then 10% of the extra compensation vs. an easier-to-hire company with your discount horizon applied would also count as payment.

If you’re 10% likely to get a job with a 50k signing bonus and you’re doing 7 interviews for that job your expected value is $715 per interview.

> $50k signing bonus is common

I clearly live in a different labour market to this conversation. How many places in the world is this common?

The interviewee is usually interviewing on their current company's dime. It's even easier now with many folks working from home, you don't even need an excuse.

If you do it right, candidates can leave with a positive impression even after being rejected. I've maintained correspondence with a few candidates over the years because they felt like they learned a thing or two about engineering during the course of the interview, and they wanted some additional mentorship.

Yes it’s an expense but you’re not doing it out of charity it’s for the benefit of the company and so it is also a part of the job.

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