So the most efficient interviewing process for the employer is also the nicest to candidates? What a curious coincidence. Are you sure there was no wishful thinking involved in writing this post?
The best chance companies that would like to hire me now had was seven years ago when my resume was thin and unconventional but my code was solid. Now that my background conventional (except for the lack of a related degree) they are falling all over themselves, and I am quite content in a brilliant job making more than most of them are willing to pay. I'm more skilled now, sure, but I was a good junior developer then. The fringe company that took a risk and hired me despite my resume got more than their money's worth.
You are welcome to be less nice to candidates. Let us know how that goes for you.
If I understood your comment, basically, "treating candidates with respect - especially inexperienced/unconventional candidates - allows hiring if you already know how to find great candidates"
I've seen a ton of benefits to treating candidates _and_ employees well.
• Many employees will prefer to stay in a job where they are treated well (despite taking a hit in lifestyle / pay) [1]
• Establishing a "social contract" with your employees provides some protection against managers who might drive away high-value candidates / employees
• During tough pivots (the current economic climate tends to produce this), a core of effective employees can execute while mediocre employees will flounder
[1] http://freem.vmth.ucdavis.edu/~saintly/bio/portrait.html
My email is in my profile.
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It’s also harsh because the best source of good candidates are personal contacts, which violate just about everything in the post. Which suggests that the post is really only about one very specific thing, managing the inbound funnel generated by ads, cereers@yourcompany.com, and so on.
Your recommendations are sensible. It's curious that they seem to suggest that coding ability is close to a one-dimensional measurement of the candidate. Do you think we could measure the largest principal component of coding ability with a standardized exam, like IQ? That would save everyone the hassle of interviewing, and also ensure non-discrimination as a nice bonus.
http://raganwald.posterous.com/a-womans-story
Discussion:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3772292
(Warning: Heavy on the subject of Race, IQ, Reverse Discrimination, and other pet topics).
Given a lack of time, or someone in HR who knows nothing about programmers, this approach may not turn out as well.