Ask HN: How do you cope with a deluge of job applications?

26 点作者 ohjeez8 个月前

I just chatted online with someone currently hiring for a mid-level software engineer who received more than 2,000 applications. That’s ridiculous.So (inspired by actual events), I’m writing a freelanced article, "Upending the hiring process for technical talent.” Although the topic applies to any job search situation, the story is tuned to software developers and other tech fields, and I expect both remote work and AI to be primary factors.Getting thousands of applications is nuts for both the company and the applicants. My question is, "What — if anything — can be done to make the process more sane for everybody?"I would love input from the wise people here. (Formal attribution is not required, but context is helpful for verisimilitude: "...says one program lead from a midwest insurance firm.") I know you have opinions. However, the HIVE MIND responses I care about should come from people affected by this change – primarily HR professionals and tech industry hiring managers. My short (?) list of questions:• How many job applications do you typically get today for a technical position such as a software engineer? How has that number changed? • Are there differences in the applications? I’m open to anything from “remote work expanded the number of people who want to work here” to “They are impersonal and seem AI-generated” to… well, what? Tell me. • How do you triage the applications (no / maybe / worth talking to)? How long does it take? For HR, what percentage of the applications are provided to the hiring managers? For hiring managers, how does that percentage make you feel? • How have you changed job listings? For instance, are you asking for more information in the application process or including more detail in the job req? Are you employing tools that claim to sort responses? Are you offering salary transparency so that nobody wastes time when the numbers don’t align? • What changes have you implemented in the job process? (Turning more to recruiters, for instance? Relying more on employee referrals?) • Is “return to office” an issue here? (I would imagine that “local candidates only” would reduce the number of applications, but I don’t want to assume too much about any HR connection.) • Regardless of what your company IS doing to deal with the job application deluge, what — if anything — do you think COULD be done to make the process more sane for everybody? What would you do if you could wave a magic wand to address the problem?

9 条评论

colinwilyb8 个月前

I hope you'll address a few points:1.Job hunting is dehumanizing: Most of the time you will receive no response to a carefully worded cover letter. There is no option to speak with a human, or point of contact. (I dub this /Throwing hope into the void and see what sticks/.)2.Job hunting is primarily online. From searching job posts to application, the reach of an open position is literally world-wide.3.Due to Covid, remote work is now in the zeitgeist, opening up remote work to many who otherwise wouldn't have considered it.4.Digital tools for resume writing and bulk sending.5.The stagnation of salaries, increased cost of living, and poor investment options has forced many into living paycheck to paycheck. In order to /get ahead/ the only option is to constantly seek new positions.The deluge recruiters are feeling is merely the tip of a iceberg.

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yzydserd8 个月前

Many job postings are far too open versus the reality of who they’d accept. If you’re expecting a deluge, then make sure you are highly transparent on how you’d vet or sift the initial applications. That doesn’t mean to introduce new “high bars” just to reduce the number, it means to be clear about the checklist you’d use to classify those who get to the next round.

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jahewson8 个月前

Are there hundreds of applications for every engineering role? Yes. But most of those applications don’t meet the minimum requirements. A senior position requiring 4yrs experience will see > 90% of its applications coming from new grads with zero experience. It’s mostly noise.It should be noted that many companies don’t have any entry-level roles open. That’s not ideal, but new grads are arriving with minimal practical skills while the landscape of complexity continues to increase. Sure the top tier are amazing but they go to FANG to get rich on RSUs, or become a founder themselves.

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lubujackson8 个月前

What I have seen is some minor resume CAPTCHA in the job description, like "answer 7 + 12 in your cover letter" or something similar.I imagine that will filter out a good swath of robo-submitters as well as those with low attention to detail (but maybe not the chatGPT responders).

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tmnvix8 个月前

There is probably an opportunity here for someone to provide a service offering advertisers a simple customisable form that includes some basic questions that needs to be completed prior to submission. It would have to be simple (e.g. no programming tests). Bonus points if the advertiser can then filter submissions based on various combinations (and possibly assigned weights) of answers.e.g.- Do you have a legal right to work in x- Have you had y years experience in z- Could you indicate which of the following you are familiar withObviously, all of these things are usually included in an application, but having them associated with applications in a standard format that can be used to filter or prioritise applicants could be very helpful I imagine.This probably exists, but I'm not in the field and very rarely apply for jobs so I wouldn't know.

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brudgers8 个月前

Joel Spolsky suggests the problem is you are probably in a market for lemons in Finding Great Developers<a href="https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/09/06/finding-great-developers-2/" rel="nofollow">https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/09/06/finding-great-deve...</a>Working within the staff’s professional networks is the way to avoid the deluge. As a consequence, you need to be a place people want to work and hire people who other people want to work with.Otherwise, you hire staff that allows the organization to manage the deluge. Managing the deluge needs to be someone’s priority — not be a distraction from someone’s performance metrics. It’s the kind of thing that makes a place a place people want to work.

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halfcat8 个月前

In my experience a lot of it comes down to “proof of effort”We had a position that received around 1000 applicants.Only around 200 had the most basic keywords the job required, like “python” and “SQL”Only around 50 of those had a cover letter.Only around 20 of the cover letters mentioned our company by name.Only 1 applicant called the office and asked to speak with us.

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d138 个月前

We had over 500 applicants for our recent intern position. HR screened out 5 for me, and I interviewed 2.It was a fantastic hire, but ultimately entirely random.

didgetmaster8 个月前

I have seen many TV ads for a company called Indeed, that promises to provide companies who are hiring, a curated list of qualified candidates. I am sure there are other agencies out there trying to do the same thing.I have never used one of them, but I am curious if those who have used them really think that their service ended up being worthwhile.