[krishicks]

Is there a business opportunity here?

If Amazon wants complete control over the interview experience, maybe there's room for a service that rents out small office spaces, like ZipCar or AirBnB, but for a desk/small office with just a Chromebook, for this express purpose.

Amazon or any other company could say they need a desk close to some place on some date, and the service could make one available that meets the requirements (laptop, multiple camera feeds, etc).

Or maybe this already exists?

[inerte]

Already exists, lots of certifications are handled this way. There are "test centers", where multiple types of tests are taken, and the computer is severely limited.

The "disruptor" here is ProctorU and similar services. They are cheaper, generally more convenient, easier to schedule and manage.

Maybe you can come up with a better "test center" (perhaps a van?) but most people don't care at all about what ProctorU does with their computer.

[amyjess]

> The "disruptor" here is ProctorU and similar services.

And this is why I cringe whenever I hear people talking about "disruption" like it's a good thing.

I once heard someone seriously suggest that higher education should be disrupted by newer education systems that don't have to be accessible to the disabled because universities are "wasting" too much money on accessibility services. See also: AirBNB encouraging landlords to set up unregulated hotels and causing nasty externalities for the whole neighborhood. It seems to me that "disruption" is code for "figure out how to cut corners in a way that makes everybody's life worse to increase your profit margins".

[dragonwriter]

> Maybe you can come up with a better "test center" (perhaps a van?) but most people don't care at all about what ProctorU does with their computer.

Most people might not, but I suspect many of the best people for many tech, especially -- but also many other knowledge work jobs -- do care, quite intensely.

[ucaetano]

"As part of the interview process, you'll need to enter the back of this windowless van..."

[vtlynch]

I think the best people in tech are probably not put into this interview/test situation.

[ubernostrum]

Don't be so sure.

I don't know whether I qualify as "best in tech", but: last year I was approached by a large company which uses Django, and which solicited me to apply specifically because they wanted a Django committer on staff. In other words, I was absolutely a known quantity for them.

They still shoved me in their Fizzbuzz phone-screen funnel. Spoiler: for that, among other reasons, I stopped trying to follow up with them.

This does not seem to be an unusual practice for large companies. Even when they're recruiting specific people who they know and initiate the contact with, they still set these awful "prove you're not one of the impostor rabble we say are beating down our doors" hoops for people to jump through.

[vtlynch]

You are right, Im sure most people, even the best, have to deal with this at some point.

[marcosdumay]

I'd bet most of them were through it at least once.

What does best mean anyway?

[monksy]

Those are different situations. They're fairly fixed tests which are multiple choice and are given to you as an example. My understanding of this is that it's for an interview and requires a little bit of free form thinking.

[ianai]

There's probably other ways to do similar without being as invasive. Maybe a program that loads full screen and gives you a testing environment. Minimize the program and you fail immediately.

[nommm-nommm]

Second monitor?

[ianai]

By screen I mean entire viewable area.

[Tomdarkness]

This is something similar, except they run test centers rather than just renting out office space for that use:

https://home.pearsonvue.com/

[tylerpachal]

A friend of mine interviewed for a tech position with the government (Canada). After the first couple screening interviews the subsequent interviews were all held in a hotel room. Similar to your suggestion, the hotel was picked so it was close to the candidate's house, and the interviewer supplied laptop and such.

[a3n]

Personally, I'd feel a huge creep factor interviewing next to a bed.

[maverick_iceman]

Casting couch?

[djb_hackernews]

ProctorU does that for people without webcams/compatible systems.

[moolcool]

I don't know if it exists for interviews, but there are definitely firms which offer facilities and services for test taking. I think it's quite common for certification and distance education

[Spooky23]

Prometric has done this forever. I took the GRE at a place like this in 2001.

[maverick_iceman]

ETS.