[Darkstack]

> Even a short phone screen where I just ask someone to code a simple question takes 20-30 minutes of my time (plus however much time I need to get back in the zone), so HackerRank is appealing if only to weed out the very worst candidates.

But you took 20-30 Minutes of their time too, the only difference is that you get a compensation at the end of theses 20-30 min, they don't. If someone told me, "OK , i m gonna waste 3 hours of your time in exchange of a mere promise of a job", i will simply decline the job.I work 9hr/day , I have better things to do with my free time...

[dragonwriter]

> But you took 20-30 Minutes of their time too

Yeah, with often very high ratios (I've seen above 100:1 in positions where I had information more than once recently) applicants for open positions, hiring simply isn't going to work if it requires symmetric time investment from hiring managers and applicants.

[chadash]

I'm assuming that you don't expect companies to hire everyone who applies and therefore some candidates are going to have time wasted. What do you think is a fair amount of time to expect someone to give for an initial screening?

[Darkstack]

My longest and latest job interview lasted 3 hours but we talked about the goals and the visions of the company (that part doesn't bother me), the technical part (code with a pen + questions) lasted about 15 mins. But to set a threshold, generally i ask if the test requires more than 1 hour, if yes, I decline politely.