Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Gerardo1 1678 days ago
> Even 4x2 hour interviews is still only the equivalent of a single workday.

It is crazy to me to casually drop that it's standard for a company to get a free day from someone they're interviewing and may just never contact again.
2 comments
relaunched 1678 days ago
It's not a free day, by any means. The company is dedicating 2-3 times the hours of the interview, minimum. Determining a good fit is expensive.

On the other side, I've never heard of an interview where the candidate is given real work. Sure, they might ask about a problem the company has faced in the past, or is facing, but it's unlikely the response is used in any meaningful way, other than determining the candidates expertise and methodology for approach that type of problem.

link
antisthenes 1678 days ago
> It's not a free day, by any means. The company is dedicating 2-3 times the hours of the interview, minimum.

How many hours of research, experience and interview prep is the candidate bringing to the table? When you can answer that, you can make a determination on whether the company is dedicating more or less than the potential hire.

link
relaunched 1678 days ago
imho, these interviews where you have to do weeks or months of prep, are focused on a candidates ability to learn familiar concepts and allow for easier comparison among candidates and consistency over time.

That being said, for non FAANG style interviews, prep shouldn't significant. That being said, I'm agreeable to accepting both parties have a sunk cost and no interest in wasting their own, or the other party's time.

link
Gerardo1 1678 days ago
The relative cost to the interviewee and the employer aren't really comparable.
link
PragmaticPulp 1678 days ago
The company isn't going to drag someone through 4 separate interviews if they're not serious about hiring.

One of the reasons it's staggered is so the company or the candidate can end it early if it's not a good fit. Less time wasted this way.

Frankly, I'm kind of shocked by the resistance HN has to spending a couple hours interviewing with a company. You're going to spend several years of your life working with this company. Is it really a dealbreaker if they ask their candidates (included your future coworkers) to participate in a few extra hours of discussion and confirmation?

In the real world, I offer to schedule interviews on lunch breaks, before or after work, or on weekends if that works better for people. Practically speaking, most developers (especially WFH/remote) have zero problems finding time during the day for a 1-2 interview session. That's equivalent a long lunch break or a quick errand.

In practice, I've never had anyone decline an interview for lack of time and very few people ever take me up on my offer for flexible interview hours of their choosing. Most people are eager to get to talk to the company, hear about the job, and show the company what they can do.

link