[bound008]

I have done hiring at a YC company and elsewhere based on HN. Especially for sales jobs I would not respond because I want closers. Not people who wait around for the other party to act. ( Relevant: https://elasticsales.com/blog/2013/01/24/how-hire-best-hustl... ) For hiring freelancers on here, and FT engineers, I don't respond a lot to get an idea of personality, communication style, ability to confront, etc. For anything outbound, I would have constant touch points since you are trying to sell the candidate the role, not the other way around.

Many people just weren't good fits culturally or technically and when you are running a startup there things get overlooked.

[e-mail] - send me your resume with a subject line that says resume feedback and i'll take a look

Random anecdote, I was walking SXSW last week and some kids came up and said hi since they noticed the YC founder I was with. One said " I applied to your company and I don't think I got a response ". I took that kids card because his attitude is one to make things happen. So if you want something, make it happen.

[RogerL]

So, you want something (good hires), and you do nothing to get them? You are contradicting your own advice.

If somebody doesn't respond to me, I take that as an extremely loud and clear signal of "not interested" or "can't be bothered". It goes both ways.

[Bahamut]

Yep, I feel the same way. If you can't be bothered to handle being respectful of my time, your company is not one I want to work for. I have my pick of jobs, and do not appreciate wasting my time.

[danielweber]

For sales positions, it's not unreasonable to expect the candidate to show hustle.

For the most part, though, these explicit or implicit "personality tests" are just as well-thought-out as the dating advice from an issue of Cosmo. The candidate has to guess what the employer is looking for this month and try to match it.