

Thanks HN: Developers and YC companies video speed interview for free 1/11 - nathanh
http://blog.hirelite.com/thanks-hn-developers-and-yc-companies-video-s

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leftnode
I don't need to hire anyone currently, and I'm not looking for a job, but if
your goal is to put technical recruiters and headhunters out of business, I
support you 100%.

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nathanh
Thanks! When companies work with recruiters, at best they get an introduction
to a good candidate, at worst they get a severe distraction and brand damage.
For the best case, the whole transaction is overvalued: Companies pay
headhunters 20%-30% of the candidate's first year salary if the candidate is
hired.

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leftnode
Exactly. And speaking as a developer, I've not once had a positive experience
with a recruiter. Not a single time.

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RBr
Whitelabel - do it now.

This would be an easy sale to large companies, HR SaaS apps and especially the
gambit of job search sites (Monster, etc). The job search sites can instantly
turn this into an up sell.

I want this. I'm in Toronto. If you don't whitelabel, I may never be able to
use this :)

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nathanh
We're definitely considering white-labeling. One issue we're seeing
consistently is that, at least for development jobs, companies are having a
much harder time sourcing candidates than screening them. As we move in to
other career areas, that will likely change.

How is the demand for software jobs in Toronto?

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RBr
There is a good amount of demand for software jobs in T.O. Between the GTA,
Waterloo and Ottawa, we're seeing a good surge of tech in Ontario centered
around Toronto. It's got to the point in the past few months where finding
available, good folks is touch-and-go.

However, I wouldn't limit your scope to development jobs. This sort of "chat
roulette" for pre-screening is a very powerful idea.

Personally, I'd be focusing on the restaurant industry if this was my baby.
They spend countless dollars on HR and if there was a way for an assistant
manager to sit in an office to pre-screen for real interviews... it would be
on fire. Restaurant chain owners are also very willing to spend money on
technology like this. I don't think that you'd have a hard time finding low
rate, non-intrusive funding from a small group of them to get the entire
whitelabel thing off the ground in a hurry.

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frankdenbow
Love this concept. You should do some for college students looking for
internships for this summer.

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nathanh
Great point about internships - will keep that in mind.

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quickpost
Cool idea. I wonder what percentage of the companies participating are willing
to look at telecommuting for highly qualified candidates?

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nathanh
Few. At every event we have 20 companies. Typically, 3-4 will consider
telecommuting candidates seriously. We're considering hosting a remote-focused
event within the next few months, but finding enough companies that are
comfortable with a remote relationship is tough (not impossible though). In
your experience, how do you go about finding companies that are comfortable
with telecommuting?

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quickpost
Good question. I don't currently have a well defined strategy for finding
these companies, hence my interest in HireLite. :)

I typically do short and medium term consulting projects, and telecommuting
hasn't been much of an issue so far, particularly after demonstrating my
abilities.

But, people seem to have a different attitude with full time employment where
things aren't as clearly defined vs. shorter term projects.

Does the HireLite system currently filter by Remote vs Local candidates? I'd
like to participate in the upcoming event, but I wouldn't want to waste any
one's time if they are rejecting 100% of remote candidates.

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nathanh
Hirelite doesn't currently filter remote vs locale candidates, but it's
something we're working on.

