Ask HN: Validate my idea - mock phone interviews

[KiwiCoder]

Idea: Programmers book a time for me to call them up and hold a mock phone interview.

I'm using youcanbook.me to take bookings, and I will use skype or one of the cheap international providers to call people outside of the UK.

The interview will be 10-15 minutes. Just a taste of a programming interview, but enough that I can provide actual feedback, hopefully helpful.

Funding? I'm paying costs myself to see if the idea works. I'm going to give it a few weeks and then make a decision about what next.

http://cvmountain.com/2013/09/you-can-book-me-for-a-mock-phone-interview/

[1123581321]

There was recently a thread about this. I was looking into a good way to provide this service and tested the idea by booking mock interviews on Fiverr. There was little interest and most was from young people with heavy accents who wanted to practice being understood.

However, that does not mean you should give up on your idea. Just be sure you're basing your decision on popularity with paying customers.

[KiwiCoder → 1123581321]

I would be interested to read that thread!

Right now I'm on day 2 of promoting the idea. I have 5 bookings. If the idea is doomed I'm trying to fail fast.

Update: 6 bookings

[covgjai → KiwiCoder]

You may need to read these threads.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6320089 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6320089

[1123581321 → KiwiCoder]

5 is encouraging!

[ac2u]

Hah, I guess the old saying of "if you think of an idea, chances are someone else in the world is already working on it", is true. I've been mulling over a concept which is 99% similar that I'm hoping to validate. Please get in touch if interested.

[KiwiCoder → ac2u]

You don't have any contact info in your profile.

[martinshen]

You could monetize pretty nicely just by offering a job board too in the future. There's a ton of cash in the recruiting business... just wish the signal to noise ratio wasn't so awful.

[hschool]

I was working on a similar idea, but didn't have much luck. How much are you charging for the service?

[KiwiCoder → hschool]

Nothing. I'm validating the idea.

[1123581321 → KiwiCoder]

That's a mistake. You should charge a little money. People will sign up for anything if it's free.