I mean you do you, but it's a total farce to call this paying people for their time. You're paying people who win your little contest, which is what hiring already is before your startup tries to insert itself as a middleman.
Ultimately it's about getting the right signals. Real work produces the best signals. The rest of the mechanics are a WIP :)
Really appreciate your input, thanks a lot!!
You didn't even hire them as FT? Christ, what a submarine charade this entire thread has been.
The principle of engineers evaluating engineers based on real work remains the same, whether it's for an internship, flexwork, junior or senior roles, no?
Kevin Hale at Wufoo (YC W06) did contract work for a month instead of interviews. Is that not "give candidates real work & pay them for their time"?
Thomas paid every engineer who did a 'Ride Along' (a day on the job with the Cloudthread team) regardless of his final hiring decision, and he did it with a bunch of folks.
Elliot paid every PR he received for his screening bounties on Algora regardless of his final hiring decision.
I think the title for the blog post checks out.