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Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

And you talked to none of them? You just assumed that their resume told you everything you needed to know about their capabilities? And if it didn't, too bad for them for writing a shitty resume?

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In this particular case, I received ~20 resumes for 1 job and 80% were not Ruby-only resumes. So yes the Ruby-only screened them out. However I would have gone back and contacted them if none of the other 80% of candidates worked out.

You will get better results if you build a process that doesn't screen people out because of their resumes. That doesn't mean you don't screen candidates, and it doesn't mean that you don't have a funnel that knocks out a big chunk of them before you get on the phone.

It just means: don't select people for their getting-a-new-job skills. Those skills aren't relevant to software development work.

Based on your other comment, does this mean you use a commercial or custom general mental ability test in the funnel before screening and interviews?

It would be helpful to know more about what you do versus what you don't.

We do not use "general mental ability" tests.

You can read about tptacek's company's process here: http://matasano.com/careers/. It really does seem like a good way to learn whether a candidate will be able to perform the job.

Is your recruiting process suitable for non-tech companies? Or huge companies? (Not criticising, genuinely curious.)

I wonder that a lot too. I have friends who have tried it for sales and are liking it, but it's too early to tell. (It's not my process, by the way; here's a link 'tokenadult found about it: http://mavweb.mnsu.edu/howard/Schmidt%20and%20Hunter%201998%...)

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