Why Posting Real Interviews Is the Key to a Better Job Market and Higher Salaries?

Recently, interview recordings for various Russian IT companies have started appearing in communities. Candidates are very happy about this, although not everyone knows about it and actively uses it. Companies are trying to stop this phenomenon, but to no avail.

Today we'll look at why such interview leaks shouldn't be frowned upon, and why it's beneficial for both companies and candidates.

Problems of modern recruitment

Hiring in most companies has become an exam: whoever memorized the theoretical questions better wins. At high positions, projects and system design are sometimes discussed, which is good, since it leads the conversation towards practice. However, even at high levels, the same type of questions can be asked for hours. Companies resist leaking interviews because the hiring process is poorly structured. They do not invest in high-quality technical interviews, preferring to ask template questions that are not related to real work. This often leads to a candidate who successfully passed the interview failing the probationary period.

Recordings of interviews interfere with this approach, as template interviews have to be changed. Theoretical questions do not show the candidate's ability to work on a real project, but only that he has prepared for the interview.

Many places already have algorithmic sections and livecoding, but this does not always help, as it does not relate to real work. Livecoding shows how the candidate writes code, but not how he works on the project. Algorithms only show the ability to solve algorithms and the time spent on training.

Solution for effective recruitment

There is a solution, although not everyone likes it. Companies will have to be more responsible when hiring. Why don't they check how a candidate will work on a real project during interviews? Why can't they create a mini-version of a project or take a separate module and ask the candidate to add something or fix bugs? After all, this is what he will be doing at work. Now they conduct several stages that show nothing. Conduct sections where the candidate will be engaged in real work.

If the candidate has watched all your interviews in advance and comes, it will mean that he has studied the technologies that you are about to discuss, and the conversation will be more productive.

Candidate training and advanced training

Even if companies are not ready for this approach, there are many talented candidates who, after watching recordings, prepare for topics they have forgotten. They come to the interview more prepared. Is this a bad thing? If the interviewer cannot distinguish between understanding the topic and reading from a piece of paper, this is not the problem of the candidates.

Many candidates show up for technical interviews unprepared. Recording interviews will reduce the number of such people, which will reduce hiring costs.

Benefits for candidates

Why is this beneficial for candidates and how will it increase salaries? The first argument is that you see the topics and tasks that are asked at interviews and prepare for them. After preparation, your skills improve, which increases your salary. The second argument is that many IT specialists have friends who work well but earn little. They are afraid to change jobs due to fear of failure at interviews. Recording interviews helps to assess their capabilities and understand that they are ready for a higher position.

Myths and fears of middles

This problem is especially relevant for middles who think that seniors are superhumans and they are not ready for this. Interview recordings help them evaluate their knowledge and understand that they are ready for promotion. If good specialists do not sit on low salaries, this will push up salaries.

Companies will resist, hiding behind ethical considerations. It is advantageous for them to have senior developers working for an average salary. However, fighting this is useless, and in the end it will be advantageous for everyone – both candidates and companies.