I have, as a tech lead for a software company. I don't know how other places do it, but there's simply not enough time in the day to read every single resume/cover letter that you get.
You post a job-ad and you're drowning in resume`s and cover letters in less than 30 minutes. I also want to say that 80-90% were under-qualified and most of them didn't even follow simple instructions in the ad.
You won't believe the amount of cover letters saying things like "I have never used Linux, but I've been working on Windows for X-XX years", when the job title was "Senior Linux Systems Administrator".
When we put requirements, we really meant them. We never inflated the requirements or asked for the impossible (28+ years experience in PHP).
Our process went kind of like this: 1) Scan cover letter quickly to weed out incoherent applications 2) Scan resume (again quickly) and look for minimum-requirements 3) If 1 and 2 were met put resume/cover letter in the "good candidates" folder 4) If "inbox" is not empty, go to step one, otherwise: 5) Go back and read cover-letters/resumes in more detail
The one exception would be if something in the cover letter or resume caught our attention, we'd then read it in detail then and there.
For all I know, DropBox might have a serious need to have this position filled by a CS graduate. I doubt it, but it's a possibility. Another commenter here said something about planning to have this position evolve into something more "intense" in the future where a CS degree would be seriously needed. That's a legitimate "theory".
All I was criticizing was that the job requirements do not warrant a CS degree, and that they are probably turning away possible good/great candidates.
Would you reject me?
I guess your answer says a lot about the type of hiring process you have. But if I were the hiring manager, my immediate reaction would be "Fuck the posted requirements, this candidate has demonstrated that he's more than qualified for the job." The same goes for any other significant achievement. The requirements are there to give prospective candidates some idea of what we're looking for, but the ultimate trash-or-interview decision involves the whole package. If a candidate shows strengths in areas we didn't anticipate, so much the better. If they're missing one of the requirements but nail the rest, I'm not going to turn them away for that.
I've never been drowned in resumés so maybe my opinion would be more along the lines of yours if I had been. It's a job seeker's market up here in Toronto. I think the most resumés I've had to deal with for a particular position is a couple of dozen. When I was hiring I would only post the job ads at places like JoelOnSoftware's job board. I'd never post it on Monster as I consider places like that to attract too many poor quality candidates.
I just ignore the requirements - mostly - and if the job sounds interesting, I'll send them a note saying why it sounds interesting and why I believe I'm qualified. Let 'em reject me later, once they've got a bit more information, or vice versa.
