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0 pointscj10mo ago0 comments

80% of our recruiter's time is spent trying to figure out which candidates are real and which are fake.

It's really, really bad. We post a role, get 500 applicants, and nearly all of them are not legitimate. They all look amazing, really great resume, impressive LinkedIn, etc... but when you dig a little deeper, it's not that hard to find a bunch of red flags (LinkedIn profile create < 3 months ago, VOIP number, using VPN to submit job application, etc). You really have to know what signs to look for. They're very convincing fakes.

We're extremely vigilant about this issue as a company, yet we've had people get through 2 or 3 rounds before someone realized something was off (some people are really, really good at faking it).

I feel bad for small companies trying to hire. For us, it got to the point where we literally couldn't open a role unless we had a full time recruiter to sift through all the international candidates pretending to live in the US.

Edit: We've been dealing with this for a couple years now, and there still isn't a great solution. Unfortunately the only surefire "solutions" we can think of are also things that would make the interview process less enjoyable for real candidates, which sucks. (One idea was to ask candidates to show us photo ID during the video interview, but something about making a candidate do that just doesn't feel good - although we have tried it, and it has effectively stopped a few fake people from getting through)

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aleph_minus_one10mo ago

> We post a role, get 500 applicants, and nearly all of them are not legitimate. They all look amazing, really great resume, impressive LinkedIn, etc... but when you dig a little deeper, it's not that hard to find a bunch of red flags (LinkedIn profile create < 3 months ago, VOIP number, using VPN to submit job application, etc). You really have to know what signs to look for. They're very convincing fakes.

To me, what you call "red flags" rather looks like a description of often outstanding programmers who are quite privacy-conscious (think into the direction of "somewhat cypherpunky").

charcircuit10mo ago

It can be both. Due to how much time the fake applications take throwing out privacy conscious candidates seems like a worthy sacrifice to make.

aleph_minus_one10mo ago

On the other hand, consider that in this particular case, if you throw out a false positive, it is very often a really good programmer (though not necessarily the kind of programmer that big tech companies are looking for). :-)

fc417fc80210mo ago

Don't you have to ask for ID at the end anyway? So the only question is avoiding behavior that makes it look like you're a fake job listing harvesting PII or something.

Is the issue skilled candidates that are misrepresenting where they live, unqualified candidates with fake resumes trying to land the position anyway, or something else?

What have you tried?

If they trip enough red flags and it's an international issue, you could just be up front that you're suspicious (including why) and ask them to go outside and take a video of themselves in front of wherever they live. Then you check it against street view, scrutinize the vegetation, that sort of thing. Require the rest of the interview process to be via video call with a wide view of the room to ensure it's the same person. That solution is respectful of their time since it's quick and easy for them. They also presumably already shared their address with you so it's not particularly invasive.

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atrettel10mo ago

Thank you for posting this. It definitely gives a lot of perspective about what is going on right now.

tough10mo ago

maybe leave the photo id ask for when there's suspicion only is fine

DiggyJohnson10mo ago

Why has asking for photo ID become politicized. ID for voting and job interviews seems like some of the most reasonable usage for an official ID.

mingus8810mo ago

The reason it is political for voting is that the rules needed to get a qualified ID are often impossible (or hard enough to suppress voting) for many legit voters.

These rules have become weaponized in a culture war, such as the requirement that an ID match the name on the birth record, meaning women whose last names changed during marriage require additional paperwork, often crossing state lines and in person visits. Bingo, disenfranchised a large population of women.

Personally I think voting should be mandatory as some countries have done, and verification should be easy.

Obviously you need documentation to work, and it’s fair to gather that documentation as early in the process as is reasonable (as in when an application is submitted)

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0 pointscj10mo ago0 comments

80% of our recruiter's time is spent trying to figure out which candidates are real and which are fake.

We're extremely vigilant about this issue as a company, yet we've had people get through 2 or 3 rounds before someone realized something was off (some people are really, really good at faking it).

0 comments

aleph_minus_one10mo ago

To me, what you call "red flags" rather looks like a description of often outstanding programmers who are quite privacy-conscious (think into the direction of "somewhat cypherpunky").

charcircuit10mo ago

It can be both. Due to how much time the fake applications take throwing out privacy conscious candidates seems like a worthy sacrifice to make.

aleph_minus_one10mo ago

fc417fc80210mo ago

Don't you have to ask for ID at the end anyway? So the only question is avoiding behavior that makes it look like you're a fake job listing harvesting PII or something.

Is the issue skilled candidates that are misrepresenting where they live, unqualified candidates with fake resumes trying to land the position anyway, or something else?

What have you tried?

1 more reply

atrettel10mo ago

Thank you for posting this. It definitely gives a lot of perspective about what is going on right now.

tough10mo ago

maybe leave the photo id ask for when there's suspicion only is fine

DiggyJohnson10mo ago

Why has asking for photo ID become politicized. ID for voting and job interviews seems like some of the most reasonable usage for an official ID.

mingus8810mo ago

The reason it is political for voting is that the rules needed to get a qualified ID are often impossible (or hard enough to suppress voting) for many legit voters.

Personally I think voting should be mandatory as some countries have done, and verification should be easy.

Obviously you need documentation to work, and it’s fair to gather that documentation as early in the process as is reasonable (as in when an application is submitted)

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse