Mass applications were a mistake. A big one.

Mass applications were a mistake. Every job has 1000+ applications within an hour of opening. People apply to 20+ colleges on the common app without actually thinking about which school they really want to go to. This buries the best candidates and wastes everyone's time.

Let's be honest. No recruiter or admissions officer can actually sort through that many applications without some sort of simple scan up front (ie GPA, where you went to school, etc).

Strong candidates who didn't apply quickly enough get ignored (encourages automation & scraping tools for applications), and non-traditional backgrounds can get filtered out immediately.

At the same time, mass applications erase actual intent signals. Someone whose dream is to work at your company or attend your school are put in the same pile as someone running a bot or applying for interview practice only.

IMO, this is a huge mistake. I'd rather have someone who is deeply passionate about the mission and willing to learn on the job over someone who has a perfect GPA and background.

To fix this, we need to make applying meaningfully harder. Some random thoughts to accomplish this

- make the first step a take home project that takes 3-5 hours
- require cover letters and unique essays

Yes this will filter people out, and that is the point. IF you genuinely want to work somewhere and spend years of your life there, that is a HUGE decision on both sides, and it shouldn't be done by sending out 1,000 applications in a couple hours.

What do you think?