I'm Building a Hiring Platform That Starts With People, Not Job Descriptions

For years, the author felt misunderstood in their career as they had diverse experience from various sectors. Traditional resumes felt inadequate to showcase their breadth of expertise. Additionally, their disability caused issues with hybrid/onsite job opportunities. The author then questioned the conventional resume-based hiring process and considered an alternative approach, asking "What if we flip that to candidate posts capabilities - hirer applies?"

The author, a seasoned software engineer, found a system to execute this idea. They proposed a capability and multiple receipts to demonstrate a candidate's ability. For example, their capability might be "Make legacy systems more reliable," with receipts such as "Improved production reliability in logistics systems supporting tens of millions of dollars in daily business activity, helping maintain approximately 99% uptime."

The platform would have benefits for finders, such as reducing the time and cost of sifting through resumes. To combat scams, only a "Show Interest" button would be available for finders, requiring a job description, contact method, and pay range. The candidate's identity would only be revealed once they accept the interest message.

To ensure quality in the candidate pool, the pilot would be invite-only, initially focusing on senior, lead, and staff software engineers. The author planned to have 10 candidates and 3 finders in the pilot. They emphasized the absence of personal information like profile pictures, age, race, or religion to avoid discrimination. The search function and simple filters would allow finders to discover the most suitable candidates.

The author was cautious about incorporating AI, as they had become disillusioned with its current state. Instead, they preferred a user-driven approach with no need for AI. They sought candidates who also felt the current system didn't cater to their needs and finders looking to fill these roles. The author shared their criteria on a Discord server, inviting users to join and provide feedback for the pilot.