What in the Hunger Games is Happening with Recruitment? A short history of how we got here, and how

This talk was recorded at NDC London in London, England. #ndclondon  #ndcconferences #developer #softwaredeveloper    

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Why haven’t job descriptions evolved since 1890? Why do interviews feel like exams for jobs no one actually does? And who decided that the ideal interview environment should be... terrified?

From Thomas Edison’s invention of the tech interview to the legacy of Industrial Revolution-era job specs, this talk takes a wry look at how hiring became so broken, and why it stays that way.

Whether you’re hiring, job hunting, or just wondering if it’s you (spoiler: it’s probably not), Suzi Edwards-Alexander will walk you through:
how we ended up with recruitment processes that serve no one,
why AI might not be the worst thing to happen to hiring (spoiler: it’s not, it’s LinkedIn),
and three practical changes you can make now to hire better, interview better, or simply survive the job search with your confidence intact.

Expect insight, irreverence, and at least one call to smash the status quo.

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Technical recruitment processes are fundamentally broken, designed to induce stress rather than evaluate actual job performance. The industry has evolved from Edison's 1920s credentialism through LinkedIn's commodification to today's AI-driven race to the bottom. The solution involves values-based structured interviews, holding space for candidates to demonstrate capabilities, and treating interviewing as a skill requiring training. Organizations should decompose roles into core competencies, embed company values throughout the process, and focus on culture-add rather than culture-fit. Candidates should leverage networks, practice interviewing regularly (not just when desperate), and recognize that rejection is systemic, not personal.

What in the Hunger Games is Happening with Recruitment? - Suzi Edwards-Alexander