Why we test skills?

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Why does LMNS think testing skills are better than traditional interviews?

You see, 4 years ago, this exact process helped me, an immigrant, without a network, land a job at Facebook, doubling my income overnight. I am not saying everyone wants a job at Facebook, but as it stands, not everyone can even get one. In fact, without a network, job applicants are privy to only about 20% of jobs open in a company, and needless to say, I never met anyone at Facebook that even got an interview through an application.

Q: So how did I get a referral without a network?

I showed my skills. The above is a sample marketing campaign I created for Oscar health. They didn't ask me to, in fact I took an entire day to make it, researching the company, their problems, and figuring out a way I could use my behavioral science to design a solution. The result. The CEO replied within the hour:

Making that ad campaign was free work, and time consuming but it paid off. Instead of 200 applications and 0 interviews, I made 6 campaigns and 6 interviews, and most notably I grew my personal brand.

Completing a competition takes work. But the return on investment to your personal brand is infinite. What you create in a competition doesn't stay buried with your company, it is permanent proof of your talent. Any company that tries to steal it without hiring you, gets only 1 instance of your genius (not to mention a company like that is crap and you don't want to work with them).

But that's not what LMNS sees as the future.

The above process is still far from ideal, after doing all this work, and landing a referral, I proceeded to complete 7 rounds of interviews at Facebook (including additional screening and technical assessment) where at any moment I could lose that opportunity and get right back to where I started.

Our self-funded competitions provide some cash, a chance to boost your personal brand and referral options, but in the future, we want all our competitions to be employer run where we replace the need to a) get a referral/apply for a job  b) screening rounds and c) additional technical assessments. 2 steps. Not 5 pre-interview steps + X many interviews.

Nothing persuades employers more of this system than results. The more competitions, the more results, the more others will see how talent is dispersed and we can create a future where you get hired for you, not your resume

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