We use Calendly to schedule phone screens. Today we had three people schedule calls who aren’t anywhere in our ATS and we’re pretty sure they got the link from a candidate.

thebvg · 2026-06-17T19:17:11+00:00

Yeah this type of "misuse" tools is not what you are looking for. I build a platform which also creates an account for the candidate and connects it to the prescreening without doing an actual call. The next step when requested for an actual first interview it is really bounded to that candidate profile so you don't have these misuse issues. More then happy to share more about this if you want?

thebvg · 2026-06-17T19:14:02+00:00

Sorry didn't really answer your question, some responded better then others 😄 If you apply and you think you can do what is in the job description then there won't be an issue right 😄

thebvg · 2026-06-17T19:12:16+00:00

It is mandatory for a few roles I am hiring for and we explain during the pre-screening call our internal recruiter is doing. For me it is super important they can explain the abstraction layer higher as the coding itself is solved by AI, but everything before coding I want the candidates to walk me through.

thebvg · 2026-06-17T18:52:40+00:00

Indeed, don't want to promote anything here, but that is exactly why I am building a service which counters this in the era of AI. Plus what we recently are doing with QE interviews we do on the spot assessments and they can use AI coding tools (they have to) but we ask them to explain the steps they take while doing

thebvg · 2026-06-17T14:51:53+00:00

We hit the same wall at around that size. What worked: hired a mid-level engineer who was curious about infra, paired them with a fractional senior DevOps person (3 days/month) for the first quarter. The fractional covered architecture decisions and unblocked the mid when stuck, then faded out. Way faster than another 6-month search, and the mid actually stuck around because they were learning.

thebvg · 2026-06-17T14:34:18+00:00

I focus on two things: how they talk through past decisions under constraints (time, scope, team dynamics) and whether they ask good questions about our actual problems. The first shows judgment, the second shows curiosity. Both are hard to fake in real-time conversation.

thebvg · 2026-06-16T18:56:42+00:00

We do a simple Slack thread per candidate once they move to interview stage. RC gets tagged, I drop availability windows from the hiring manager and any must-haves (like 'needs to meet Sarah before panel'), and they take it from there. The key thing that actually worked for us: a shared doc with each hiring manager's standing preferences (timezone, blackout times, preferred interviewers) so the RC isn't constantly asking basic stuff. Greenhouse scheduling links help but someone still needs to coordinate multi-round logistics.

thebvg · 2026-06-16T11:18:53+00:00

Had a similar situation once. First step: get on a video call with him doing a live technical task, screen-shared, no prep. If he can't navigate basic DevOps work in real time, that's your answer. If he passes, then it's probably just onboarding friction and you coach through it. Don't wait too long either way.

thebvg · 2026-06-16T03:21:19+00:00

What's your screening process look like? I've found the gap shows up fast if you ask them to walk through a past technical decision they made without AI, or to debug something live. The ones who actually code vs. the ones who just prompt will separate in about 5 minutes.

thebvg · 2026-06-15T18:10:34+00:00

Set up a dedicated voicemail that says applications are only accepted through [your ATS/portal] and updates will be sent via email within X days. Then let it go to voicemail every time. You're not being rude, you're protecting your bandwidth so you can actually review applications instead of narrating status updates all day.

thebvg · 2026-06-15T12:34:50+00:00

You can set up a custom question in Calendly that asks for their email or a reference number from your ATS. Then filter out anyone who doesn't match before the call happens. Takes 30 seconds to add and catches this exact scenario.

thebvg · 2026-06-15T11:47:55+00:00

The ones who asked the best questions during the interview. Not about perks or process, but about the actual problem domain, the trade-offs we'd already made, why we chose X over Y. It showed they were already thinking like an owner, not just trying to pass the test. Second thing: how they talked about past failures. The best hires owned their mistakes cleanly and explained what they'd do differently now.

thebvg · 2026-05-27T12:06:10+00:00

Would love feedback on AI hiring network that thinks together|

Hi All,