Most technology businesses struggle with hiring. Not because good people don’t exist, but because too many interviewers are terrible at interviewing.
There’s a direct link between the quality of your interviewers and the quality of your hires. Good interviewers don’t just identify the best candidates; they act as magnets for high-quality people. When someone walks out of an interview thinking “these people know what they’re doing,” they actually want to join your company.
The reverse is also true. Bad interviewers repel good candidates faster than you can say “culture fit.”
This is why I believe internal hiring academies are a strategic asset. Not the box-ticking compliance training kind, but proper development of interviewing as a skill.
Why most companies can’t hire well
The cost of poor hiring decisions is significant. Lost time, wasted money, damaged team morale. But the single biggest factor in hiring outcomes isn’t your ATS or your employer brand or your job ads. It’s the quality of your interviewers.
Most people conducting interviews have never been trained to do it. They’ve just been thrown into interview panels because they’re senior enough or know the technical stuff. I’m not convinced that’s enough.
Interviewing is a skill
Like any skill, interviewing requires practice and feedback to get good at it. You wouldn’t ask someone to write production code without training them first, yet we routinely ask people to conduct interviews with zero preparation.
A hiring academy addresses this. It creates a consistent, unbiased process where everyone evaluates candidates based on skills, competencies and values alignment rather than gut feel or whether they went to the right university.
What you actually get from doing this properly
Candidates don’t think your process is rubbish
The candidate experience has a direct impact on your employer brand. When interviewers know what they’re doing, conduct interviews professionally and actually engage with candidates as humans, people notice. They tell their mates. They stay in your pipeline even if they don’t get the job.
Your hiring process doesn’t rely on three people
By training more people across the business in interviewing, you stop relying on the same exhausted few to do all the interviews. This is both more efficient and less risky. What happens when your current best interviewer leaves or goes on parental leave?
You hire faster
Once interviewers know what they’re doing, everything moves quickly. Less time wasted on candidates who clearly aren’t right. Fewer interview rounds because people ask better questions the first time. Hiring managers spend less time in pointless interviews.
You reduce bias
Systemic bias creeps into hiring when people don’t know what they’re looking for or how to assess it consistently. Training helps people recognise and address their own biases, leading to more diverse teams.
How to actually build one
Develop a proper curriculum
This should cover interviewing techniques, how to assess candidates fairly, recognising bias and having honest conversations with people. Include practice sessions where people can get feedback, not just theory.
Find internal trainers
This would typically be led by HR or your People team, but you need representation from across the company. Different departments have different needs, and you want interviewers who understand technical roles to be trained by people who get it.
Make it practical
Role-playing and mock interviews are essential. So is shadowing real interviews. You can talk about interviewing theory all day, but until someone actually does it and gets feedback, they won’t improve.
Keep improving it
Get feedback from trainers, trainees and new hires about what’s working and what isn’t. The curriculum should evolve based on what you learn.
The obvious objections
“We don’t have time for this”
You have time for bad hires? You have time to re-interview for the same role six months later? You have time to deal with the team dysfunction that poor hiring creates?
The time investment upfront is significantly less than the cost of getting it wrong.
“We don’t have the resources”
Consider using technology to deliver some of the training materials. Or partner with external providers who can handle the heavy lifting. The investment pays for itself in improved hiring outcomes and reduced turnover.
“Leadership won’t support it”
Communicate the benefits clearly. Improved hiring outcomes, faster time to hire, better retention, reduced bias. If you need evidence, track metrics from your current hiring process and show where the gaps are.
“How do we sustain it?”
This isn’t a one-off project. Create a hiring committee or similar group that owns the academy long-term. Dedicate resources to it. Make it part of your company’s approach to hiring, not a nice-to-have initiative that dies after six months.
In short
Most companies treat interviewing as something anyone can do. They’re wrong. It’s a skill that requires training, practice and continuous improvement.
Developing an internal hiring academy creates a foundation for everything else in your hiring process. Better candidate experience, more consistent decision-making, reduced bias and faster hiring.
The companies that invest in this properly will hire better people. The ones that don’t will keep wondering why they can’t attract top talent.
What Remote Job Seekers Actually Think About Job Boards in 2025
The remote work landscape has matured since COVID, but finding quality remote positions seems to remain a significant challenge for some. A recent community poll in the r/remotework subreddit shed some light on where job seekers are actually finding success, and where they’re wasting their time.
The Poll Results: A Clear Winner (Sort Of)
Out of 186 voters, the results were telling:
- Indeed/LinkedIn/ZipRecruiter: 122 votes (66%)
- WeWorkRemotely.com: 28 votes (15%)
- Remote.co: 18 votes (10%)
- Remote.com: 11 votes (6%)
- RemoteOK.com: 5 votes (3%)
- Remotive.com: 2 votes (1%)
The mainstream platforms dominated, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the best choice. It likely means they have the most visibility and volume, which brings its own problems.
The Job Board Landscape: Beyond the Poll
The community discussion revealed dozens of additional platforms that job seekers are using, with varying degrees of success.
Startup-focused boards include AngelList (now Wellfound), Otta.com, Arc.dev, and Builtin.com. Specialised remote boards include JustRemote, Remote Rocketship, BetterRemoteJobs.com, RealWorkFromAnywhere.com, SkipTheDrive.com, CareerHound.io, Laboro, and WorkRemote.cc.
There are also niche and regional options like RemoteAfrica.io (for African talent), MomProject.org (for mothers returning to work), HealthJobsNationwide.com (healthcare IT), RemoteYeah.com (software developers), and The Quill (newsletter industry jobs). Freelance platforms such as Contra and Braintrust were mentioned as well.
What’s Working (And What Isn’t)
The most valuable insights came from users sharing their real experiences.
FlexJobs: Buyer Beware
Multiple users warned against FlexJobs despite its reputation for “vetted” listings. One user noted: “Flex jobs DOES NOT vet their jobs and has become horrible. Most their jobs are expired too.” Another added: “Please don’t its a waste of money, I tried it myself. The search function doesn’t work either, showed me random jobs.”
This is significant because FlexJobs charges a subscription fee. You’re paying for a service that may not deliver on its core promise.
LinkedIn’s Declining Effectiveness
One user reported: “I’ve had zero success with LinkedIn the past 18 months. Its gotten noticeably shittier the past 6 months.” This echoes broader complaints about LinkedIn’s job search functionality becoming increasingly cluttered with irrelevant postings and fake listings.
The Speed Problem
A crucial insight: “I think the trick with remote roles is applying early and in volume. Most boards are fine, but the jobs go fast.” Remote positions receive hundreds of applications within hours of posting. By the time you see a job on most boards, your chances have already diminished significantly.
Direct Company Career Pages
One developer built CareerHound.io specifically to scrape company career pages directly, bypassing aggregators. The reasoning: many opportunities never make it to LinkedIn or Indeed because companies post exclusively on their own.
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Need hiring help?
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Simon
