The funny thing is, when people say things like &quot;hiring is broken&quot;, they usually mean different things. Hiring is very different in different markets and parts of the world.<p>I&#x27;m desperately looking for competent developers right now. I don&#x27;t ask HR for help, and I don&#x27;t really filter by CV: anyone who considers himself a &quot;senior&quot; is going to get a skype call from me. But the first thing I give them is an assignment, 4-8 hours of work for a candidate of desired skill level. I tell candidates this estimate right away, and after sending it out several dozens times already I haven&#x27;t met a single one who would say &quot;sorry, I&#x27;m to busy to work on that for free&quot;. Before starting this process, I was sure this will going to be a problem, and I was sincerely surprised that it didn&#x27;t happen once.