Most hiring platforms optimize for volume: more profiles, more applications, more noise. We optimize for the opposite. Roughly 92% of engineers who apply to StackHire don't make it into the pool — and that number is the product.
What the bar actually is
Every candidate goes through two stages before a company ever sees them:
- A 90-minute proctored coding assessment. Real problems, a real editor, real test cases — run against a sandboxed execution environment. No multiple choice, no trivia.
- A 60-minute live interview with a working senior engineer, scored on a structured rubric across problem solving, code fluency, communication, and depth. Two humans review every score before a profile goes live.
Pass both and your anonymized profile enters the marketplace. Companies request introductions; you accept or decline. Nobody — including your current employer — sees you looking until you say so.
Why so strict?
Because the acceptance rate is the promise. When a company opens a StackHire profile, they're not screening — that's already done. That's why they'll skip their own first rounds, move faster, and pay a success fee for the privilege. A looser bar makes every profile worth less, including yours.
For candidates, the strictness buys something too: one test replaces every company's take-home. Prove it once, and your evidence compounds instead of expiring at the end of each interview loop.
If you don't clear it
You'll hear from us either way — with which stage fell short. You can retake after the cooling period, and the bar doesn't move in the meantime. A rejection here is a data point, not a verdict.
Think you'd clear it? Start your application.