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Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#161

Post by pkrotich »

Perhaps in-person interview requirement would help eliminate such fake candidates? But I know it's not very practical in the remote work age and maybe it explains why you're seeing drastic increase.

While not as bad as fake candidates, professional interviewers who interview really well but cannot deliver a lick on the job are also very problematic. Once hired someome who sounded perfect for the role (even in person) - relocated him - but months into the job they couldn't deliver.

That said, I just hired someone without meeting them in person (just Zoom call) and they're pretty good thus far! I guess you just have to be lucky.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#163

Post by actually_a_dog »

rockemsockem wrote: post #135
kube-system wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't like making people write code live. Some really good coders just don't work well with people looking over their shoulder. I prefer giving people a take-home with an original problem to solve. Then, follow that up with a live call where you ask them some questions about it.

You can still be coached through a take-home and follow-up though. I like to ask a very easy problem to start (some candidates spend the full 45 minutes on it) and then ask a similar problem after to build on it. If you work for a company there is some expectation of being able to work while people watch you. I don't like asking crazy dynamic programming problems, etc, but something simple and something slightly hard…

> If you work for a company there is some expectation of being able to work while people watch you.

I don't know what kind of company you work for, but, in spite of the fact that every single technical interview I've ever had involved live coding, I've literally never had to write code in front of anyone at work. By "write code" I mean "write code that's expected to compile and run." I've done plenty of whiteboarding at work, but never anything like what happens in a technical interview.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#164

Post by actually_a_dog »

rabuse wrote: post #68
kube-system wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't like making people write code live. Some really good coders just don't work well with people looking over their shoulder. I prefer giving people a take-home with an original problem to solve. Then, follow that up with a live call where you ask them some questions about it.

Yep, that's me. I feel like an experiment when people are watching what I'm doing, even if it's something as mundane as browsing the web.

I used to do a lot of work in an electronics lab that had a whole bunch of windows on one wall that looked out onto a hallway. That hallway was more or less the main passage through the building, so it was fairly high traffic. I used to tell people I felt like I was working in the engineer exhibit at the zoo.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#165

Post by obblekk »

d4mi3n wrote: post #157
lumost wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of me suspects that this is a major reason for the push on RTO. If you hire people remote who used any one of dozens of mechanisms to cheat.. it can be hard to correct. You could have a candidate who does great on your interview then fails to produce a single PR in 3 months on the job.

Speculation aside, this means you have a bad interview process. If your interview isn't screening for the work you want somebody to do then it's not a good metric for finding successful employees.

I think the fraud is asymmetric. It's relatively easy for me to hire someone to perform the work the employers wants for X hours one time (i.e. interview), but relatively difficult for me to subcontract it reliably for 40 hours every week.

This asymmetry exists regardless of how representative of real work the interview process is, short of a full-time engagement.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#166

Post by erdos4d »

samstave wrote: post #82

I may have just experienced identity theft by an indian company claming to hire me. I am convinced of it now.

I bet this happens a lot actually. Its far easier to just post a bullshit job on a board and collect the CVs than dream them up yourself.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#167

Post by JCharante »

actually_a_dog wrote: post #150
givemeethekeys wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I knew someone who learned on the job until they got fired. They faired much better on the next job. Hard times call for hard people.

Not terribly surprising, since companies have more or less refused to actually train anybody since the 80s or so.

What’s the point of training people when there’s at will employment

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#168

Post by actually_a_dog »

JCharante wrote: post #167
actually_a_dog wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not terribly surprising, since companies have more or less refused to actually train anybody since the 80s or so.

What’s the point of training people when there’s at will employment

What's your alternative to at will employment? You know employment has always been at will in the US, and companies used to train people, right?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#169

Post by O__________O »

iaaan wrote: post #128

Earlier this year, I interviewed this guy who gave me really strange vibes. He would stall for a good 15-20 seconds after each question I asked... and then spit out a perfectly worded answer. I google'd some specific, peculiar phrases I remembered him saying after the interview and found that the phrases came straight out of places like the Kubernetes documentation, word for word. He was googling my questions and the…

Weird, number of the site has a voicemail with the company’s name ("Data Service Group") — did not expect that.

800 419 2567

Re: Ask HN: Anyone having issues with job applicant fraud?

#170

Post by tyingq »

iaaan wrote: post #128

Earlier this year, I interviewed this guy who gave me really strange vibes. He would stall for a good 15-20 seconds after each question I asked... and then spit out a perfectly worded answer. I google'd some specific, peculiar phrases I remembered him saying after the interview and found that the phrases came straight out of places like the Kubernetes documentation, word for word. He was googling my questions and the…

My favorite bit is this:

"4k+ ACTIVE CLIENTS, 35+ PROJECTS DONE...10 GLORIOUS YEARS"

I imagine then, there's at least 3965 clients that aren't super happy. At 3.5 projects completed per year, it's going to be a long road.

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