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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?

#201

Post by LeafItAlone »

guhcampos wrote: post #67
jamestimmins wrote: post #25

Once worked at a 3rd party coding interview company as an interviewer, and we had a bunch of grad students from a college who were all clearly cheating. They solved the problem from the top of the page down (rather than organically, as someone would when doing actual programming) in a very specific way. The company didn't want to disqualify those candidates, since we couldn't prove cheating, but it was pretty fascina…

I feel that most avid readers of the green book would behave like that. If you consider that cheating its probably better to find another interview method. (I do hate code interviews)

What’s the green book?

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

#202

Post by duxup »

bb88 wrote: post #30

It's a problem here too. Even if they use their camera, it doesn't mean they don't have someone feeding them answers to questions. Phone interviews are even more sketchy since the person who may be answering the questions is a completely different person who shows up on day 1. We had one person we hired as a contractor, but then her voice changed on the phone, and started calling people by their last names in chat. I…

> was trying to do two jobs at the same time

Happened at a company I worked at many years ago. Working from home was new, one dude who we all thought was suspect anyway got a call from his bosses boss and answered the phone with the wrong company name and it was over.

To make an example of him they made him pay back some of his salary (his contract had him on call and available 24/7). Ran into him a while later and he confirmed he paid them back.

Not a fake candidate but a slimy guy.

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

#203

Post by jamestimmins »

guhcampos wrote: post #67
jamestimmins wrote: post #25

Once worked at a 3rd party coding interview company as an interviewer, and we had a bunch of grad students from a college who were all clearly cheating. They solved the problem from the top of the page down (rather than organically, as someone would when doing actual programming) in a very specific way. The company didn't want to disqualify those candidates, since we couldn't prove cheating, but it was pretty fascina…

I feel that most avid readers of the green book would behave like that. If you consider that cheating its probably better to find another interview method. (I do hate code interviews)

In my experience that isn't accurate. There are a lot of folks who studied Hacking the Coding Interview and are able to use the skills they've gained, but who aren't willing to cheat in the process.

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

#204

Post by kramerica_ind »

geoffbp wrote: post #195

Yes we’re having problems along those lines. We don’t proceed with interviews unless video is available - Multiple candidates with the same resume - Resume doesn’t include full name, location or LinkedIn - Candidate blatantly lies during interview - Candidate is observed copying answers from the web, unable to explain how it works - Language barrier issues - Candidate applying for a senior role can’t solve simple pro…

> We don’t proceed with interviews unless video is available

Just throwing this out there. I've been interviewing lately and on more than one occasion now I've had the recruiter/screener pull the "oh, haha, my camera's not working" gag. Mistakes happen, but I wasn't born yesterday. So now I don't switch on my camera until I see the interviewer first. Needs to be a level playing field. I'm not interviewing through a one-way mirror.

You need to be clear when sending out the Zoom/Teams/WebEx invite that there will be video.

I had one screener kind of act annoyed that I didn't have video and I'm thinking to myself, "This is a phone call pal, your camera is off too." More than likely the WFH screener is just chilling in his or her bath robe or footy pajamas.

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

#205

Post by em-bee »

actually_a_dog wrote: post #163
rockemsockem wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

you never had to work through some piece of code together with a team mate? to get help or to explain to them how something works?

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

#206

Post by dkarp »

ericol wrote: post #62

Some time ago (~6 months) my company was looking to hire a programmer. We don't have a established process for this as it was some years since we hired a coder, but then we are in the industry (hiring) so published a couple of adverts here and there and we got the thing rolling. Most of the applicants were seriously under qualified, and my colleagues had to go through a lot of rubbish in the form of CVs in order to f…

Just want to say that I work with and have worked with many stellar coders from India. I'd suggest not writing off over a billion people.

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

#207

Post by em-bee »

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 feel uncomfortable when people watch me browsing or worse reading email or the like, but not when coding. especially not when it's colleagues, since it is their project too

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

#208

Post by fbdjcicyc »

clcaev wrote: post #108

I had an unsolicited email offer to pay $5k upfront cash to use my github profile to solicit and perform work, plus monthly percentage of their earnings. I presumed it was spam, but they had done significant research as they knew the projects I participated in, and so on.

Did they follow through on payment?

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

#209

Post by sicp-enjoyer »

EddySchauHai wrote: post #193
csa wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It makes me wonder if they are just getting into a completely different program with the "American university" name. Not op, but I can answer this. Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Most non-terminal Masters degree programs are degree mills, even at well known universities. These are almost always pay-to-play with few opportunities for scholarships, TAships, or whatever. Most “real” students will enter a doctoral p…

I interviewed at Oxford for an MSc in Software Engineering with no bachelors degree lol. There are sneaky gateways into a lot of top universities.

I think that's why the most prestige for top universities is ascribed to those in the undergrad.

> MSc in Software Engineering

I think "Software engineering" degrees tend to be a strong signal: didn't study CS.

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

#210

Post by assttoasstmgr »

myth_drannon wrote: post #132
__d wrote: post #114

Early 2010's, Wall St software tech vendor: I had a candidate show up for an interview, in person, go through the preliminaries and then sit down in a meeting room for the detailed questions. As we got into it, the candidate often asked me to repeat the question. I was happy to do so, but after a few times, I was already taking care to speak slowly and clearly, and it was still happening a lot. Then I noticed a quiet…

Reminds me of an old Soviet comedy where a student taking exam in university with an ear piece. https://youtu.be/vADlGmX7-qU

Or the over-the-top cheating scene with Chevy Chase from "Spies Like Us"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaSUOFleNRU

It's nearly 40 years old and it still makes me laugh every time.

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