I Got Catfished by a Candidate • Hacker News Board

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#31

Post by gumby » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:34 PM UTC

> backdoor reference checks aren’t always considered kosher by everyone

?? These are the most important references. Many excellent candidates won't have a back connection but when they are possible they can make an important difference two ways: One is the way described here (or, "this person was OK but doesn't sound like they would work out for the kind of thing you want -- that was where they failed with us too."). The other is the opposite, which has happened to me twice: "Oh that person? Look, if you don't take them let them know we'd really like them back" (on a candidate who barely made it through the interview but there was enough something there that we decided to do some background checking. Turned out he was simply nervous in front of people he didn't know and gave a terrible interview.). Without the background check we might have missed an excellent candidate with poor job-seeking skills.

Whenever I get a resume with a school on it that I or one of my colleagues attended I always check. I also once had an amazing candidate with 20 years experience in the lab doing just what we wanted. Their resume said that they had a degree from my schoo in X. I of course looked them up on the alum site and saw they had a degree in Y. Now both X and Y were in the set {Chemistry, Physics, Material Science, Chemical Engineering} so clearly had they simply told the truth it wouldn't have mattered -- the 20 years of experience would have said enough for anyone who actually cared about degrees after all that time. But since they lied...the resume went into the trash and the candidate was never brought in for an interview.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#32

Post by netsharc » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

pavlov wrote: post #29

briandear wrote: post #10

I really hate the so-called term “catfished” it’s a completely contrived word that came from a 2010 movie that probably 50 people actually saw. “Ghosting” is another one, but at least you can use context to sort of figure out what people are actually talking about. A bit off topic, but this adulteration of language — from an obscure pop-culture reference, is a bit silly. Obviously the author agrees that most people d…

MTV's "Catfish" series has had seven seasons so far and is shown around the world. It's not obscure at all.

But how did they get the name? From the movie.

I saw the documentary on a flight. I guess I'm part of the 6.57x10^-7 percent!

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#33

Post by crescentfresh » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

The place I'm at now forbids employees from being references for past employees (or current employees discreetly seeking other employment). Is this normal?

It would have prevented "Jim" or anyone else at ACME Corp from being a reference to catfish-er, so requests for a reference from the company would have been denied right off the bat. That would have made it harder to spot the fake.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#34

Post by jrs235 » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

jeena wrote: post #13

> Rule #2: Take a long hard look at a candidate’s social profiles. > Rule #4: Google is your friend. That are one of the main reasons I don't post with my real name on the Internet, and I don't have an LinkedIn account. I don't want people to interpret what I put on the Internet in their own way when it comes to the decision if they should hire me or not.

Do you want to work for people that believe and actually review social profiles and google search you? So perhaps publicly posting that you disagree with such behaviors might actually be doing you a favor. No?

I think I understand not desiring to post your name with any other opinions though.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#35

Post by mathattack » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:37 PM UTC

dewiz wrote: post #12

I was hoping to find out from the story why this catfish lied in the first place. If they passed the interview so well they must be someway good.

Sounds like it was for a Sales position. Those types of interviews are easier to BS.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#36

Post by AndrewGaspar » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:41 PM UTC

crescentfresh wrote: post #33

The place I'm at now forbids employees from being references for past employees (or current employees discreetly seeking other employment). Is this normal? It would have prevented "Jim" or anyone else at ACME Corp from being a reference to catfish-er, so requests for a reference from the company would have been denied right off the bat. That would have made it harder to spot the fake.

I've never heard of anybody doing this. Sounds pretty messed up to me.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#37

Post by anothergoogler » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:42 PM UTC

gumby wrote: post #31

> backdoor reference checks aren’t always considered kosher by everyone ?? These are the most important references. Many excellent candidates won't have a back connection but when they are possible they can make an important difference two ways: One is the way described here (or, "this person was OK but doesn't sound like they would work out for the kind of thing you want -- that was where they failed with us too.").…

How do you know that your backdoor reference doesn't personally dislike the candidate for something unrelated to their mutual work experience? Maybe hiring by hearsay works for some people, but I don't trust references, good or bad.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#38

Post by pavlov » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:43 PM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #32

pavlov wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MTV's "Catfish" series has had seven seasons so far and is shown around the world. It's not obscure at all.

But how did they get the name? From the movie. I saw the documentary on a flight. I guess I'm part of the 6.57x10^-7 percent!

It doesn't matter where the name came from. The MTV show could be called "Sea Urchin" and it would still define the phenomenon.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#39

Post by krona » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:43 PM UTC

crescentfresh wrote: post #33

The place I'm at now forbids employees from being references for past employees (or current employees discreetly seeking other employment). Is this normal? It would have prevented "Jim" or anyone else at ACME Corp from being a reference to catfish-er, so requests for a reference from the company would have been denied right off the bat. That would have made it harder to spot the fake.

I think this is standard procedure for many US companies; the employee (e.g. your manager) can't give professional references on behalf of the company, mostly because there is nothing for the company to gain. In fact it's loose-loose: You get the job, they loose an employee; you don't get the job, the company could become liable for all kinds of things (libel, lost earnings etc.)

However there is nothing stopping a private individual giving a personal reference even if that person happened to be your manager.

This has been my experience working for large US corporations in the UK.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#40

Post by jeena » Tue, May 15, 2018, 7:44 PM UTC

jrs235 wrote: post #34

jeena wrote: post #13

> Rule #2: Take a long hard look at a candidate’s social profiles. > Rule #4: Google is your friend. That are one of the main reasons I don't post with my real name on the Internet, and I don't have an LinkedIn account. I don't want people to interpret what I put on the Internet in their own way when it comes to the decision if they should hire me or not.

Do you want to work for people that believe and actually review social profiles and google search you? So perhaps publicly posting that you disagree with such behaviors might actually be doing you a favor. No? I think I understand not desiring to post your name with any other opinions though.

The problem is that they will need to get to page 47 on a google search to find this. The odds of this doing me a favor are just to astronomic in my opinion.