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I Got Catfished by a Candidate

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Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#361

Post by inertiatic »

extra88 wrote: post #315
learc83 wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asking people who weren't listed as references can cause all kinds of trouble. In this case the candidate said they left on good terms, but given the author's willingness to go beyond what is "considered kosher" says to me that they likely do this all the time. Even if you're not asking people at a candidate's current employer, if you start poking around asking all of your contacts about someone and it gets back to t…

> asking all of your contacts about someone That escalated quickly. Checking references is one of the last things we do and insist that one be their a current manager so being "outed" by someone else isn't an issue. If I talk to a non-reference who I think is in a position to know about a candidate's performance, I would make it clear that discretion is called for; that's no guarantee but again, reference checks are…

>insist that one be their a current manager

That's inviting imposters. Most regular people applying for a job wouldn't provide their current boss as a reference, but the people who would provide fake references? No problem! You can talk to my current boss, or even my boss in 5 years time, whatever you want!

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#362

Post by jasonkester »

Steeeve wrote: post #348

It's strange to me how much linkedin is valued in silicon valley because to me it's like the ugly stepsister of social networking. Expecting someone to have a fully built out profile and expecting that person to actively seek out contacts in their own company is strange. I typically seek out contacts either when I first meet them or not at all. The only rhyme or reason to when I do it is when I happen to have a reaso…

Indeed. My LinkedIn account has a few contacts, but they're each a combination of two rare events:

- somebody from an old company added me as a contact, and

- I happen to have checked LinkedIn that year

That adds up to maybe six random people over 15 year.

My GitHub account is similar looking. A few public client libraries for my sass businesses, some private repos from old consulting gigs, and a handy way to log in to a few other awkward developer services.

You wouldn't hire me after looking at either.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#363

Post by Clubber »

segmondy wrote: post #202

Lot's of candidates lie. The one test that we gave that most people copied was converting decimal to roman number. They copied the first solution that they found, variable names, etc. the few times they changed the variable names, they kept the same number of spacing, braces in same position. So one line might have "if (...){ " where another has "if(...){" How demanding can this be? Once money is involved, folks will…

>The one test that we gave that most people copied was converting decimal to roman number.

I've read some really stupid programming questions, but that has got to be one of the top 5 stupidest.

Also, I think you mean to say "integer," as Romans didn't have the concept of "decimal."

http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/52552.html

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#364

Post by mmaunder »

mrbill wrote: post #87

You just never know who might turn up from your past... 1999: I was a sysadmin at an ISP in Austin. One day we had a tour come through, people looking to see if they wanted to colo in our datacenter. In walks in the former CEO and most of the technical staff from the Oklahoma City-based ISP I'd started my career at and left in '96. We laughed, shook hands.. and they headhunted me away a couple months later with a 200…

EFNet. Those were the days. I was pHaze on #phreak and #2600.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#366

Post by anothergoogler »

Clubber wrote: post #337
anothergoogler wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no code. If they say they were great, they were possibly great. There are so many reasons for a terse confirmation of employment. Foremost would be that you're talking to HR and they're following a fixed process. A process that exists for a reason: Even a positive review with good intentions could be framed as injurious to the candidate's prospects.

Who gives HR as a reference?

Who gives somebody who would only state their dates of employment as a reference? We must be talking about different things here.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#367

Post by nocman »

learc83 wrote: post #306
extra88 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nothing wrong with considering a shared previous employer a "plus"; the hiring manager knows the employer so if a candidate was good enough for them, there's some reason to think they're good enough for you. If the work environments are similar it could also mean getting them up to speed more quickly. There's nothing wrong with asking the opinions of people other than those a candidate directs you to. With b…

Asking people who weren't listed as references can cause all kinds of trouble. In this case the candidate said they left on good terms, but given the author's willingness to go beyond what is "considered kosher" says to me that they likely do this all the time. Even if you're not asking people at a candidate's current employer, if you start poking around asking all of your contacts about someone and it gets back to t…

"In America it is incredibly easy to fire someone--stop being so paranoid."

^ uh, that is very often not the case. Well I guess it is if you are willing to live with any legal consequences that are the fallout of firing someone.

I have a close relative that did a lot of hiring and a decent amount of firing (for legitimate reasons -- they were the type to give people a lot of chances, and genuinely wanted to help people better their situation). Their caution in the firing process was driven by years of experience (both theirs and other manager's experience) where some fired employees that were clearly in the wrong would try to pursue legal action against the employer (even though they had no case whatsoever). Attorney's fees aren't cheap, even if you are in the right.

So it often is not true that "In America it is incredibly easy to fire someone".

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#368

Post by Clubber »

anothergoogler wrote: post #366
Clubber wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who gives HR as a reference?

Who gives somebody who would only state their dates of employment as a reference? We must be talking about different things here.

Yes, all my references are colleagues. I have their cell / home numbers and emails and all that. The point of references (at least back when I would send resumes to people) is, "did so and so work with you at place and place?" "What kind of work did so and so do?" "How did you like working with so and so?" "What languages did so and so work with?" That sort of thing. I think you are talking employment verification.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#369

Post by xtrapolate »

(1) I don't want to hire dishonest/unreliable/disingenuous people. I wouldn't want to work alongside them, and I prefer to distance myself from such personalities at all cost.

(2) From a job seeker's perspective, I don't want to be secretly spied on by a potential employer. I can (and often will) volunteer any information necessary, through a mutually agreed upon channel. I wouldn't want someone prying through my personal social network accounts, secretly contacting random people that may or may not know me from past workplaces. I wouldn't want a potential employer making baseless assumptions based on my social media accounts (or lack thereof).

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