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I Got Catfished by a Candidate

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Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#371
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.

Not having a LI profile will also be interpreted in their own way when it comes to the decision if they should hire you or not.

In my opinion the only way to not lose the game is not to play it. As soon as private data is collected somewhere it will be misused. And I guess I'm prvilledged enough to use this as a natural filter.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#373
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And on the flip side bear in mind that some of us were 10-15yo on IRC back in the day. Don't fault those of us too hard.

Yes, one of the great things about the "don't use your proper name on the internet" was the ability to let go of the past if needed. Much much harder now.

Getting ot now, but actually you'd be surprised (at least I was) how fast you drop off the internet as websites and services die. I've gotten more careful about using my full name maybe 4-5 years ago (the 10 before that I didn't care, and I never used my real name the 10 before that) and nowadays I'm all but invisible online, save a few work presentations with my name on it left and right. I know the mantra is 'the internet never forgets', and probably if you're high profile it doesn't, but for your average joe, even thousands of comments and tweets and posts die off after only a few years.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're responding to me. And no, I don't think you've established that normal social etiquette is "dishonest" in any meaningful sense.

Here is what you wrote. >There's a weird fundamentalist notion of "honesty" that implies that anything short of continuously broadcasting all of your thoughts to everyone around you is "dishonest". Perhaps that's just innocent literalism, but I think a lot of that is, itself, a dishonest attempt to establish false equivalencies between submitting a completely fictitious resume on the one hand, and restraining yoursel…

I apologize if I misunderstood; I think the context of threaded conversations sometimes implies a disagreement when one may not necessarily exist.

I contend that there is zero overlap between what I would characterize as dishonesty and what I would characterize as acceptable behavior in a healthy professional environment.

What we seem to be focusing on at the moment is the relative honesty or dishonesty of polite social interactions, e.g. laughing at bad jokes or claiming to enjoy grandma’s cooking when you don’t. I think there’s likely an overlap between politeness and mild dishonesty in those situations, but by the same token, I don’t personally engage in many of these dishonesties—the polite “fake laugh” is more than I can pull off without coming across as sarcastic—but if you’re better at subtlety than I am, and you fake-laugh in a way that doesn’t come across as either sarcastic or genuine, and you reasonably expect the other person to be fluent and subtle enough to pick up on that, well, that’s not even dishonesty anymore, it’s just non-literal signaling, and after all, etiquette is largely a signaling dance where you show off and feel out how good each other is at subtle interpersonal signaling.

On the other hand, I also advise not dating people who unironically ask “does this dress make me look fat?”, and consider playing along with those games to be dishonest in a soul-eroding way. Although maybe that’s just because that’s a level of non-literal signaling that I just don’t have the patience for....

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#375

(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 per…

quote: “if I didn’t do my backdoor checks I would have never uncovered the Catfish.”

So: the end justifies the means...

This is the way of tyranny. Unbelievable and unacceptable.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#376

I'm a recruiter. Three anecdotes come to mind for this topic: #1 I once sent out a coding test email to a candidate. Not long after I got an email back from this candidate saying "Hey bro could you do this test for me please." or words to that effect. Obviously mistakenly forwarded it back to me instead of to his bro who he wanted to do his coding test. #2 I definitely got catfished but it was by another recruiter wh…

> One thing I'd be interested to do is run some sort of duplicate text detecter over my candidate database. You'll probably get a double-digit percentage of hits. I google parts from every resume I receive when I'm hiring for a position. About half have bits and pieces copied from somewhere else.

Don't forget that you're supposed to paste phrases from the job description language into the resume, so every resume should have a very high baseline similarity.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone lies, because the interviewing process itself is a fucking joke, ESPECIALLY in the Bay Area. If the person can answer all my questions and they have a good attitude, I honestly don't give a shit what got them to that point. If someone doesn't work out, you can fire them. Yes it's "exhausting", maybe if it's so difficult to manage or run a business you should find a different role for yourself. I really enjoy…

Fabricating emails and phone numbers, getting others to act like your boss and lie for you is quite far over the line of just "lying in an interview". If he had passed all the interviews and when time came said he lied because he knew he can do it but without lying he wouldn't be able to get through the door, he would have probably gotten the job, at least on a probationary basis. But doing what he did means he's com…

I worked in a film processing store (before the turn of the century), and one of my workmates there told me how he'd set up a friend to pretend to be a former boss for him. Said friend forgot, my workmate was called in to the business and they told him they would ring the police if they ever heard his name again. Apparently there was swearing.

Same guy found a mobile phone and rang some random number in Australia. Ran up a massive toll bill talking to strangers, and ditched the phone.

Last I heard, he'd got into med school. As you might observe, I'm not sure this is an appropriate field for someone of his ethical caliber.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#378
post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Your statements can be 100% truthful, and yet not reveal all of your thoughts about a subject or situation. Having a filter doesn't make you dishonest. Some of your thoughts are unkind, some can be even downright evil at times. The fact that you don't reveal these things is often a sign of self control. Words have power, and they affect others around you. There's a reason everyone can't hear every thought you have.…

> >I could answer with "thank you for making it" > You are carefully crafting a response to the question to make everyone believe that you liked the food without directly stating that. NO -- see that's the problem. You're making a huge assumption that is incorrect. "thank you for making it" does not mean "I liked it". And no, it won't make everyone believe that I liked the food (especially since that would not have b…

In my opinion, answering with "thank you for making it" should be equivalent in everyone else's brains to "well, that wasn't very good".

Social consequences will ensue regardless of you stating it or not. In this situation, as in many others, a lack of positive reaction is considered a negative reaction.

It all boils down to ego and believing others don't have a reason to look down at you just because you didn't directly state that the food was bad, while in reality you actually maneuvered your way out of the question to willingly avoid this, which is even more selfish.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#379
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: What is freemasonry about and why did you join it? I read up on them quite a bit but I just didn't find any good examples of actual goals and activities they are pursuing. Do Masons have a hacker mentality?

I'm not a Freemason, so I'm probably talking out of turn here, but I've always admired Freemasonry and the Masons I know are pretty cool, so I'll give this a shot. Corrections welcome. Freemasonry is a collection of locally-run fraternities. There is no overarching masonic organization or top-down command structure, it's all done by the local lodge, which may or may not be affiliated with other lodges. They are all "…

> They don't have a mission other than to be good citizens, help their communities, and help each other.

At least in Denmark, they're founded in Christianity, so while I've known a fair few Masons, some family even. I've turned down all invitations to join. I'm not even fulfilling all requirements because I'm not a member of the church.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#380
Disclaimer: I not condoning any lying and misdirection.

It's interesting how we seem to tolerate plenty of lying and manipulation from managers, even more CEOs and the ads industry (ads are communication from companies) and even more from politicians.

For an unemployed person, lying might be seen as necessary not to end up homeless.

For a CEO or a politician perhaps it can be about getting marginally more support or power or money.

Again, I'm not condoning it. Yet it seems society is less forgiving with the less fortunate.

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