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I Got Catfished by a Candidate

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Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#511

Post by aje403 »

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.").…

Can you post where you work so that people reading this know not to apply to your company? Thanks

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#512

Post by dx034 »

tzakrajs wrote: post #103
kelukelugames wrote: post #88

This is not a catfish. This is a person lying on their resume

They also gave a fake reference number implying they were prepared to pose as someone else to social engineer. That is beyond lying on a resume.

I think he never called it? Maybe it was just an invalid number.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#513

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

rconti wrote: post #135
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #23

Out of all of the possible people to choose as your fake manager, this person chose one out of the two people that I knew from Acme Corp Someone who I had interviewed and who turned out to be a terrible employee (we fired him after 9 months of trying to find something he could do right) listed me as a reference on his resume. Problem for him was that the hiring manager at the next place where he applied turned out to…

Well I mean, friend or no, you wouldn't have exactly been able to provide a glowing review. Of course, you can be slightly more candid with a friend. Or did the candidate provide fake contact info for 'you' ?

This is how I answered when my friend called and asked what I thought of the guy, "Do you want my actual opinion or the Corporate Response?"

He immediately knew what I meant and said "OK, that's all I needed."

For those who don't get it, the Corporate Response (that any other person checking up would receive) would be "the employee worked in Software Development from MM/DD/YY to mm/dd/yy and was assigned xxx tasks" with no further comment.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#514

Post by dx034 »

Clubber wrote: post #363
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

Why stupid? As a take-home exercise it doesn't sound too bad. Won't take forever to solve but still requires some understanding of algorithms. Not as easy as FizzBuzz but also nothing you can't solve after work.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#515

Post by dx034 »

cascom wrote: post #51

Almost every job I ever had had an intermediate step with background/biographical reference checks after I accepted the offer, but before I started.

That makes sense. Once you signed, it's easy to get a reference from your employer (at least factual). Before that it's unnecessary. Especially if there are more tests to come, I don't want 10 companies requesting references when I look for a new job.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#516

Post by aje403 »

jkFeiwi wrote: post #246
chatmasta wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take the opposite approach. I accept that everything I post online is public, and a chance to control my own narrative. I would much rather fill the Internet with my own content about myself, than leave it empty for someone else to impersonate or disparage me. Additionally, I am proud of what I post publicly — otherwise I wouldn’t post it. Public personas are a professional necessity, especially in our industry. Fo…

Not a developer, but laughing at this statement: > Public personas are a professional necessity, especially in our industry If I wasn't on hacker news, I would assume you were an actor or a radio talk show host. Maybe you're right, and developers need to have a public persona today. But why does it need to be that way? You aren't performers. You aren't politicians.

Personas and reputations are beneficial in any human pursuit. People who are respected and acknowledged more by others have an advantage. We now have the internet and social media and other ways to market one's self. With less networked electric metal things involved, it has been that way since groups of primates started gathering together, and probably well before that with other species. Welcome to being a living being on Earth.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#517

Post by dx034 »

xor1 wrote: post #214

>backdoor reference check Anyone know a good place to do one of these on myself? I have an infraction on record (traffic ticket) that apparently shows up as a misdemeanor in at least one database. I found this out during my Global Entry interview. I'd like to begin the long and painful process of unraveling this, but I don't really know where to start. It could be a problem in just one database, or in dozens.

I would be very surprised if that flags up anywhere, unless you apply for a government position.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#518

Post by cascom »

stickfigure wrote: post #305
cascom wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is generally understood that candidates must consent to have their references checked. In what part of the application process did the candidate consent to you letting anyone you choose know they are looking for a job?

It is generally understood that candidates must consent to have their references checked. That's rubbish. It's generally understood that all parties are expected to perform due diligence. What do you think people do with the connection graph linkedin displays? I've interviewed people who were clear that they didn't want their current employer to know that they were looking - that's fine, and easy to respect. But the…

1. If you work in th US I’d suggest a conversation with HR about your current practices - this issue is frought with legal issues and liability (as the reference giver as well).

2. Passive diligence (looking someone up online) is very different than active diligence where you disclose to another party the candidate’s status and potentially receive defamatory information.

3. You say you’d “respect” a candidates desire for you to not contact a current employer, but it also doesn’t sound as if you think that is explicitly out of bounds.

4. Just out of curiousity were a candidate to lose their current job (for example), due to word getting back to their current employer due to your Backdoor Checks - what level of responsibility are you prepared to personally undertake? Seems to me that people should be exceedingly cautious that their actions don’t result in someone losing their livelihood due to a gossipy former colleague....

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#519

Post by lostcolony »

ItsMe000001 wrote: post #400
lvillani wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His knowledge is solid, sure, but would you really want to work with someone who has such a strong inclination to cheat and deceive? I certainly wouldn't.

I think OPs point is, or maybe that's just my point, that in general and broader terms there should not be such a pressure to begin with. OP gave an example that even the best felt/feel it. So, on an individual basis, no, I would not want to hire that person out of an abundance of caution, but on a broader basis I would not like the pressure to do such a thing to exist to begin with. It's like crime: You want to puni…

So what's your solution? UBI? Because when a person's ability to make money and take care of themselves is on the line, in competing for a job against other candidates, there will ALWAYS be high levels of pressure.

The guy mentioned in the OP wasn't experiencing any additional pressure beyond "I need a job"; he wasn't in some high stress boiler style interview (the interview actually sounds like just casual conversation), it was just that his resume, that he sent everywhere prior to any interview, was filled with lies.

It's not the interview process that was messed up here, it's that in response to the basic competitive nature of "there is one job opening and multiple applicants, and, oh, yeah, we need someone who knows their stuff", he decided to lie about his experience. If that basic arrangement is somehow at fault, rather than this one guy who lied, then you're questioning not the nature of interviews, but the nature of jobs in a free market.

Re: I Got Catfished by a Candidate

#520

Post by nocman »

glastra wrote: post #378
nocman wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> >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 dire…

Maybe something is being lost in the lack of tone, but I don't in any way believe that anwsering "thank you for making it" could be construed as being selfish.

And it has absolutely nothing to do with ego, it's about being kind to others.

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