Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

blog.interviewing.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 336 posts

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#211

Post by jondubois »

If someone thinks that they may be an impostor, then they probably are.

Firstly, it means that they think that our society is a meritocracy (or close to it); this shows that they lack life experience/wisdom. Once you realize how far society is from being a meritocracy, it's literally impossible to feel like an impostor. There are so many successful people who are idiots that even if you were an idiot yourself, you would still be within the norm; I.e. not an impostor.

Another thing about people who have impostor syndrome is that it shows that they feel insecure about their intelligence and/or abilities. Insecurities are typically rooted in past experiences or traumas. Smart people often get positive reinforcement about their intelligence; they don't have traumas or insecurities when it comes to their intelligence.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#212

Post by mmirate »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #138
mo1ok wrote: post #45

Dang, I am so tired of hearing about imposter syndrome. I get it. It exists. Maybe I'm more comfortable knowing that there are lots of things I don't know, even as an experienced engineer? It seems like such endless studies and banter about a relatively minor thing that is (in my opinion) easily gotten over.

You shouldn't assume something is no big deal just because it doesn't affect you personally.

It is presumably a big deal to those whom it affects.

But why is it a big deal to anyone else besides those folks' friends, family, etc.?

(And, perhaps, to some hypothetical peddlers of self-help books targeted at those with impostor syndrome; my unentrepreneurial mind can't see any other way to profit from it, but you get the idea.)

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#213

Post by myxozoa »

jondubois wrote: post #211

If someone thinks that they may be an impostor, then they probably are. Firstly, it means that they think that our society is a meritocracy (or close to it); this shows that they lack life experience/wisdom. Once you realize how far society is from being a meritocracy, it's literally impossible to feel like an impostor. There are so many successful people who are idiots that even if you were an idiot yourself, you wo…

This almost reads as satire.

There are so many assumptions here that are completely off base.... I would be described as an intelligent person by most anyone I know and yet I have very low self esteem, in fact many of the intelligent people I know are the same way. These kinds of issues can't be distilled that simply.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#214

Post by turtlecloud »

beat wrote: post #64
ravenstine wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's another similar problem that I'm seeing that I don't think has been pointed out before. Recently, I've been applying for web developer positions and am coming across applications with these sorts of questions: - What's the coolest thing you've done both in life and at work? - What are your dreams? - Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I certainly do have answers for these questions, but I can't tell if the…

I don't use these questions when interviewing, but I do try to find out what really excites/motivates candidates (assuming they've survived the first ten minutes of technical, where I probably already have a no and I'm just trying to finish politely). For me, interviewing the good candidates is largely about deciding whether or not I really want to work with this person - I've already decided they're technically comp…

Ugh I hate interviewers like that. Just brings in bias like not wanting to work with black people and other stereotypes (older people/ethnics) etc.

That type of culture is unbearable to those that don’t perfectly fit your monoculture.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#215

Post by jondubois »

myxozoa wrote: post #213
jondubois wrote: post #211

If someone thinks that they may be an impostor, then they probably are. Firstly, it means that they think that our society is a meritocracy (or close to it); this shows that they lack life experience/wisdom. Once you realize how far society is from being a meritocracy, it's literally impossible to feel like an impostor. There are so many successful people who are idiots that even if you were an idiot yourself, you wo…

This almost reads as satire. There are so many assumptions here that are completely off base.... I would be described as an intelligent person by most anyone I know and yet I have very low self esteem, in fact many of the intelligent people I know are the same way. These kinds of issues can't be distilled that simply.

Self esteem is not related to confidence.

If you had very low self esteem and someone asked you what the result of 1 + 1 was, you would probably still be 100% confident that the answer is 2.

If your emotions or self esteem gets in the way of your logical reasoning, then your reasoning skills were probably not that great to begin with.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#216

Post by da_chicken »

geggam wrote: post #143
da_chicken wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Getting more for you money" means hiring someone overqualified. That's always been considered a bad idea because of the generally accepted (and quite reasonable) belief that people who are overqualified will go somewhere where they're merely qualified, but paid a lot more. So, yes, most interviewers are looking for the best fit .

As someone who interviews people I can speak for myself. No I dont look for best fit. I look for someone who will be able to grow inside the company and fill gaps. Like to see them do smart things they are hired to do without being told what to do.

Your response is precisely why I said "best fit" and not "minimally qualified." Your definition is the best fit for your company.

However, if you're seriously arguing that you'd hire an MBA for the front lines of a minimal proficiency call center "so they can grow into the company," then you're exaggerating.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#217

Post by pmiller2 »

ravenstine wrote: post #200
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Top 3% only!" or "Only top 1% Ninja Rockstars need apply!" Do people apply to these places? I don't. Ever. Not that I feel bad about myself, but I don't ever ever want to work for a manager who approves this type of job ad.

The other day I ran across "programming athlete".

You mean someone who does stuff like TopCoder competitively?

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#218

Post by pmiller2 »

ptmcc wrote: post #186
lowercased wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It's really hard to compete with the people who actually have proof that they know what they're doing" And yet... as an independent consultant, I'm often brought in to projects worked on by these folks who "have proof that they know what they're doing". If they knew what they were doing, almost by definition, they wouldn't be calling in an outside consultant to fix broken shit. There are often many reasons - cutting…

What I also find funny is that hardly anyone interviews or vets consultants and contractors the same way they do employees. I've been brought in as an "expert" on all sorts of things, with hardly any interviewing. Just show up and be given the keys to the kingdom. Granted I've almost always been able to deliver, but they mostly took my word for it up front.

I’m guessing that by the time someone needs an “expert” at something and is willing to pay consultant rates, they’re probably incapable of such vetting.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#219

Post by cheez »

Spooky23 wrote: post #117
saulrh wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Notice that, when they say they only hire the top 1%, there's a vicious sampling bias at work: even in a worst case where they're being literal they're actually hiring the top 1% of their applicants , not the top 1% of engineers . Think about how many jobs you usually apply for before getting one. Now imagine someone that's less successful than you at getting hired and think about how many times they're interviewing.…

I've observed that in pursuing the 1% unicorn candidate, many people step in unicorn shit and hire smart people who are bad employees. My goal is to not hire the bottom 50% of the workforce in a given discipline. IMO, you're better off building teams that make the average+ person more productive.

Yes! I love to build teams with average people that create above average results due to their configuration. It's my secret sauce.

Re: Impostor syndrome strikes men just as hard as women in technical interviews

#220

Post by pmiller2 »

driverdan wrote: post #83
bytematic wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of literature go read some of the top posts at /r/cscareerquestions . Students are expected to put in tons of hours "grinding" study sessions for interviews. Recently there was a post about a new grad who felt he wasn't doing very well at his job because he spent to much time practicing for interviews

> Students are expected to put in tons of hours "grinding" study sessions for interviews. You should never study for interviews. If the company isn't asking questions relevant to the work or you can't answer those types of questions then it's best to not work there. General interview skills are different than studying CS problems.

In a perfect world, where my bills got paid and there was food on my table regardless of whether I passed someone’s arbitrary screening questions, I would never study for an interview. It’s stupid and encourages companies to design bad interviews. But that’s not the world we live in.
Post reply on HN