The Secret Rules For Getting Hired • Hacker News Board

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#11

Post by dannykwells » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:12 PM UTC

While in general I agree, I understand the motivation behind these questions. Most jobs require more than just technical skills. They require and ability to think laterally, be independent, work on a team, etc. etc. Questions such as "tell me about a time when" are a reasonable way to assess some of these traits but also are not direct and have their own issues.

As long as interviews are consistent and polite I think it's reasonable to push candidates in non traditional ways to understand if they have the soft skills required for a role.

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#12

Post by axle334 » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:23 PM UTC

These "rules" miss the big picture. People react in certain ways for entirely different reasons.

Example: Recruiter mispronounces my name. I don't say anything. This can be because:

1) I'm a coward. 2) I don't care. 3) I care and am not a coward, but think it would be petty to interrupt the conversation to point this out. 4) I'm overly practical and don't care about this kind of details. 5) I think the other person may feel bad if I correct them. 6) I accept that people make sometimes mistakes. Maybe I'll point it out if they do it 3 times or more. Etc.

Which is it? You'd have to know the person better to know.

Even if the person is just a coward, this could be based on specific traumatic experiences other persons didn't have and which affect only minimally the rest of the personality.

Same applies to thank you emails, coming late to the interview etc. With such subtle situations, you need to know _why_ somebody act the way they did, and without knowing the person, which you usually don't, when interviewing, you just can't.

These are just BS rules with which recruiters try to make their work easier. Similar to Codility & co. tests for software developers. Well, bad news, recruiting is hard. You'll have to take the time to listen to and think about your candidates.

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#13

Post by chaseha » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:29 PM UTC

There are lots of issues with traditional hiring approaches - would recommend looking into Performance-Based Hiring if you are a hiring manager looking to improve your process and outcomes

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#14

Post by yial » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:38 PM UTC

axle334 wrote: post #12

These "rules" miss the big picture. People react in certain ways for entirely different reasons. Example: Recruiter mispronounces my name. I don't say anything. This can be because: 1) I'm a coward. 2) I don't care. 3) I care and am not a coward, but think it would be petty to interrupt the conversation to point this out. 4) I'm overly practical and don't care about this kind of details. 5) I think the other person m…

I agree about the name mispronouncing thing. My first name is very easily mispronounced for most people. Even when they’ve just heard me pronounce it for some reason.

I usually don’t bother correcting people unless they ask— and even if they do I usually tell them it’s truly not a big deal, and they can call me whatever they would like. (I say / word this in a way that makes sure it’s humorous).

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#15

Post by rzzzt » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:40 PM UTC

open-source-ux wrote: post #7

"A job interview isn't a set of trick questions" This reminds me of this old BBC comedy sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHy06FMsezI

The job interview sketch from "How to irritate people" is my personal favorite.

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#16

Post by chiefalchemist » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 3:59 PM UTC

From what I've seen and experienced most people doing the hiring are clueless. What's worse is most of them are insane. That is, they keep doing the same but expect different results.

Personally, I still shocked - and am mindful of the red flag - when they don't realize I'm interviewing them as much as they are interviewing me.

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#17

Post by Carpetsmoker » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 4:07 PM UTC

sunseb wrote: post #4

I don't want to work for someone that tries to trick me! And if I had to hire a developer, I would want someone with great coding skills, not someone that makes a good impression at an interview.

Some people have great coding skills, but are right assholes or otherwise seriously toxic. You definitely need to look for more than just "great coding skills" if you want to hire great employees.

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#18

Post by Carpetsmoker » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 4:09 PM UTC

wallflower wrote: post #6

And then you have the famous Liar’s Poker interview question: > Investment bankers had a technique known as the stress interview. If you were invited to Lehman’s New York offices, your first interview might begin with the interviewer asking you to open the window. You were on the forty-third floor overlooking Water Street. The window was sealed shut. That was, of course, the point. The interviewer just wanted to see…

Was the point to test if people realized the windows were sealed shut, or to test that they would persevere anyway?

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#19

Post by danso » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 4:19 PM UTC

FWIW, the author (exec managing editor of Insider) of the "thank you email" blog post shared it on Twitter, and has received a large and largely negative response:

https://twitter.com/jessicaliebman/status/111416052358150144...

Re: The Secret Rules For Getting Hired

#20

Post by gumby » Sun, Apr 07, 2019, 4:19 PM UTC

> "The whole team thought you were great. You were probably the strongest candidate overall, but we were looking for someone with experience in XYZ."

Wow, my GF just related this to me literally last week. She liked the team she interviewed with as well.

(I'm relieved actually as she got a job offer in hand for a place much closer to home).