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“Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

rachelbythebay.com

41–50 of 133 posts

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#41

This is a great post and so spot on. At some point in my career my 'review prep' (which was the time I spent working on my own evaluation of my year at a company) became answering the question, "Do I still want to work here?" I categorize my 'review' in four sections (which are each rated at one of five levels, needs improvement, sometimes meets expectations, meets expectations, sometimes exceeds expectations, or con…

This is a much more streamlined version of the way I try to approach employment. I'm totally going to borrow this.

Thanks!

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#42
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the problem with dancing with Molly?

Molly is a drug, so basically they said they got high all weekend. I don't have a problem with it personally, but a lot of workplaces do.

Or maybe Molly is just Molly in this case. As in, a human friend, with whom the interviewee went to a music festival and danced. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#43

Throwaway account for obvious reasons. I’m mid-way through my first experience with this. Some warning flags to add for anyone wondering if it’s them or you: - You’re beginning to wonder if it’s you that’s crazy, despite successful previous roles. - Their conversation has moved from “we” to “I” (or “you” and “us”). - Your number of known unknowns (usually people- or business-based) suddenly spikes for no apparent rea…

I've had that (the gaslighting) happen to me so many times.

"You didn't do this assignment"

"Er, yes I did, here it is"

"Well, you didn't keep me up-to-date on it"

"Er, here are my weekly status report e-mails"

"But you know I don't read my e-mails"

Huh?

Another good one was the following: I had assigned one of my reports a task before going on vacation. During said vacation, my "manager" pulls said report from that task. Then afterwards dings me for that task not being completed.

Huh?

"We're not paying you your bonus"

"Why?"

"You have to know that yourself".

"I do not, and no, that's not how this works"

"I won't tell you"

Fortunately that was in Germany, so not just crazy, but also illegal.

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#44

Throwaway account for obvious reasons. I’m mid-way through my first experience with this. Some warning flags to add for anyone wondering if it’s them or you: - You’re beginning to wonder if it’s you that’s crazy, despite successful previous roles. - Their conversation has moved from “we” to “I” (or “you” and “us”). - Your number of known unknowns (usually people- or business-based) suddenly spikes for no apparent rea…

Don’t forget about these https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

Very interesting read. The article has a dead link to something Anton LaVey wrote called "NOT ALL VAMPIRES SUCK BLOOD!". I'm not a Santanist and had never read it before, but it's pretty spot on.

https://www.e-reading.club/chapter.php/73307/20/LaVey_-_The_...

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#45
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the problem with dancing with Molly?

Molly is a drug, so basically they said they got high all weekend. I don't have a problem with it personally, but a lot of workplaces do.

To be absolutely fair, being all into drugs myself - if someone actually used a phrase “I danced at a festival with my friend molly”, I would absolutely never want to spend my time with them again.

That literally is the trashiest thing you can ever say.

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#46
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cuture fit is a blank check to fail a person's interview just because you didn't like them in the first 30 seconds. I hear this all the time. Yeah, that might be true in some cases, but it's also valid in quite a lot of instances (like the example you provided). > it is categorically impossible to establish in a 45 minute interview whether a person is actually a "fit" or not I've run/sat in on several trainwreck in…

What's the problem with dancing with Molly?

Presumably, the interviewers interpreted it to mean the drug. But another potential interpretation is that she's gay and laughed because she was uncomfortable with the left-handed admission to her sexual orientation. Perhaps she was testing the waters to see how people would react to news that she went dancing with a woman.*

Perhaps it was a wild misunderstanding or perhaps not. I'm sure we would all rather think it's a drug policy, but the reality is that the LGBTQ crowd faces discrimination severe enough that they are at increased risk of homelessness compared to the general population.

* Edit: Or perhaps she didn't really think about what she saying, then realized after the fact that she just admitted in a job interview to a same sex date, then laughed uncomfortably.

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#47
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cuture fit is a blank check to fail a person's interview just because you didn't like them in the first 30 seconds. I hear this all the time. Yeah, that might be true in some cases, but it's also valid in quite a lot of instances (like the example you provided). > it is categorically impossible to establish in a 45 minute interview whether a person is actually a "fit" or not I've run/sat in on several trainwreck in…

What's the problem with dancing with Molly?

"Molly" is another name for ecstasy/MDMA.

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#48

Companies don't have cultures. They have ways of demanding more of workers though propaganda. That's why this stuff always feels hollow and twisted.

Companies stated culture != it's actual culture.

The employees of any organization develop culture in how they interact (this is the real org culture), but some organizations also try and steer towards the culture they consider 'ideal' (the false culture you allude to). This attempt is often ham-fisted, and often fails.

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#49
I think that like any category of evaluation, it works best if it's specific, consistent, and planned.

Eg "Part of our culture is that we are collaborative; when we discussed code reviews and the candidate said they think they are a waste of time, that raised a flag because constructive and timely code reviews is an expectation for all our our engineers" That's pretty good.

"Our culture is collaborative. This candidate didn't feel like they'd be a good fit here." That's not so good.

Have an evaluation criteria going in. Rate candidates on the the same criteria. In debriefs, use specific examples from the interview to explain why you rated them as you did. Otherwise, it's just post-hoc rationalization of a snap emotional decision.

Re: “Culture fit” is a two way street (2018)

#50
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the problem with dancing with Molly?

Molly is a drug, so basically they said they got high all weekend. I don't have a problem with it personally, but a lot of workplaces do.

I’ve known several women named Molly. There are even women named Mary Jane.
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