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Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

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Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#81

Post by keeganpoppen »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #79
kelnos wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is that if #3 backfires at a particular company where you're interviewing, then you probably don't really want to be working for/with those people anyway.

Yeah but unless you're some rockstar engineer living in a high demand area with lots of quality job openings you can quickly find yourself running out of quality options with this strategy backfiring a lot since the top employers can also afford to be as selective as you and go for someone else without your "baggage" . Just keep your dirty laundry private would be my advice.

if your interviewer/interlocutor has knowledge of this sort of rumor, and you don't get in front of the story, then you're pretty much doomed. if you get out in front of it, there are two possibilities: (1) they didn't know about it, in which case i, for one, would be impressed that someone had the courage to go out of their way to bring this up-- would make me more likely to believe their side as well, since OP's story, while shitty, is not terribly surprising. sure, there's a chance that i'm getting played, as a potential employer, but it's not as though incompetence as such wouldn't be hard to recognize in the first `k` months of employment. (2) they did know about it, in which case the interviewee gets the opportunity to defend him/herself, and the employer is allowed to weigh the evidence.

so, i struggle to see how hiding it is better from a game theory perspective. i do acknowledge that if your resume is strong enough as to "speak for itself", then not mentioning it is a reasonable enough gamble-- if they don't bring it up, and reject you anyway, then they are clearly idiots you don't want to work for anyway.

well, i guess I talked myself into a bit of a circle, but i guess i retain the claim that the prior of "hiding your baggage in all circumstances" is a bit more conservative than i think one needs to be.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#82

Post by gdy »

ghaff wrote: post #76
gdy wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there is always two sides of the story, I just don't understand where presumption of an employee's fault is coming from.

I'm not sure it's a presumption. But if someone, say, volunteered that "no one at my company sufficiently values my contributions," it at least raises the thought that maybe your contributions weren't nearly as valuable as you thought they were. More generally, raising gripes about teams/managers/work mostly don't use your interview time to raise positive aspects about yourself and your work even if they aren't neces…

And I agree with that too.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#83

Post by shrimpx »

x0x0 wrote: post #62
dman wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#3 can also backfire badly. Personally I would avoid it.

If it's going to come up, either via references provided by the employee or via a backchannel, you're smarter to directly address it in the interview with the hiring manager. At least that way the hiring manager hears your side of the story too. We hired someone who came within a hair of (deservedly) being charged with a felony by the FBI. He basically said he did something stupid 10 years ago, had learned a lesson,…

That makes sense but the question at hand is about the past employer unfairly being a dick, not a legitimate issue with the applicant.

I think it's a tossup whether it should be mentioned in interviews because it can easily be misinterpreted/misread even by good employers to mean there's an issue with this applicant.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#84

Post by [deleted] »

gdy wrote: post #68
taberiand wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company doesn't care about you and your sad sack stories, it's not your therapist. All it wants to know is if you'll produce more value than you cost (and hopefully more than the other people they're comparing you against). Being bitter about past employers is a sure fire way to fail an interview (from my personal experience) because a mopey employee is a poor performer, but it's also a lame way to go through lif…

"The company doesn't care about you and your sad sack stories, it's not your therapist. All it wants to know is if you'll produce more value than you cost" Then maybe it shouldn't ask questions like 'why have you quit your previous job?' and focus on applicant's skills? What I don't like is presumption that a conflict at previous job is an employee's fault. Quite a long time ago, when I used to work for a local compa…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#86

Post by craftinator »

gdy wrote: post #50
laumars wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great advice there. As a hiring manager myself I really hate it when candidates slag off their current/former employeer. It's a real put off. However if you can turn a negative experience into a positive then it shows that you're not just bitter and/or a bad team player but rather that you use all experiences to help enhance your capabilities as a productive employee.

"As a hiring manager myself I really hate it when candidates slag off their current/former employeer. It's a real put off. However if you can turn a negative experience into a positive then it shows that you're not just bitter and/or a bad team player but rather that you use all experiences to help enhance your capabilities as a productive employee." What's wrong with being bitter when you are wronged by your manager…

Not bad-mouthing a former employer shows much more class. I'm interested in hiring someone who can take the world as it is, turn disadvantage in advantage, and keep a positive outlook on tough situations. It also shows that they have good communication skills.

Example: "my last employer screwed me and it was an awful place to work." vs "my last job taught me a lot about the pros and cons of workplace culture, which is why I'm interested in your company now". They are both true statements, but one indicates the prospective employee is upset and holds grudges, while the other shows they are ready to move on to a better job.

Over time they can probably share more about why they left, but with the limited time in an interview it is best to show what they are focused on. Focus on old employer and anger doesn't sit well, while focus on a new potential job and lessons learned is very impressive.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#87

Post by craftinator »

Legal protection is a great start. I would also say that most hiring managers understand that there are crappy companies out there, and that doesn't mean that all employees coming from them are bad news. I'd suggest for future interviews using the company as a reference, being direct that there was a issue with workplace culture and that you are excited about the culture of the prospective company. I would also recommend having some notes written down about the issue in the case that the hiring manager brings it up; if they know about it, they will probably ask, and if not then they probably never will.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#88

Post by wolco »

keeganpoppen wrote: post #81
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but unless you're some rockstar engineer living in a high demand area with lots of quality job openings you can quickly find yourself running out of quality options with this strategy backfiring a lot since the top employers can also afford to be as selective as you and go for someone else without your "baggage" . Just keep your dirty laundry private would be my advice.

if your interviewer/interlocutor has knowledge of this sort of rumor, and you don't get in front of the story, then you're pretty much doomed. if you get out in front of it, there are two possibilities: (1) they didn't know about it, in which case i, for one, would be impressed that someone had the courage to go out of their way to bring this up-- would make me more likely to believe their side as well, since OP's st…

I would not address immediately for a variety of reasons. The truth is your story and what happened at previous company probably doesn't matter because they called you in for an interview with or without knowing. If they did not know now you sound less perfect if they did know it probably doesn't matter and if it does they will ask.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#89

Post by gremlinsinc »

jacquesm wrote: post #57
_u844 wrote: post #43

Op here, Thanks for all the advice, its honestly be helpfull and eye opening. To clear up a few things. - The comments from the ceo were via text and more "I would of called you if i thought you did something" and "ill talk to them but I dont know what more I can do". TBH I was angry and not exactly cordial in my communication. - From what I understand the "hack" wasn't my credentials but someone logging in near wher…

It could be the CEO making the change and pinning the blame on you. That would seem to be the easiest explanation. Make sure you tell them that they should contact law enforcement to report the breach. If they don't want to do that that would be a pretty good sign they know exactly who did it and that it wasn't you. If they credibly believed it was you they would have done so already.

If it's a big company, couldn't he also get ahead of the story to protect himself and announce the breach via Medium or reaching out to media?

I mean the company already threw him under the bus, might as well transition from 'possible hacker' to 'whistleblower'. People tend to look more favorably on whistleblowers.

But IANAL, so YMMV and what not.

Edit: I'm betting the CEO would rather NOT be known for a data breach, and get that publicity. So it might be a good bartering place for getting a good 'written' recommendation, and some sort of assurance that the CEO if contacted will stick to what he said in the recommendation and not paint the ex-employee in a negative light. Not sure if there's a legal contract for this sort of exchange - but there probably is.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#90

Post by jacquesm »

gremlinsinc wrote: post #89
jacquesm wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be the CEO making the change and pinning the blame on you. That would seem to be the easiest explanation. Make sure you tell them that they should contact law enforcement to report the breach. If they don't want to do that that would be a pretty good sign they know exactly who did it and that it wasn't you. If they credibly believed it was you they would have done so already.

If it's a big company, couldn't he also get ahead of the story to protect himself and announce the breach via Medium or reaching out to media? I mean the company already threw him under the bus, might as well transition from 'possible hacker' to 'whistleblower'. People tend to look more favorably on whistleblowers. But IANAL, so YMMV and what not. Edit: I'm betting the CEO would rather NOT be known for a data breach,…

No, that would get him into even hotter water, especially if there is a 'non disparaging' clause in the termination papers. You are not a lawyer, so don't give advice that will most likely lead to the OP being sued by his former employer, especially not an employer that has already been shown to be all too ready to blame the OP for their misery.
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