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

No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

blog.interviewing.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

441–450 of 646 posts

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#441

Post by scarlac »

At a former job we ended technical interviews with the question: "So, how do you think you did?". It allowed candidates to raise points and what they'd want to do different. Some candidates used the chance to ask for feedback at which point I could choose to agree with the candidate or elaborate on solutions.

It avoids some of the defensive stances candidates may take when given feedback (because they go first) although it doesn't tell a candidate how they did badly if they weren't already slightly aware.

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#442

Post by Dylan16807 »

xtracto wrote: post #328
Aeolun wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If noone has sued about feedback in the past 10 years, over probably millions of interviews, it’s a fairly safe bet that nobody will sue in the next 10.

That is not how expected utility works... theres a probability of being sued a d there's an impact of the event of being sued or bad mouthed in social media... even if the probability is low, the negative expected utility (expected loss) is still high because of the impact value ... Not worth it.

> even if the probability is low, the negative expected utility (expected loss) is still high because of the impact value

The impact would have to be astronomical. It's not.

> bad mouthed in social media

Which could happen anyway. And feedback might actually reduce the chances.

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#443

Post by reificator »

ErikAugust wrote: post #410
bagacrap wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

our style guide dictates ++bulletsDodged;

Well, bulletsDodged++ and ++bulletsDodged mean different things in most languages. It ain't just a matter of style. :)

But preferring one over the other is.

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#444

Post by cmonnow »

vector_spaces wrote: post #246

I'm so disappointed to read comments on this thread to the effect of "There's nothing in it for the company but risk". I once put in about 8 hours on a take home project at a company (well known in these parts) that I had tremendous respect for, only to get an email back with "sorry, not up to par. We need someone with more experience". I asked them for a couple quick points on what I could have done better. I had ze…

Capital One Data Challenge ?

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#445

Post by stevula »

baron816 wrote: post #204
zomglings wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have it exactly right. Companies are protecting themselves from more than just legal action - Glassdoor reviews have a huge influence on how candidates view your company (especially true for startups).

I once left a bad review on Glassdoor after a truly awful interview experience for a startup. The next day they called me up and threatened legal action. Edit: Just for context on the interview—they had me do a take home assignment in Django, which I had never worked in. Was desperate, so I learned Django and completed it in a week. Went onsite and their whole office was a one tiny, dated swelteringly hot room. The i…

This is why it’s a good idea to use a burner email for Glassdoor

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#446

Post by mbesto »

> While researching this piece, I spoke to a few labor lawyers and ran some Lexis Nexis searches to see just how often a company’s constructive feedback (i.e. not “durrrr we didn’t hire you because you’re a woman”) to a rejected eng candidate has resulted in litigation.

This is confirmation bias at its finest.

1. "speaking to a few labor lawyers and ran some Lexis Nexis searches" is hardly what I would call conclusive.

2. Companies have been generally instructed not to give feedback in the last few decades, so yes the chances of it happening are now quite low.

3. People don't sue for "they gave me constructive feedback", they use constructive feedback as evidence for some other more legitimate legal reason.

4. Many of these cases get settled (no employer wants to fight them), so you won't find them in public records.

The point isn't that people get sued for providing feedback, it's that the feedback can be used as evidence to build a case.

Look, NO ONE in an org wants to be the person that brought on a lawsuit to the company, so even if orgs don't want to do it, an individual person doesn't want to be that person even if the risk is technically low.

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#447

Post by loriverkutya »

nkingsy wrote: post #422
josephg wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most people, ESPECIALLY people who ask you for feedback, do not want feedback. The data I've seen suggests you're totally wrong about this. I work at a company in the recruiting space. My primary role is interviewing technical candidates, and we provide very detailed feedback to candidates of all levels, regardless of whether or not we move forward with them. People consistently tell us they love the feedback that…

I also have data on this. I previously worked for a marketplace company that had to vet freelance writers. The application process was partially automated, with multiple human reviewers that provided detailed scoring on the applicant’s performance. Initially, we provided a score breakdown to applicants, but we turned this off within a few weeks after a cascade of hostility.

The difference is in the first case the feedback was constructive?

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#448

Post by Dylan16807 »

cheez wrote: post #310
Infinitesimus wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you recommend? Starting your own company only works for a small subset of ppl ofc so I'm assuming you mean something else

How much do you need to be free? https://sivers.org/richand

Being a full-time musician is a job too, with the equivalent of interviewing. If someone prefers software, let them.

And you can't quit your job to live minimally if you have zero or less net worth. Expenses only go so low.

Saying it's "easy to be free" is massively condescending to every person that struggles to get over the poverty line. Not everyone can just "get" gigs whenever they want.

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#449

Post by loriverkutya »

xtracto wrote: post #323
nkingsy wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be happy to take a look at some code if you like. noahjkingsley//gmail

This has the implicit right answer: A job interview is the worst moment/place for feedback. There is just too much heart/animosity at stake on both sides. I've been interviewing candidates for more than 15 years (for PhD /RA positions and then for Engineering) and every time I've given honest feedback, candidates just get into an argument on why they think the feedback does not apply to them... It is just not worth i…

That means that in 15 years you have not learned how to give not honest busy constructive feedback.

Re: No engineer has ever sued because of constructive post-interview feedback

#450

Post by Double_a_92 »

vonseel wrote: post #298
kortilla wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly the non paid take home projects are much better. The three interviews I’ve done them for stand out as the best interview processes I’ve been a part of. They actually check for real software skills. The time you spend on-site grinding leetcode with some Google engineer is non-paid as well, so let’s not pretend it’s really any different.

Totally agree. I can’t imagine many people enjoy studying for leetcode type interviews, either, unless they are fresh out of a CS program and already practiced with that stuff.

Do people actually accept such interviews? That seems quite disrespectful to me, tbh.

> Oh you've been working in a relevant field for 10 years? Here take this written test first, so we can check how well you can memorize hundreds of random irrelevant algorithms...

I'd walk out, unless it was maybe some simpler algorithm that you can actually figure out yourself by thinking for a few minutes.

Post reply on HN