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We created a fake language to root out resume liars

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Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#401
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It demonstrates that the client actually read the contract.

Does it? If someone from legal reads the contract, why would they bother dealing with this gimmicky clause? The budget has already been approved and sending someone a plant might cost another 30min of their time they rather spent on doing their job.

If they decide to actually send a plant and this is in the US, dealing with actually selecting and sending it won't take much time. You can order a plant online for delivery [1]. Plants at that site start at $35 for the plant and pot, and shipping is a flat $7 on orders under $75.

[1] https://bloomscape.com/

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#402
post #398

A couple of jobs ago I was interviewing a candidate and the first item on his long list of "tech I know" was AFS. AFS is a pretty rare filesystem, but at the time we were one of the biggest users globally, and it underpinned all our servers. Finding someone with good knowledge would have been great. Me: "So, AFS is pretty rare - but, can you tell me about your experience with it" Them: "Sorry, never heard of it" Me:…

I don't understand... Why would anyone do that? If you're gonna lie at least research enough so you can bullshit about it right? Why would you put something you don't know about in your resume?

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#403
post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had the almost exact same experience, but with Java. I'm a C# developer and although I have some experience with Java, I don't have enough to list it as a skill on my CV. Anyways, in this interview I was being asked about Java and I answered every question by saying I don't really know Java. The interviewers were obviously getting annoyed. So I asked "Sorry, I thought this was a C# job?". No, it was a Java job and ma…

Recruiters will straight up ask for .DOC versions, too. The gall.

It's common practice for recruiters to replace your personal contact info with their agency's header/contact info. I don't mind that. It makes sense.

I generate my resume as a PDF from HTML/CSS. It's fun to see how recruiters handle that. I think most use image manipulation to insert their header. One recruiter sent me some image assets and let me add the header/footer myself.

I'm sure some recruiters go too far with the .doc, but there are legitimate reasons too.

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#404

> That way, when candidates were pitched to us with "X years of MOVA experience", we knew that somebody was full of it. I'd put my money on the recruiter. I once had an excruciatingly awkward interview at a company on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhereland with no train station nearby that took me bloody ages to get to… which was actually going well until they asked me about my long experience with Exchang…

Exchange 4.5< admin popping in to say hi. The management interface to 2000 was basically the same as 2003 & 2007, it wasn’t until 2010 iirc that the web based interface + everything is cloud doctrine hit.

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading all these replies and - what the hell? Are recruiters really that common? Are bad recruiters really that common? I wasn't aware this was even a thing.

Having been in the software business for nearly 20 years I can state that from my own experiences, recruiters are overwhelmingly bad. The thing is that there are big incentives for the recruiters. Where I live (Dublin) the recruiters finders fee would be around 30% of the candidates salary. In IT that could be a fair whack of money. That sort of incentive can cause some peoples morals to loosen a bit. Here are some o…

Interesting in the UK every agency I have directly dealt with has asked first and got my verbal permission to represent.

Sounds like the employer is a shitty as the agency here, if I had had an offer like that withdrawn I would have sent a stiff letter from a lawyer wanting a "compromise agreement"

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#406
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It demonstrates that the client actually read the contract.

Does it? If someone from legal reads the contract, why would they bother dealing with this gimmicky clause? The budget has already been approved and sending someone a plant might cost another 30min of their time they rather spent on doing their job.

[deleted]

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#408
post #363

So, let me get this straight - you lie about your job requirements, but get all bent out of shape when the candidates lie right back at you? Brilliant. I can’t think of a better example of why hiring is broken; of how unequal the power dynamic is between employers and employees.

Agree with the first part, obviously, but: why shouldn't there be an unequal power dynamic between employers and candidates? Isn't that sort of true by definition in employment?

No. Employment is a trade between two entities. The employee gives labor, the employer compensates them. Ideally, the two negotiate a contract laying out the terms of employment, and move on.

However, corporations typically don't offer any form of contract negotiations, at least in the US. An employee is often offered a take-it-or-leave-it contract with lots of non-compete and broad IP assignment riders, and their pay is usually based on their previous pay, not the value of their work.

Some folk claim that they're able to negotiate around these, but I've personally never found negotiation to work. Two of my favorite answers I've received from negotiation are (paraphrased): "The IP assignment for 1 year post employment is not negotiable." and, "We know what you made at your last job, so we'll offer you that."

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#409

This reminds me of an anecdote I read once, maybe in Liars Poker, about how lots of people applying to this hedge fund put "Chess" on their resume somewhere thinking it made them seem like a deep or strategic thinker. As it happened, at this hedge fund there worked a former Soviet master or grandmaster ranked player. And so, whenever interviewing any candidate who claimed great proficiency with chess on their resume,…

James Damore must have read that book as well, he lied on his CV saying he was a FIDE master. I'm always fascinated at the esteem chess is held in for some reason. I don't have a high rating (lichess rapid ~1900) but to me, improving at chess is the same as improving at everything else: practice.

How high is high?

That's 86%ile of weekly active players, with ~70K weekly active players above you.

https://lichess.org/stat/rating/distribution/rapid

Re: We created a fake language to root out resume liars

#410
post #347

So, let me get this straight - you lie about your job requirements, but get all bent out of shape when the candidates lie right back at you? Brilliant. I can’t think of a better example of why hiring is broken; of how unequal the power dynamic is between employers and employees.

You don't list it as a requirement; list it as something that would be nice to have.

Advertising a real job opening with a "nice to have" skill that doesn't actually exist...

It's still lying.

EDIT: If it was listed as "Skills you shouldn't have", it would likely (sadly?) still be effective, without screwing with job applicants.

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