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How to hire an idiot

nukemanbill.blogspot.com

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Re: How to hire an idiot

#31

Post by coenhyde »

Everyone pay attention, this seems to be one of those lessons everyone learns the hard way.

I'd made a similar mistakes with my first hire. Basically I hired the first guy who said he was awesome at php. Great I said. Do this, this and this. You can do some work from home, set your own hours at the office etc. He stopped coming into the office to work from home instead. I was so over capacity that i didn't check on his work for about 2 months (fool is me). When I finally did I discovered a horrible horrible mess. The app was completely useless and the 'awesome php dude' was completely incompetent. Lessons learned:

1. Do your own investigation into a potential hire to see if they are actually capable.

2. Watch new hires carefully

3. It costs more to fix hiring mistakes than to prevent them from happening.

Actually my second hire was pretty shit too. This time I made sure the dude was technically competent but he didn't fit the company culture I wanted. I don't like egos or office politics.

After those few bad mistakes my subsequent hires were great.

Re: How to hire an idiot

#32

Post by elliottcarlson »

lukev wrote: post #12

So he was a highschool dropout. How do you not notice something like that on a resume? College degrees are always listed on resumes, and while they aren't that important in most cases, it should at least be brought up as an interview conversation point if it's missing entirely (and from there, launch into a discussion of how a person gained their skills, which would have completely unveiled this guy).

Though don't hold not having a college degree against a candidate. A good candidate can come from all walks of life - but in the end it is the interviewers job to make sure that the candidate is suited for the job - regardless of his background.

Re: How to hire an idiot

#33

Post by Bartlet »

tptacek wrote: post #26
lukev wrote: post #12

So he was a highschool dropout. How do you not notice something like that on a resume? College degrees are always listed on resumes, and while they aren't that important in most cases, it should at least be brought up as an interview conversation point if it's missing entirely (and from there, launch into a discussion of how a person gained their skills, which would have completely unveiled this guy).

How would you notice that on a resume? High school drop-outs don't write "high school drop-out" on their resume. In fact, many people, including many of the best people, don't put "education" on their resume at all.

I think an "education" section is a boilerplate resume item. If it wasn't there, I'd at least ask for details.

Re: How to hire an idiot

#35

Post by mavelikara »

iand wrote: post #11
ww520 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does reference checking really work? People pick references that can put them in the best light. How would one phrase questions to get the true answers from references?

They do work but are not foolproof. I always ask to speak with the person's current manager. Its usually possible to discerne whether the manager is sorry to lose the employee or not.

How many times have you taken a call from someone who is doing a reference check on one of your current employees?

Re: How to hire an idiot

#36

Post by lotharbot »

tptacek wrote: post #27

The moral of this story, which virtually every startup founder in the history of the universe has heard or told a variant of, is: CHECK. REFERENCES.

Further, "check references" needs to be deeper than just asking if the guy actually worked there. Ask about his role and responsibilities. Ask how he helped the company's bottom line. Ask real questions.

Re: How to hire an idiot

#37

Post by sunsu »

coenhyde wrote: post #31

Everyone pay attention, this seems to be one of those lessons everyone learns the hard way. I'd made a similar mistakes with my first hire. Basically I hired the first guy who said he was awesome at php. Great I said. Do this, this and this. You can do some work from home, set your own hours at the office etc. He stopped coming into the office to work from home instead. I was so over capacity that i didn't check on h…

I'll second the "watch new hires carefully".

You can save yourself a lot of problems if you just keep an eye on your new people for the first month. Obviously you don't need to be overbearing, but at the end of that first month you should do a detailed work evaluation (code review if a programmer). If the employee shows signs of producing crap in their first month, get rid of her/him then. Do not wait unless there is a really, really good reason to.

Re: How to hire an idiot

#38

Post by SanjayUttam »

coenhyde wrote: post #31

Everyone pay attention, this seems to be one of those lessons everyone learns the hard way. I'd made a similar mistakes with my first hire. Basically I hired the first guy who said he was awesome at php. Great I said. Do this, this and this. You can do some work from home, set your own hours at the office etc. He stopped coming into the office to work from home instead. I was so over capacity that i didn't check on h…

I'd also add: Never assume an individual is competent based on their title and/or the company they work for.

Re: How to hire an idiot

#39

Post by xarien »

It's a shame OP had to learn the hard way given that he stated he was not going to buy into resume hype and ended up doing so anyways albeit in a less formal fashion.

While stories like this would any employer cringe, the very opposite scenario occurs as well. I've personally been part of the receiving and giving end of that type of scenario.

Re: How to hire an idiot

#40

Post by 3pt14159 »

Dude was a psychopath. I've been tricked by them before, cost me at least $20k. They lie. Straight to your face. They are often terrible at spelling, grammar, and just general "this document should look right" skills.
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