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

Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

sfgate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 461 posts

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#371

Post by aaronchall »

onion2k wrote: post #364
asah wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously ? So let me get this straight: now, we're not allowed to ask people if they can perform an __essential function of the job__, without being labeled "inhumane" ? You interview for sanitation work, I want to know that you can sling a heavy bag of hot garbage. You interview for SWE, I want to know that you can throw a sling a heavy bag of hot garbage!!!

So let me get this straight: now, we're not allowed to ask people if they can perform an __essential function of the job__, without being labeled "inhumane"? I think there's a simple solution to the problem of algorithm testing and Leetcode problems in hiring: every company should run their hiring technical test on their current staff, at random, on a regular basis. If the current staff can pass then the test is a va…

So a company isn't allowed to raise the bar?

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#372

Post by beej71 »

bingohbangoh wrote: post #221
kodah wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst part is that Coinbase's interviews are difficult. If I'd spent months studying, rejecting other (good faith) offers, and then had this happen I'd not only be in a bad spot (without a job entering a recession) but I'd be furious at the inequality of input and output. I've been interviewing for the past month and I made a rule that I won't be doing any algorithm interviews. I didn't have time to study; some f…

This sentiment seems common on Hacker News but I'm not sure its wise. Companies that have high standards are far more interesting places to work at and with more interesting colleagues. They all require whiteboards and leet code. It's definitely true that not all companies that use these algorithm interviews are worth working for. But, at least in my experience, companies that don't require them at all are pretty awf…

> Companies that have high standards are far more interesting places to work at and with more interesting colleagues.

I have quite high standards when I hire, which is why I don't use leetcode to assess. :)

I can get much better data more quickly without it. And, indeed, the best places I've ever worked with the smartest people I've ever known have not used these types of problems in the interview.

I've personally solved hundreds of them for the problem-solving challenge, but it's a horrible way to determine if someone is a good fit for a job. It's like interviewing a mechanic for your auto shop by seeing how well they can change a tire using only a screwdriver.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#373

Post by krainboltgreene »

lrvick wrote: post #244
bingohbangoh wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sentiment seems common on Hacker News but I'm not sure its wise. Companies that have high standards are far more interesting places to work at and with more interesting colleagues. They all require whiteboards and leet code. It's definitely true that not all companies that use these algorithm interviews are worth working for. But, at least in my experience, companies that don't require them at all are pretty awf…

I have advised, consulted for, or worked full time at 20+ companies, interviewed at too many to think about counting, and conducted technical interviews at 10+. Without exception the companies that weighted academic algorithm skills over practical architecture skill and implementation experience had some of the most confident and brazen mistakes in security or scalability and some of the poorest work-life balance.

This has been my experience as well after 15 years and ~13 companies.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#374

Post by darkteflon »

smeeding wrote: post #367
darkteflon wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d love to hear more about the distinction between “real material value” and “community buy-in” value. It’s not a distinction I’m familiar with from my more than 20-year career in finance.

Cryptos have value because their investors all agree that they do. That’s where it ends. If those investors stopped believing that, their value would drop to zero because there’s no underlying material value supporting it’s market value. They’re shared delusions, and arguably self-perpetuating high-control groups. What I’m calling “real material value” are things like physical assets and profit generation capacity. C…

What I’m actually trying - and apparently failing - to do is get you to reassess your misplaced confidence. You have a toy-like, airbrushed conception of value that is doing you an analytical disservice.

If you’re in finance and interested in value, find a great textbook and get to reading. It’s a fascinating topic.

I’ll leave you with Goethe: “Doubt grows with knowledge.”

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#375

Post by chowchowchow »

r3trohack3r wrote: post #331
chowchowchow wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will lose all your money thinking like this.

You will lose all of your wealth not thinking like this.

Oh I’m sure all great fortunes were built by people who believe stocks and baseball cards are equivalent investment vehicles.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#376

Post by krainboltgreene »

scarface74 wrote: post #283
xref wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thousands upon thousands. There are a lot more companies in the world than FAANGs and SV unicorns.

What is your definition of “pays well”?

Why don't you ask the parent of the parent?

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#377

Post by krainboltgreene »

mathattack wrote: post #184

Let’s ask “Why are they doing this?” I will start by saying most indications are that the management is very rational. Sometimes companies use downturns to get rid of people that they haven’t managed properly. It’s lazy, but cutting the bottom 10% in a layoff can be less short term work than performance reviews. They avoid the PR issues by saying “everyone is doing it.” This isn’t what Coinbase did. If companies are…

> I will start by saying most indications are that the management is very rational.

There is zero evidence of this.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#378

Post by chowchowchow »

darkteflon wrote: post #346
gitfan86 wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People can and do speculate on collectables. The difference is that there is underlying value in the collectable. There are people who would like to own a Babe Ruth signed baseball just because it is a unique piece of sports history and have no plan to sell the baseball when the price goes up. Speculation on that asset can make the price go up far above the underlying value. But that comes at a high risk of the price…

If only I had a dime for every time someone on HN unironically threw around the term “underlying value” like it meant something they could build an argument off.

You don’t believe in any concept of utility relating to value? You’d argue that a house has no underlying value due to location and comforts?

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#379

Post by mlyle »

Kina wrote: post #362
mlyle wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I used to sympathize and engage with the theoretical arguments; but at this point a more productive approach is: if the advantages are such and such, Distributed ledgers are being used for real business cases in banking. Realizing these full benefits will take a very slow process of societal adoption and legal/evidentiary recognition. I said "not going away". These use cases are going to slowly grow and become ubiq…

> Distributed ledgers are being used for real business cases in banking. Realizing these full benefits will take a very slow process of societal adoption and legal/evidentiary recognition. Looking at JPMorgan's Liink, there is no proof that this is anything more than a cynical publicity stunt to try to capture some of the money sloshing around in the crypto hype. Most of its touted features are things that could have…

> cynical publicity stunt to try to capture some of the money sloshing around in the crypto hype

It's not being sold to end-user rubes. It's a way to try and suck banks into JPMorgan's technology ecosystem (promising to settle repurchase agreements faster and save lots of interest intraday).

It's not huge yet-- only about $1 billion per day flows through it.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#380

Post by mlyle »

maccard wrote: post #276
mlyle wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I used to sympathize and engage with the theoretical arguments; but at this point a more productive approach is: if the advantages are such and such, Distributed ledgers are being used for real business cases in banking. Realizing these full benefits will take a very slow process of societal adoption and legal/evidentiary recognition. I said "not going away". These use cases are going to slowly grow and become ubiq…

> JP Morgan and Liink are quietly connecting hundreds of banks and using it to more robustly and quickly move payment-related information between banks. At this point you're trusting JP Morgan and link to run the ledger. What if I disagree with a transaction and fork the ledger? How is this any different to JP Morgan running a SQL database and speaking a common protocol?

> At this point you're trusting JP Morgan and link to run the ledger.

Liink is ETH derived, so it's hybrid proof-of-stake and proof-of-work.

(Of course, JP Morgan likely dominates both at this point, but they don't have to).

Post reply on HN