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Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#41

Post by nameless912 »

eachro wrote: post #35
nameless912 wrote: post #21

I once was interviewing for an internship at a quant firm in Chicago (I was in my Sophomore year I think at UIUC) and my interview went pretty well up to the point of my second-last interview of the day. Then, I sat down with the VP of engineering, and he opened the interview with "so, what do you think it is we do here?" And I naturally stuttered through a canned answer about how they use arbitrage opportunities in…

Which firm was this?

I don't remember at this point to be honest, this was like...10 years ago? But this moment is seared in my mind.

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#42

Post by distract8901 »

Once I applied to a slightly sketchy indeed posting. The company was named something incredibly generic like WorldProgrammers or GlobalDevs. Within 60 seconds of posting my application, I got a phone call from a very pushy guy with a thick Indian accent, requesting that I fill out a separate application over email. When I didn't immediately respond (because I was at work), I got a series of calls from the 'manager' over and over until I blocked the number.

The listing was on the edge of too good to be true, and the immediate and desperate attempts to reel me in were a huge red flag.

I withdrew my application, did everything I could to block them, and reported the listing to indeed.

I have no idea what the scam was, but I'm absolutely convinced it was a scam. It was honestly pretty scary, and I'm sure that a slightly less vigilant person would get pulled in.

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#43

Post by klyrs »

Canonical. Their desktop experience had already lost its shine (and, effing snaps), but I made the mistake of believing that they might be cool anyway, without doing my research.

Intelligence test? Story about high school? Reflex test? The actual red flag for me was their final admission that they require an unpaid internship in the form of "community participation."

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/tkc348/my_interview_...

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#44

Post by allo37 »

nameless912 wrote: post #21

I once was interviewing for an internship at a quant firm in Chicago (I was in my Sophomore year I think at UIUC) and my interview went pretty well up to the point of my second-last interview of the day. Then, I sat down with the VP of engineering, and he opened the interview with "so, what do you think it is we do here?" And I naturally stuttered through a canned answer about how they use arbitrage opportunities in…

I'm curious what the answer was. I've read plenty about how the boutique finance sector is basically a parasite that only benefits a small cohort of already wealthy individuals, would like to hear what the other side has to say.

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#45

Post by nameless912 »

Oh here's another one - I was interviewing at Google and got an offer, and I decided to ask for a meeting with the HM because the other job I was considering at the time gave me an interview with the HM that was really enlightening and made me feel good about taking the other job over Google. I figured it would be a good way to directly compare the two jobs since the comp, etc. were similar.

The moment I met the HM I wanted to leave. He was brusque, felt like our entire meeting was a waste of time, and was, quote, surprised that they had finally filled his job req. I tried to brush this off as him having a bad day, and sat down for coffee with him. We started having a stilted conversation in which I mentioned that I had just adopted a dog, and his first response was, "oh god, I _hate_ dogs, please never bring it to work."

That was kind of the end of that. Sure, maybe it's petty, but I was getting bucketfuls of bad vibes from this guy.

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#46

Post by nameless912 »

allo37 wrote: post #44
nameless912 wrote: post #21

I once was interviewing for an internship at a quant firm in Chicago (I was in my Sophomore year I think at UIUC) and my interview went pretty well up to the point of my second-last interview of the day. Then, I sat down with the VP of engineering, and he opened the interview with "so, what do you think it is we do here?" And I naturally stuttered through a canned answer about how they use arbitrage opportunities in…

I'm curious what the answer was. I've read plenty about how the boutique finance sector is basically a parasite that only benefits a small cohort of already wealthy individuals, would like to hear what the other side has to say.

Right? Like, I tried really hard to prepare a very neutral answer focusing on taking advantage of arbitrage and fixing over- or under-priced securities, which I think is the closest thing to a benefit you could come up with. And that apparently wasn't good enough for this guy.

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#47

Post by frfl »

ezedv wrote: post #12

Once, I had an interview where the hiring manager seemed uninterested in my questions about team dynamics and growth opportunities. It made me wonder if they valued open communication. I believe interviews are a two-way street, and if a company isn't willing to engage in meaningful dialogue, it might signal potential issues down the road. For those interested, we have open positions! https://www.ratherlabs.com/open-p…

Why are you linking job postings, for your current employer/company(?), in this thread? Seems like a very strange thing to do.

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#48

Post by whycome »

hw-guy wrote: post #2

When I was 19 and naive, I was interviewed for a desperately-needed summer job selling dictionaries door-to-door. The head interviewer wore a three-piece suit, gold watch, and an expensive haircut. He told me that as a demonstration of my independence and maturity, he wanted a commitment from me right then and there that I would accept the job and sign all the paperwork if he made an offer. If I wanted to go home and…

Made me think of this sketch: https://archive.org/details/w-bob-david-the-salesman

Re: Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

#49

Post by nameless912 »

outsidetheparty wrote: post #19

I should have spotted it but didn't: They took me out skiing one day between interviews (they were courting me pretty hard, and good snow was a selling point for the region) and I met the CEO for the first time on the slopes. He wore a full motorcycle-style helmet with a mirrored face visor which he refused to open; it was like talking to a member of Daft Punk. It had fake hologram bullet-holes on it. More importantl…

My last CEO (healthcare startup) told me during my interview with them "but you don't look autistic!" and that should have been the end of the conversation there. When people show you who they are, believe them and all that.
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