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

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 278 posts

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

#161

Post by sveiss »

chrismcb wrote: post #156

What is a "mercenary?" Someone who wants to make money?

Someone who has money as the primary criterion for where they work.

The implication being that they're likely to jump ship as soon as anyone else makes them a better offer (and that they'll be at least semi-actively looking for that better offer while working for you), and that the quality of their work output suffers because they're not sufficiently passionate about the problem to be solved.

They're the opposite of "missionaries", in this particular vernacular.

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

#162

Post by sireat »

shaftway wrote: post #110

I went through the full deal with an algorithmic trading firm. I blazed through the interviews and given the history I have in finance was able to finish a large on-site assignment with an hour to spare. I was told that I was the first to ever finish it. Second to last step was submitting an official college transcript as part of their background check process. Last step was talking to the CEO. Now, I flunked out of…

That CEO and Mark Shuttleworth must be trading notes.

It is okay to bring up something like flunking out of school 20 years ago but why drill someone on it?

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

#163

Post by hcks »

dekhn wrote: post #116
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 asked this exact question ("what is the net benefit of currency arbitrage") and nobody has been able to articulate is. Stock markets, I can see- they existed and exist to share risk and profit. But shorting and arbitrage, it's much harder for me to understand those. (and yes, that VP was a sociopath)

1/ both shorting and arbitrage can and will happen as soon as you let people more or less freely buy and sell things

2/ people do it for their own (expected) personal profit

3/ at the market level, these transactions contribute to price discovery

You could imagine banning currency arbitrage, but then you’d have to at the same time enforce somehow consistent prices on all markets (I.e. literally do the same thing as arbitragers do)

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

#164

Post by hcks »

dekhn wrote: post #127
jpmoral wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re: shorting. If people who believe a company is undervalued are allowed to trade based on that belief then people who believe a company is overvalued should be allowed to do the same.

Are shorting and longing symmetric? IE, do they influence the market in the same way? They seem much more complicated than straightforward stock purchase and fractional ownership.

In the generic case:

Longing == buying a share

Shorting == selling a share

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

#165

Post by DandyDev »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #136

This is not one incident but it happens to many times — when the hiring manager or sometimes other interviewers as well start explaining how: - team/company works like a family - we even party together on weekends - then things like: we “love and own” our work we only leave once it’s done Or a place that’s not clear and don’t want to be specific about availability/timing requirements i.e clarity about hours (which is…

This is indeed a red flag. I usually (truthfully) tell applicants the opposite. That despite $company being a startup, founders and senior leadership are all grownups with families and as such we value a healthy work/life balance, don't have any pizza-coding in the evening going on and don't expect overtime.

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

#166

Post by quickthrower2 »

Just a vibe I got from the small company owner. His way of speaking at the final stage: his demeanour, over seriousness and stuffiness etc. All other stages with devs were great.

Ignore my gut and took the job. That was a big regret :-(. Most dysfunctional org I have worked at. As one of many examples I got made a team lead then someone was put on my team to help a tough deadline.

Turns out (hidden from me) this person was someone on their last legs they wanted to test out for a final go before firing. And I was being tested too: blamed for not spotting he was struggling within a couple of weeks of him joining the team.

$_Insert another 10-20 dysfunctional war stories here

I ended up resigning with no onward job. Only time I have done that.

Gut instinct can be good.

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

#167

Post by A_non_e-moose »

paxys wrote: post #32
garrickvanburen wrote: post #24

Circa 2000, I was invited for a lunch interview. I walk into a completely dark and empty cubicle space, one lit office in the back. Lunch meant the interviewer ate a Hot Pocket off a paper plate as we talked. Didn’t even offer me any. First interview I walked out of.

Ha I've had more than one of these (nothing this bad, but still). Turns out for a lot of recruiters "lunch interview" means interview that is scheduled during lunch, not interview in which lunch is provided.

And here I was thinking a lunch interview would evaluate your masticative abilities...

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

#168

Post by javcasas »

sveiss wrote: post #161
chrismcb wrote: post #156

What is a "mercenary?" Someone who wants to make money?

Someone who has money as the primary criterion for where they work. The implication being that they're likely to jump ship as soon as anyone else makes them a better offer (and that they'll be at least semi-actively looking for that better offer while working for you), and that the quality of their work output suffers because they're not sufficiently passionate about the problem to be solved. They're the opposite of…

> Someone who has money as the primary criterion for where they work.

So, a plain old business.

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

#169

Post by 1letterunixname »

Your instincts were accurate.

Everyone's a "mercenary" and you can't compel loyalty by being a control-freak dick. They want compliant slaves who will work for nothing and will never leave the unending crash schedule. The end isn't gonna be either pretty or successful.

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

#170

Post by rwmj »

sireat wrote: post #162
shaftway wrote: post #110

I went through the full deal with an algorithmic trading firm. I blazed through the interviews and given the history I have in finance was able to finish a large on-site assignment with an hour to spare. I was told that I was the first to ever finish it. Second to last step was submitting an official college transcript as part of their background check process. Last step was talking to the CEO. Now, I flunked out of…

That CEO and Mark Shuttleworth must be trading notes. It is okay to bring up something like flunking out of school 20 years ago but why drill someone on it?

It may be a way of filtering out older workers without having a policy as such.
Post reply on HN