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

I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

441–448 of 448 posts

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#441

Post by blisterpeanuts »

nsxwolf wrote: post #429
js2 wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?

What do you mean I'm not helping?!

"I mean you're not helping. Why is that, Leon?"

Such a great movie.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#442

Post by zahllos »

wiether wrote: post #430
kuerbel wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think it might be because of the higher salaries? I live in Germany and they hire more easily, even though after usually 6 months it is harder for them to get rid of you than in Switzerland.

As a neighbor with the lowest salaries of the three countries (France) I can say that we have the same issue. And for me it's clearly a people one. It can be that the manager don't want to actually hire someone because they have personal interest of using consultants to do the job. Or the manager lack confidence and is looking for a unicorn to avoid making any mistake (probably the most common). Or the manager expect…

I didn't quite know how to answer but you've hit the nail on the head. Thanks!

I agree. In Switzerland employment law is governed by the code des obligations, or for the parent poster who asked in the first place, Obligationenrecht. There are various notice periods, 1 week in the first 3 months, 1 month for the first year and so on. An employer isn't required to give a reason for dismissing someone either.

I think it is entirely a people issue.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#443

Post by 0xBDB »

Alupis wrote: post #302
saagarjha wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody said they were. That was an example to explain how questions like these can be classist.

> That was an example to explain how questions like these can be classist The op asserted classist == racist in the US. Something I requested elaboration on, and has yet to be offered.

OP asserted "probably", so not ==.

In the U.S. class, income, and race are correlated for various historical reasons. Obviously "correlated" means "on average", not a rigid relationship. But discriminating based on class is very likely based on correlation to produce a disparate impact based on race.

How disparate, and how bad that is and even I suppose whether it's bad, are hotly contested ideological questions.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#444

Post by dmix »

bglazer wrote: post #355
dmix wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe it's like OP said, the HR guy read a book on hiring and now has a 2hr test because he thinks it will help. While the dev team is struggling to hire good people. The thing I dislike, but not surprised about, is how so many dev teams will engage in this circus. The dev management guy is definitely okaying the 5th toy test thing. Which can probably be summarized by the stereotype of which devs seek management,…

Having worked at FedEx, I can say that there’s actually a decent amount of interesting work to be done. First, the website gets a ton of traffic. Granted, it’s not google scale but it’s still significant enough to be interesting. The more interesting bits are behind the scenes. The operations research challenges are enormous, routing millions of packages across thousands of trucks and airplanes. The sorting hubs are…

True I shouldn’t have made that assumption I really don’t know much about FedEx operations

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#445

Post by pcollins123 »

klardotsh wrote: post #345
spondylosaurus wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha, I had a phone interview with MDB for a (contract!) technical writing gig, and they told me the next steps include (1) a one-hour critical thinking test, whatever that means, and (2) a one-hour writing interview. Not a take-home writing assignment, which would be pretty standard, but a live writing interview via Zoom screen share. Very unusual, but I don't have too many other things on the horizon right now, so I'…

I interviewed for a Sr Software Engineer gig there in 2022 and had a laughably negative live-leetcode experience where the interviewer was visibly zoned out almost the entire time and mostly just awkwardly stared at the camera while I found a solution - whether or not the most optimal, I guess - to whatever pointless never-going-to-actually-write-stuff-like-this-on-the-job thing they'd asked me. I asked for feedback…

Seems like it worked for them.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#446

Post by internet101010 »

apwheele wrote: post #399
johnnyanmac wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's still such a weird contrast where I hear of talented, very experienced engineers who will still be ghosted by 90% of jobs, but then there's also experiences like this. Like, how is this sub-fizzbuzz programmer getting interviews but someone with 10+ years experience gets trapped in the HR filter?

My area (data science) there is a problem with resume embellishment and HR/tech-recruiters not having a clue (I presume similar across different tech areas). It has gotten to the point where people straight up lie about tech experience on resumes, so the HR filter may be worse than random (it filters for liars, not legit related experience).

Same. I've seen enough NBA shot location and covid dashboard examples on resumes to last a lifetime. Like it is obvious they did it in some online course.

Something unique goes a long way with me, even if it is something I could not care less about.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#447

Post by klardotsh »

pcollins123 wrote: post #445
klardotsh wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I interviewed for a Sr Software Engineer gig there in 2022 and had a laughably negative live-leetcode experience where the interviewer was visibly zoned out almost the entire time and mostly just awkwardly stared at the camera while I found a solution - whether or not the most optimal, I guess - to whatever pointless never-going-to-actually-write-stuff-like-this-on-the-job thing they'd asked me. I asked for feedback…

Seems like it worked for them.

Yep, attracting a reputation as a shop with a joke of an interview process seems like a good achievement to strive for...

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#448

Post by bloqs »

lazide wrote: post #406
curtisblaine wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For themselves, not the organization they work in.

Notably, organizations are almost always led by disagreeable folks. It’s a pain in the ass to lead disagreeable people. Agreeable people are often terrible leaders, as they’ll as often lead a team off a cliff as say no. Or be unable to actually drive action among a group of disagreeing people. leading often requires coming up with your own answer based on the circumstances you’re seeing - someone can’t ‘agree’ their…

All completely true. Neuroticism seems to be the most complex one for leaders...
Post reply on HN