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

Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 448 posts

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#411

Post by bigfatkitten »

throwaway173738 wrote: post #211
Sevii wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leetcode questions are still the primary way to test skill in interviews.

Where? I have candidates solve a real closed-ended problem in the space we’re working in. I also give them a lot of source code to read and respond to and find issues with.

But this approach takes a certain amount of time and effort, and requires interviewers who are skilled at interviewing.

Leetcode provides an extremely lazy and cheap way of “solving” the problem of assessing an applicant’s skills.

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#413

Post by stealthr »

the issue is hiring processes do not verify what is on resume. ppl lie about even their education/degrees and what school they went talk less the company they worked at. Most people know companies do not verify any of those and background checks are usually about real name and criminal records only; they do not check employment history and education history.

Hint, start a company that does this and become the next unicorn overnight and help companies verify these right before offer stage. Good luck!!!

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#414

Post by naveen99 »

dhruv_xyz wrote: post #350
tabs_or_spaces wrote: post #341

I don't think anyone who hired him has any future credibility when it comes to hiring * "He's a great engineer" - Yet he's ineffective at doing the job and touch fired him? * "He's top 0.1%" - Of what exactly? How can it be the case when you fired him? You literally didn't do reference checks properly and you got caught out. And it's all written like these companies are the victims. You're better off admitting that y…

We hired him — and plenty of other great engineers after who didn’t pull his stunt. You never really know what someone will do after they’re onboarded, even if they ace the interviews. When people say he’s a good engineer, they mean he crushed pair programming and skill tests. When he actually showed up, he did good work. Problem was he was juggling so many jobs he was always making excuses as to why he wasn't availa…

Reference not responding is a red flag.

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#415

Post by stealthr »

stealthr wrote: post #413

the issue is hiring processes do not verify what is on resume. ppl lie about even their education/degrees and what school they went talk less the company they worked at. Most people know companies do not verify any of those and background checks are usually about real name and criminal records only; they do not check employment history and education history. Hint, start a company that does this and become the next un…

did anyone see this? or was this censored?

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#416

Post by stealthr »

the issue is hiring processes do not verify what is on resume. ppl lie about even their education/degrees and what school they went talk less the company they worked at. Most people know companies do not verify any of those and background checks are usually about real name and criminal records only; they do not check employment history and education history. Hint, start a company that does this and become the next unicorn overnight and help companies verify these right before offer stage. Good luck!!!

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#417

Post by Spooky23 »

sfn42 wrote: post #345
conartist6 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hilarious because companies use such scammable ways to define who is "top 0.1%" Also there's a ton amazing engs out there who want and need work but the companies all only want that one "perfect" guy (or gal), as if such a thing exists

I've seen a lot more employed shitty devs than I've seen unemployed amazing devs. In fact I don't know a single competent developer who has trouble getting work. This is in Norway, maybe it's different elsewhere.

There’s low correlation between success and ability once you hit a baseline.

There’s an element of chance, and stuff like leetcode is just a veneer of science over a vibe based process, which conveniently scopes out management culpability. Personally, I think it’s hilarious that Silicon Valley types have essentially enshrined civil service exams for hiring.

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#418

Post by ojr »

sfn42 wrote: post #344
ojr wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he had no proof he can code, no projects, no github, only hired because he gave them a lowball offer, it was lowball because he was scamming

The OP said he blew interviews out of the water. Presumably they mean technical interviews, that's how he proved he can code. By writing code. Lots of devs don't have personal projects. I love programming but after spending the whole day programming I don't particularly want to go home and continue programming.

you wouldn't and he wouldn't get past me, lots of devs don't have personal projects? That is a good filter, give me the ones with higher agency that do. Maybe my standards are too high. I usually contribute the most lines at work, and have personal projects that helped get me the job in the first place.

With agentic coding on the rise, it's easier to make a side project after a year of nights and weekends.

Nobody wants to go home and make a project that proves to future employers you can do the job, everybody wants to get paid though.

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#419

Post by DWBH »

gargoyle9123 wrote: post #23

We hired Soham. I can tell you it's because he's actually a very skilled engineer. He will blow the interviews completely out of the water. Easily top 1% or top 0.1% of candidates -- other startups will tell you this as well. The problem is when the job (or work-trial in our case) actually starts, it's just excuses upon excuses as to why he's missing a meeting, or why the PR was pushed late. The excuses become more r…

Maybe Earth could stop policing entire populations (a very profitable enterprise) of various ecosystems and return to policing the small percentage of the population that abuses the ecosystem for their own selfish gain? Generally, a small percentage of any population abuses the ecosystem and creates restrictions for the population as a whole. Fix THAT problem, and you solve a myriad of other related problems for entire populations. Character questions are forbidden in the USA as they might lead to 'discrimination.' But 'discrimination' is where one discerns a preference between something desirable and something undesirable? Historically the abuse of 'discrimination' created the legal restrictions that foster this situation where a candidate's character cannot be assessed accurately. Soham proves that the people doing the interviewing are less discerning than they believe themselves to be. Good character seldom is discerned during an interview. Also 'good' character relative; what 'Christians' or 'Westerners' consider to be good character is different from what other cultures accept or tolerate. In summary, caveat emptor.

Re: Ask HN: How did Soham Parekh get so many jobs?

#420

Post by ojr »

mindwok wrote: post #405
ojr wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he had no proof he can code, no projects, no github, only hired because he gave them a lowball offer, it was lowball because he was scamming

Where did you hear this? People on X said the exact opposite.

Technical interviews and answering system design questions do not prove you can code. This is for a founding engineer position. When I started in the industry in 2014, I had to explain the architecture decisions of my side projects. Now people parrot information off the web and call it proof of code.
Post reply on HN