11–20 of 25 posts
Perfectly acceptable (?): futzing with electronics when dining with others, talking loudly into the ether regardless of setting, sending passive-aggressive links to Google
Manners aren't passé, simply underappreciated in some quarters. In others they can make all the difference.
Maybe this is why the people I interview almost never send us thank you notes. Here I thought it was just a general decline in etiquette, but they're really just being respectful of our time! Seriously though, I'm curious how many people send thank you emails (or even cards) after an interview. I was always taught that it was extremely rude not to do this, but I'd say as a conservative estimate, we get thank you e-ma…
I'm recently out of graduate school and I've been interviewing for full-time positions recently. I send a thank you email 8-24 hours after every interview, with very few exceptions.
In contrast, I've been surprised/disappointed by the general vibe I've gotten in the interview process with a number of employers, large and small. Put most simply, there's little respect shown for candidates' time or situation. (This has been echoed through watching other classmates' experiences as well, so it's not just me being a low-value candidate)
The specifics vary, but it always clearly a one sided interaction and little effort is put in to relations with potential employees except for the most high-profile, rock star candidates.
To me, that seems to be a serious failing - I appreciate the mindset that says you should treat employees with the same mindset that guides your interactions with customers - especially in high-talent or high customer contact industries where employee satisfaction translates quickly into real business value.
So, I guess my point is that I feel the job search process reveals more about society in general when viewed from both sides.
Still, I will always send the thank you notes. I figure the place I want to work is one that appreciates the small gestures as well as the big ones...
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit
to
Re: Lorem ipsum dolor sit -- Thanks!
(On disqusish comment systems, I often upvote a reply to suggest I saw it rather than reply once more.)
Apologies, but I'm shocked by the self-centered, entitled crap I see here; most if not all of those annecdotes speak to the self-important, self-absorbed nature of modern society. (Side note: this isn't just my opinion - there's a decent amount of research on the growth of narcissism in modern scotiety. Look at the work of Dr. Jean Twenge, for example) A small example: >My father learned this lesson last year after l…
http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=nickbilton
Other than those posts, his total contribution to HN was one comment made over a year ago. It's a bit ironic that someone who can't even be bothered to listen to his father's voicemails would assume that a community that he apparently doesn't consider himself a part of will want to read everything he has to say.
Maybe this is why the people I interview almost never send us thank you notes. Here I thought it was just a general decline in etiquette, but they're really just being respectful of our time! Seriously though, I'm curious how many people send thank you emails (or even cards) after an interview. I was always taught that it was extremely rude not to do this, but I'd say as a conservative estimate, we get thank you e-ma…
Interesting. I'm recently out of graduate school and I've been interviewing for full-time positions recently. I send a thank you email 8-24 hours after every interview, with very few exceptions. In contrast, I've been surprised/disappointed by the general vibe I've gotten in the interview process with a number of employers, large and small. Put most simply, there's little respect shown for candidates' time or situati…
And the same companies that treat job seekers rudely will probably complain about how hard it is to find qualified employees these days.
"To me, that seems to be a serious failing - I appreciate the mindset that says you should treat employees with the same mindset that guides your interactions with customers..."
A lot of big tech companies aren't known for their wonderful customer service either.
Apologies, but I'm shocked by the self-centered, entitled crap I see here; most if not all of those annecdotes speak to the self-important, self-absorbed nature of modern society. (Side note: this isn't just my opinion - there's a decent amount of research on the growth of narcissism in modern scotiety. Look at the work of Dr. Jean Twenge, for example) A small example: >My father learned this lesson last year after l…
Another indication of Mr. Bilton's self-centeredness and entitlement is that he posts tons of articles from his own NY Times blog (and nothing else) to HN, assuming that we all want to read it: http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=nickbilton Other than those posts, his total contribution to HN was one comment made over a year ago. It's a bit ironic that someone who can't even be bothered to listen to his father's…
Maybe this is why the people I interview almost never send us thank you notes. Here I thought it was just a general decline in etiquette, but they're really just being respectful of our time! Seriously though, I'm curious how many people send thank you emails (or even cards) after an interview. I was always taught that it was extremely rude not to do this, but I'd say as a conservative estimate, we get thank you e-ma…
Occasionally I want to send the email but feel really awkward about asking for contact info in an interview (especially when there are more than one person at once). When they give a business card or I have their info beforehand I generally do even if it's just an awkward 'thanks for the time'. Somehow I feel like if they wanted me to contact them they would provide the info. I know I should make the effort to get the info but as you can see from my mindset above I generally feel like I bombed and it's pointless anyway.
Back on topic, I recall having to do interview stuff in classes (can't remember which...language arts maybe) in both high school and college and it was always brought up to send a thank you. Maybe people didn't pay much attention.
Apologies, but I'm shocked by the self-centered, entitled crap I see here; most if not all of those annecdotes speak to the self-important, self-absorbed nature of modern society. (Side note: this isn't just my opinion - there's a decent amount of research on the growth of narcissism in modern scotiety. Look at the work of Dr. Jean Twenge, for example) A small example: >My father learned this lesson last year after l…
Frankly, though, if he doesn't want to listen to voicemail, he should sign up for PhoneTag or YouMail or some other "uses humans to transcribe voicemail" services and then stop whining about it, as the user then gets to leave the voicemail they expected and that he even invited, and he gets the text message he wanted. Technology solved this problem a long time ago, and if he doesn't want to use it, that's really his own fault.
Apologies, but I'm shocked by the self-centered, entitled crap I see here; most if not all of those annecdotes speak to the self-important, self-absorbed nature of modern society. (Side note: this isn't just my opinion - there's a decent amount of research on the growth of narcissism in modern scotiety. Look at the work of Dr. Jean Twenge, for example) A small example: >My father learned this lesson last year after l…
Yeah... I am someone who agrees with most of the statements made by the author (and if you don't, try spending ten hours in one day trying to catch up on five days of email and failing: the emotional response you have to "thanks!" changes pretty quickly; even still, though, I usually can't really fault the sender), but that voicemail example was just inane: if he doesn't want voicemail, he should turn it off... he ca…
I actually have the opposite reaction: when I'm trying to catch up on e-mail, any message that I can read and delete in a couple of seconds gives me a sense of relief. And the fact that it's a personal thank-you rather than some outdated notification from a build server makes it even nicer.