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I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

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Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#271

Post by octopus »

arbuge wrote: post #268
octopus wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is just US "puritan" culture. In general it is not a good idea to let a potential employer know that you are actively watching porn ... What you do in private is nobody's business, but if you do it publicly ... this could rise a red flag for an US employer.

>>I think it is just US "puritan" culture. Sticking this one to the US isn't quite fair. I'm originally European (now European-US) and my wife is Chinese. I don't know of any major culture which openly encourages sharing your love of porn.

There is a difference between encouraging and actively marginalizing someone because he watches porn.

I was born in Eastern Europe where nobody had a problem with you watching porn as long as you don't do this at work or in public spaces (schools, shops etc ...).

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#272

Post by rbanffy »

throwaway283719 wrote: post #26

He could start by rewriting his resume. This in particular stands out - Accomplishment highlights: * Autodidact. High school dropout. No degree. To almost any employer, that is not an accomplishment, much less a highlight! If you're a high school dropout who is very accomplished since then, just silently drop any mention of your education from your resume. Everyone will assume that you left it off because it's irrele…

Indeed. Xah's website and long history may impress a developer, but this is a huge DO NOT TOUCH sign for any career recruiter with little or no technical background. Even for a developer, it's a warning sign - it means your mileage may vary. He may be extremely bright in one thing, but one should not expect something predictable like a comp-sci graduate.

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#273

Post by jarin »

bitwize wrote: post #133
overgard wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get what you're saying, but I also tend to think: if they're so smart, why not learn some social skills? It's not like being socially awkward has to be an innate thing; they're called social skills for a reason, you can learn them. Many people were once socially awkward, and then fixed it. It's not particularly fair, but social awkwardness does tend to send a signal about what people value. And what a socially awkw…

I get what you're saying, but I also tend to think: if they're so smart, why not learn some social skills? It's not like being socially awkward has to be an innate thing; they're called social skills for a reason, you can learn them. It takes years to learn them. In an unforgiving environment. If you were punished or mocked every time you got even one answer wrong on a math test growing up, would you be terribly inte…

There are places where you won't be openly mocked, though. If you live in a city, you can easily find a good neighborhood bar. If you go there a couple times a week on slow nights, grab a couple of beers, and sit at the bar and watch SportsCenter, you'll end up getting to know the bartenders pretty well. Then the bartenders will make introductions to other bar regulars, and you can get to know them too.

Local bars in cities tend to have very diverse crowds who are accepting of just about anyone as long as you're not a complete asshole. Even the creepy guy at my local bar who hits on every girl who walks in is part of the "crew".

From there, it's just a matter of talking to people and gauging reactions naturally. Your brain will adjust.

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#274

Post by sigstoat »

htns wrote: post #233
justinpaulson wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I lost all sympathy when I read this: 'why i didn't seek job all these years? well, i can only say i procrastinate and is ok living on a dime.' Maybe it's not that he doesn't interview well, its that he would be horrible employee.

>ok living on a dime Isn't that the perfect employee?

in my experience as an employer: no.

the folks who don't need the money (either because they're willing to live like a grad student their either life, or because they're wealthy and working for entertainment) are generally flaky. they won't work their promised hours, give two weeks notice and then just stop showing up, etc.

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#275

Post by rbanffy »

iloveponies wrote: post #155
throwaway283719 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad that CloudFlare has a sensible approach to hiring, but sadly I think they will be the exception, rather than the rule.

As a degreeless, high school drop out who works for a very large corporation that's not the case. In a time where many are screaming about shortages in skilled IT people, mandating a degree is only going to narrow the already small pool of possible candidates down even further for no explicable gain. Many job advertisements I've seen will say "degree or relative experience", the latter being the key part here.

A degree is a proxy. A recruiter without specific knowledge cannot assess a developer's technical abilities in any meaningful way (even an extremely experienced developer can't reliably do so). The degree implies a school continuously assessed the individual abilities over the course of several years and found them acceptable enough to issue the degree. A degree offsets responsibility from the recruiter to the school/institution.

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#276

Post by brudgers »

Beanis wrote: post #201

I interviewed/phone screened Xah Lee about 2 years ago. I'd never heard of him, so I skimmed over his resume and checked out his site an hour or two before the call. I remember when I was looking at his site I was seeing various articles around math and programming, and then articles about things like "2 girls 1 cup". The breadth of articles completely threw me off. He seemed to have this unfocused interest in EVERYT…

Some people take a while to warm up to a conversation. Some people are cagey. Some just don't know how to dance the phone interview minuet.

The conversation didn't follow the script in the interviewer's head. Maybe that's because he wasn't interested in the topics at the start of the interview, maybe it's because the interviewee wasn't comfortable until the interviewer expressed an interest at a less impersonal level.

Think about it this way, what really interested the interviewer was the website, and until that came up the topics were from a checklist. Many people can tell the difference between going through the motions and seeking information.

The icebreaker was the website and then the conversation ended. To keep things moving, it's often better to put the icebreaker in front of the convoy.

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#278

Post by roghummal »

seren wrote: post #18
bestest wrote: post #6

I simply can't resist it, but alas, see what will happen to you if you code in emacs! On the serious note though, he did admit he enjoys procrastinating. Why would I help someone who never had and still does not have any motivation?

If you are procrastinating that much, to the point you are on the verge of literally dying or starving, there is probably an underlying issue like social anxiety, depression, etc that is triggering the procrastination reaction as an avoidance mechanism. I am not sure he is really "enjoying" it, despite what he said. (I am not a psychologist but I play one on Internet.)

If I didn't enjoy the things I do, why would I do them?

- Self-destructive alcoholic hacker

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#279

Post by TeMPOraL »

chillingeffect wrote: post #224
kylec wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social skills are very hard to learn. The best way to learn something is to get a result, positive or negative, for a given input. When interacting socially, results can be difficult to observe, especially when you don't know what to look for, and often can be time delayed. It's also virtually impossible to test a specific behavior in isolation, which makes it difficult to detect what specific thing might cause you t…

This is the reason behind manners. They may be bullshit, but they're a conservative basis from which to begin. For example, manners say, "don't swear at people in conversation." We all know it can be okay to swear at people in conversation, but Xah Lee hasn't learned when to swear at people. Xah Lee, stop swearing at people for now and stick to your technical guns. Once you get on some stronger footing, experiment wi…

Never thought about manners as a "conservative basis" before. Thanks for that thought!

Re: I'm About as Good as Dead: The End of Xah Lee

#280

Post by serf »

mercer wrote: post #229
serf wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's skimpy, but maybe wrongly ordered and perhaps some stuff should be omitted. Example : Accomplishments (at the top) : High school dropout Education (at the bottom) : Member of MENSA. seems obvious to me which one of those two should be getting played up more. His site has been personally very helpful to me, and I hope that he has a run of better luck.

I'd remove both, as they paint a picture that is predominantly negative (even if it might be incorrect).

I agree.

Some don't realize that a resume isn't a life-journal, but rather a carefully crafted group of documents which should help to paint the image of a choice candidate in the eyes of the interviewer, not the interviewee.

Like much in life, the biggest part of the problem is stepping into the shoes of the other party and learning to craft what they expect to see.

Having helped numerous friends and loved ones with their individual resumes was personally enlightening for when the next time comes that I must make one.

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