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Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

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Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#301

Post by [deleted] »

Spooky23 wrote: post #139
dec0dedab0de wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. It looks like the recruiter is clueless or maybe even trolling, and applicant was going out of their way to be helpful. They could have just updated their resume, and allowed the recruiter to remain ignorant, but imo that would have been very rude.

If you're looking for someone who has actual high level expertise working on AIX or FreeBSD, having some dude tell you that Linux is the same as Unix or asserting that knowing what POSIX means is equivalent to having production knowledge of AIX/FreeBSD for a production engineering role is not very productive. The recruiter handled himself professionally and should be commended for not being bullied. Mr. Zhang sounds…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#302

Post by jacobush »

xlii wrote: post #235
autokad wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because of the monopolies that have been allowed to exist, getting black listed by FB is akin to chopping off a large portion of the quality tech jobs out there. Its not that he was factually wrong (or even wrong in etiquette) , but as my mom said you can be right and dead right, which is why he recognizes he needed a better approach to leave the most opportunities for his career going forward

There is an old joke about janitor who couldn't work for Microsoft because he didn't get an email. (Link: http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/momathome/janitor.html ) What has been done has been done and there is no place for regrets. Facebook might (along with its partner and associates) be a big workplace but it definitely isn't the only launchpad for a happy & successful career. He came a little bit snarky, true, but I y…

The gif counter on the bottom of that page is even working!

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#304

Post by subcosmos »

pwdisswordfish wrote: post #294
L_Rahman wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I think you could have massaged the snark in the sentence that says "Beyond software developers who have programmed in the 1970s, most people do not have experience with a true UNIX OS" but other than that I think you should walk away thinking that your communication was clear, straight-forward and respectful. Here's what happened - the recruiter had a list of keywords, received a large volume of inbound resumes…

> the recruiter had a list of keywords, received a large volume of inbound resumes and filtered for == 'UNIX' and dumped everything else To be fair, I wouldn't expect this kind of 'recruiting by grep' to happen at Facebook of all places either.

They are using greedy matching ;)

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#306

Post by SolarNet »

A lot of people in this thread seem to believe people should remain ignorant of technology. How many people understand how a car or airplane works - at least in theory? A technology recruiter should be able to know this (or at least pick it up on the job when polite explanations are given to them). And it would be beneficial to broader society if people had at least a surface level understanding of computers (like how airplanes generate lift, how combustion engines work, and how source code is used; so that when someone says Linux is a common variant of UNIX, they understand what that means from a source code perspective).

Perhaps it's in our best interest to keep these people ignorant; we do get paid a lot of money. Perhaps society has decided it's not important for most people to know, and that it's alright to be ignorant (though this leads to common problems we complain about every day). But whatever the reason, this person was doing the right thing by trying to educate the person in a pretty polite way. Sure he could play the game and get the job. But it's still frustrating.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#307

Post by solidr53 »

bodz wrote: post #283
nulagrithom wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> refused to put exactly that on his resume. But he did!! And the recruiter still gave him flak! Stanley said, "POSIX is more-or-less a standardization effort for UNIX/Linux systems, so I've updated my resume to reflect this." And then he shows a screenshot that just lists "UNIX", not "UNIX-like". Then the recruiter bats at him again! I think he was more interested in being as honest as possible, not being right .

He didn't, though. At first, his resume included "Linux". The recruiter asked him to update his resume to include Unix as well. Stanley changed it to read just "UNIX", but no Linux. The recruiter asked him to fix this by specifying both Linux and UNIX in his resume. Stanley updated it to say Linux and UNIX- like . The recruiter, very professionally instead of just dropping the conversation immediately, then asked aga…

Yeah why waste time on someone that's correcting you, because you know what's best. Good luck to you and your company finding talented people.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#308

Post by oblio »

grecy wrote: post #286
type0 wrote: post #8

Recruiter: We're looking for someone to fix the pipes. You: Yes, I'm a qualified plumber and can do the job. Recruiter: Sure, but can you fix our pipes? You: Off course, that is is what I was trained to do. Recruiter: You keep saying you're a plumber but we need someone to fix our pipes You: I can do it. Recruiter: we need someone who have worked with pipes. You: I have worked with those. Recruiter: Sure, but we need…

Which is why you need to see this is an inane game, and just "beat it" and move on. Recruiter: We're looking for someone to fix the pipes. (re-word their statement/question in your answer so there can be NO ambiguity) You: I have lots of experience fixing many kinds of pipes, (including the EXACT SPECIFIC kind you asked for - WORD FOR WORD .) (Notes on your replies, they didn't ask if you are a qualified plumber, the…

This here is the right answer for situation.

Of course, depending on your objective: if your objective is to have at least the option of interviewing further for this company, it helps to remember the concept of Pyrrhic victories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory, i.e.: don't win the battle and lose the war.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#309

Post by betadreamer »

This happens all the time. Recruiters are Sales people. They don't want to learn technical things. It's not in their interest to know what Unix is. They just want to validate whether you are good and if so, sale you the position.

The proper response here is: "I have experience in Linux and Unix. Updated resume is attached." Done.

You need to treat them like he's your old uncle. Use minimal technical words, repeat what they ask/say and most importantly respect them.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#310

Post by wutbrodo »

cakedoggie wrote: post #98
dave_sullivan wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'll have a range of people from executives, to clients to co-workers in other departments who don't know what UNIX, APIs and POSIX are. Yes, but if a recruiter is attempting to convince the smartest people at top universities to come be an intern at their company, they should know the difference (or practical lack thereof) between linux and unix. Or at least they should be smart enough to not triple-down on that…

> they should know the difference (or practical lack thereof) between linux and unix. I hate this attitude. How can a recruiter know all the intricacies for the roles he is hiring, he would need to be an expert. He has to know everything he they have to learn a whole pile of new terms.

Yea man, I hate it when people are expected to know enough to do their jobs effectively too. Thank god there are heroes like the recruiter in this post who have the courage to stick to their ignorance even when the situation is politely explained to them.
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