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IBM's Asshole Test

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Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#371
post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hahah right except that in this case the reward is purely intrinsic for returning to pay, while leaving without anyone knowing results in an extrinsic reward ($). "Being rewarded" is generally considered extrinsic otherwise you could just not do some bad thing and claim the feeling of knowing you didn't do the bad thing is a great reward in itself.

Dunno why you are so determined to say that my good deed (not stealing) was not rewarded. Cashier explicitly stated “honesty should be rewarded” and knocked three or four bucks off the price. Those extra dollar bills in my wallet are very much extrinsic. Why are you being so damn weird about it?

The parent you were responding to stated that people are not really rewarded for good behaviour after childhood. I'm not saying your deed was not a good one. I am saying that you are monetarily worse off for having gone back to pay and that feeling of having done the right thing, or the discount off the original price is hardly an example of good behaviour being rewarded, especially when you compare the reward for not doing the right thing. If there is only right and wrong and the reward for doing the wrong thing is greater than the reward for doing the right thing, then there really is no reward for doing the right thing.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once interviewed a guy who was going to work on a different team than mine who, 20 minutes in, I knew he was going to pass everyone's interview. I then proceeded to give him a "take home test" which was actually my project for the sprint, but framed in a generic manner. He was a much better and faster programmer than I, and he completed it beyond my expectations. I made the modifications to make it work with my pro…

I'm surprised you'd admit that kind of dishonesty on a public forum.

Lol, as if this would happen: "Hey aren't you that bloodyplonker who told a story about doing something dishonest on a public forum?" "No way I'd hire you!"

Like is the story even true? How would anyone connect the real person to this post? Is anyone even reading this?

Genuinely curious about anyones thoughts here.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#373
post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh, I definitely want to filter out people who can't handle situations like this, because honestly they come up all the time. Uncertainty in ownership, data not matching up, clarity lacking; how people behave in these scenarios is basically how they'll behave at their job. I don't think it's an "asshole" behavior to induce stress during an interview and observe results. What else are you supposed to do?

It isn't just inducing stress that tells me they are an asshole. Interviews are inherently stressful, there is little need to intentionally add extra stress on top. The dishonesty is also a problem. Interviews are a two-way street. The first impression this gives candidates is that their employer will think nothing of lying to their face and employees will so regularly be under stress that handling stress well is one…

> The first impression this gives candidates is that their employer will think nothing of lying to their face

I would just assume that about any employer anyway.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#374

OMG, PTSD is kicking in for me here. I was in a similar program way way back in the 1970's early 1980's with Ma Bell. I was working at Bell Labs after getting my Masters in EE and they put me in what they called the JET program (Junior Executive Training). First off, I never wanted to be an Executive, whatever that is. I wanted to do research, but when you are young and right out of school and they hit you with that…

What were the qualities need for an executive then?

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FBI has a bar inside their offices?

British Intelligence has bars inside their offices. In fact the British security services are basically an oxbridge drinking society.

I’m reminded of http://home.xnet.com/~warinner/pizzacites.html where a spike in pizza delivery at the Pentagon would foretell major events.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#376
post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hahah right except that in this case the reward is purely intrinsic for returning to pay, while leaving without anyone knowing results in an extrinsic reward ($). "Being rewarded" is generally considered extrinsic otherwise you could just not do some bad thing and claim the feeling of knowing you didn't do the bad thing is a great reward in itself.

Dunno why you are so determined to say that my good deed (not stealing) was not rewarded. Cashier explicitly stated “honesty should be rewarded” and knocked three or four bucks off the price. Those extra dollar bills in my wallet are very much extrinsic. Why are you being so damn weird about it?

Those aren't "extra dollar bills in your wallet" any more than a tax refund is. You still paid, you just paid less. In the case where you didn't go back, you'd have had even more "extra dollar bills in your wallet."

An (absolute, not relative) reward for good behavior — i.e. a positive-ROI outcome for doing the right thing, vs. not doing the right thing — would be, for example, if you came back and told them you didn't pay, and so they gave you the drill bit for free and also gave you a nickel. Any less and it'd just be "no reward, no punishment."

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#377
post #350
post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've flown United in every status, from nobody to the highest level of their frequent flyer plan. The problem isn't their people: it's that their airline has shitty policies. I switched to Delta, and I'm much happier.

Interesting. Delta is the only airline I absolutely refuse to ever fly again.

It's a form of the birthday paradox. In a large enough room, there will be at least one person with a horror story about any airline.

All commercial airlines are pretty much awful. I've flown first class on one or two occasions and--while it's relatively more comfortable than flying in the main cabin--on an absolute scale it's still an uncomfortable, terrible experience. Flying sucks and airline management is the reason why.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#378
post #153

It's funny, the way we used to do coding interviews was to systematically ramp up the difficulty of the problem until the candidate struggled. The reasoning was that with easy problems, a lot of candidates could just write the solution on the whiteboard. You don't learn much about a candidate that way. But if you give them a problem they have to think about, and ask them to think out loud, you learn what problem-solv…

Why can’t you?

Not the OP, but lots of places have HR-mandated uniformity of interview questions to try to avoid some sorts of bias.

Re: IBM's Asshole Test

#380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it convoluted? Maybe the powerless person is a homophobe. Is that complicated or unrealistic? This story is supposedly about an actual taxi driver, not a plant from HR. It's absurd to trust this person like this.

> actual taxi driver, not a plant from HR sounds like both what do you mean when you say "Maybe the powerless person is a homophobe" ?

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