Request: a tables-turned test, usable for candidates to filter asshole employers.
IBM's Asshole Test
511–520 of 604 posts
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#512Earlier quoted context omitted.
> weird or obscure tests. I'm a bit relieved to hear this: one of the weirdest professional experiences I have ever had was at an AWS interview. I've often wondered which parts of that day were a psych test or simply human error. Timing of the interview was shortly before the HQ2 announcement (2017 I think), and the interview was in the outskirts of DC. I was told specifically not to bring a phone, which I thought wa…
That's unfortunate. The fact of the matter is that Amazon interviews thousands of engineers each month, so statistically there will be pretty bad experiences every now and then. I personally like to read candidates feedback every now and then and you can find some horror stories in there. Also unfortunately not everyone is a good interviewer and this can also impact your personal experience. If you'd like to share wh…
This is distant past for me, but I'll clarify two things: everyone that I encountered seemed quite sharp - it was a strong and interesting group. Next, my experience was personally unpleasant and parts of it still stick with me, but it was not horror-level. I also recognize it's a gigantic company, and chalk my day up to a bad match and statistical flukes.
When I left the building that day, due to the late start and shifted schedule, the office was basically empty. I made it a few blocks on my walk back to the hotel when a thunderstorm rolled in. Lacking a phone and the option to return to the building to find a person, I ran. Didn't make it. I actually had forgotten about this part until I reflected back on it this morning. It was a fitting end.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#513Earlier quoted context omitted.
funny because i’ve heard of a very similar anecdote to this one but at southwest airlines.
And I'm sitting here wondering how people have bad interactions with flight attendants? Literally 90% of the words I say to them are: Hello, how are you. Thank you. Yes, water please. Have a good day. I think I asked once for a pillow (usually on Redeyes they hand them out) I've never had a fight attendant decline my request, or complain about it...
Not a horror story but once while sitting right at the back of a rather small local airline flight I found a pair of grimy white plastic jerry cans that had come loose from under my seat and were sliding around. I flagged a flight attendant down and was told they would ask the pilots. Later they told me they usually contained coffee! I was suprised that as the flight attendant they didn't know that but given the plane was so small maybe they were new to the job.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#514Earlier quoted context omitted.
This story strikes me as pretty funny. As if he might say "damn, I was hoping you knew. We've been working on this one for weeks!"
I once walked into an interview where some code was already written on a whiteboard. It was presented to me as a "find the problem with the code" sort of puzzle, and I pointed out the one big logic problem with it's algorithm and wrote a quick fix. The interviewer responded with "hold on", and grabbed a colleague, pointed at the whiteboard, and the colleague said "yes! that'll fix it!" and ran off. I was offered the…
Asking an interview candidate to solve an actual problem the business is currently facing is shitty, and I wouldn't want to work for them either.
Any code problems we present to the interview candidate are _clearly_ made-up examples. Though one of them was simplified from a real-world project we had years and years ago.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#515Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The taxi driver is going to text or email HR or the hiring manager or someone? That would be indeed implausible. But not every transaction happens between undeferentiated cogs. A specific person organises the interview logistics from the company. Let’s call him Joe. When they agree with a candidate on an interview date Joe picks up the phone and calls the hotel to book a room. After that Joe calls George the truste…
Since you asked, I find a few things implausible about your story. First, taxi drivers typically work with dispatchers. They aren't scheduling their own calls or schedules - because they are busy driving. Second, in the world of "decades ago" we are pre-smartphone. How, exactly, are you going to call up the taxi driver for a chat? And don't you think the taxi driver is going to notice that he has to take a call from…
I work at Salesforce in Dublin.
There are a lot of taxi drivers that have personal relationships with people working there. Nothing to the point of having an official relationship, but sales people, TAM, and more that travel a lot but has the office as their "Hub" have one possibly two drivers that they favour.
Heck, one of my neighbours is a taxi driver, and Im not in the office very often maybe 1 or 2 days a week, so for me having him drive me is cheaper, faster and less "Viral infectious" than paying for the commute on public transport.
I've arranged for him to pick up and deliver everything from people, dry cleaning, and packages in a pinch.
One thing about Dublin taxi drivers, they love to chat if given half a chance.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#516Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've realized the same thing during my career in IT. Being nice (to everyone, but especially) to the boss's assistant paid off time and again. I can't tell you the number of things I got done for me around the office specifically because I wasn't a jerk. Need new batteries for my pager? Done! Would like some updated business cards? Done! My desk phone needs replacing. Done!
The power wielded by the secretary and assistant of the boss seems to be under-appreciated by some here.
There are power-tripping-pain-in-the-secretaries too.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#517Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sharing political opinions? He could just be rude to someone who was gay. And then project his own rudeness onto his victim.
And how would he know someone who was sitting in his taxi on their way to a job interview was gay?
We gay people do as a population have cultural "tells" which reveal our sexuality. To a random passerby probably not, but it doesnt take long for shibboleths to come out in a casual conversation.
This actually happened in my workplace, I recognised a coworker as gay long before he told me, just from his vocabulary.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#518Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quoted post unavailable.
I think you've just failed the test.
I really think this whole thread is full of people who would fail the “how did they treat the taxi cab driver / waitress” test and are incensed by the idea that they might be judged by that behaviour.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#519Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hm, I don't dig this. I don't think it's ethical to evaluate a candidate's interactions when they weren't informed they were being evaluated. People are stressed heading into an interview, and may be upset afterwards. Unless they're interviewing for a public-facing role, I don't see how this behavior is relevant to the job; and discussing it with a hiring committee invites all sorts of "cultural fit" biases that make…
Your character is defined by who you are and how you behave when you think no one is watching you.
Worry not whether your kid are listening to what you say, worry that they are always watching you.
Re: IBM's Asshole Test
#520Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it accurate to say your argument is that stealing something costs less than what happened? Because I’m having trouble understanding your point.
Accidentally stealing something where you don't realize that you stole it, and the store doesn't realize that you stole it, costs less than what happened. In terms of net global utility, even taking into account that your sense of morality has utility to you, it costs less. So this isn't a good example of "good behavior being rewarded" (i.e. having a net-positive outcome in global utility.) To be clear, theft isn't t…
Without the attempt to return the item, how would we know if the person accidentally stole it, versus lying about forgetting?