Facebook recruiting and Unix systems • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#81

Post by azinman2 » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:34 AM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #76

mquander wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Verbatim exchange: Thanks for the quick response and clarifications. Experience with Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems is largely transferrable thanks to the standardization that resulted from the POSIX specification. As a result, the terms "POSIX" and "UNIX-like" by-and-large refer to the same thing. My experiences are in particular with developing software for Linux platforms, which are the most popular o…

>I'd love to see you defend why the guy is a professional communicator with a good attitude. He's not, but that doesn't matter. You're going to be hard pressed to only ever communicate with professional communicators with good attitudes your whole career. So if you ever want to be taken seriously and have a successful career, you're going to need to learn what battles are worth fighting. Hell, maybe it was even a tes…

Given the exchange is now on imgur, I don’t think the lesson was learned.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#82

Post by Rapzid » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:35 AM UTC

kichik wrote: post #47

JackFr wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No - the recruiter is not doing their job. They are marking time in a role and collecting a paycheck, but decidedly not doing their job.

And yet that's the hand you've been dealt. You can be right, or you can get the job.

Or you can get another job.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#83

Post by cryptozeus » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:35 AM UTC

I had totally different experience with Facebook recruiter, honestly they are great and really want you to succeed. You could have just updated resume as UNIX/LINUX ...rest of the technical jargon should be explained to technical person in the interview. Why argue with recruiters? Get in the door as soon as possible and deal with someone who can understand the terms.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#84

Post by Aeolun » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:38 AM UTC

f1notformula1 wrote: post #57

gargarplex wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an extremely fine line between speaking the layperson's terminology and lying. Wrong: "Yep, I have UNIX experience!" Right: "These days, the phrases 'UNIX' and 'UNIX-like systems' are used interchangeably. Please double check this with your hiring manager to confirm that we're on the same page."

Agreed there's a fine line. I somehow find myself a little further along the spectrum - Perhaps I'm jaded from dealing with too many recruiters who are trying to check boxes. If I really thought this job was worth my time, I would've updated my resume to say UNIX and Linux, and then clarified during the first interview with a technical person.

Which incidentally is why so many actually technical people are tired of all these resumes that say an applicant has a skill they don't actually have.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#85

Post by Aeolun » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:40 AM UTC

2_listerine_pls wrote: post #72

cracell wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it says here you've worked with pipes in large commercial buildings and small residential buildings. But this position is primarily for pipes in park bathrooms. Do you have any experience with that type of pipe?

Please draw a triangle with 2 perpendicular lines.

Please sir, we are trying to hire an expert here!

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#86

Post by MichaelGG » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:41 AM UTC

2_listerine_pls wrote: post #72

cracell wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it says here you've worked with pipes in large commercial buildings and small residential buildings. But this position is primarily for pipes in park bathrooms. Do you have any experience with that type of pipe?

Please draw a triangle with 2 perpendicular lines.

Would you accept one drawn on a sphere?

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#87

Post by MichaelGG » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:43 AM UTC

mquander wrote: post #15

jdavis703 wrote: post #9

This is not the right attitude to bring in to the workplace. 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. If you can't communicate technical matters nicely then you have not yet developed the right attitude for a professional working environment. It's the same thing with doctors when they create metaphors to explain complica…

Verbatim exchange: Thanks for the quick response and clarifications. Experience with Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems is largely transferrable thanks to the standardization that resulted from the POSIX specification. As a result, the terms "POSIX" and "UNIX-like" by-and-large refer to the same thing. My experiences are in particular with developing software for Linux platforms, which are the most popular o…

Mac OS X is UNIX and people use it well after the 1970s, so he's just wrong.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#88

Post by lloydde » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:43 AM UTC

umeshunni wrote: post #74

mquander wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Verbatim exchange: Thanks for the quick response and clarifications. Experience with Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems is largely transferrable thanks to the standardization that resulted from the POSIX specification. As a result, the terms "POSIX" and "UNIX-like" by-and-large refer to the same thing. My experiences are in particular with developing software for Linux platforms, which are the most popular o…

> Beyond software developers who have programmed in the 1970s, most people do not have experience with a true UNIX OS This line is where he started to come across as a jerk. I think if he had skipped this paragraph and just replied with the "I've updated my resume..." bit, he would have been fine. > Beyond software developers who have programmed in the 1970s, .. Stanley should update his industry knowledge. My school…

> switching over to Linux (mostly because it was free/cheap) only in 99/2000

Your school was trail blazing! At my uni, UVic, it was still all Sun and IBM Unix labs (with plaques) when I graduated in 2000.

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#89

Post by Aeolun » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:44 AM UTC

foobaw wrote: post #53

This is a tricky exchange. Both sides could've done better. To be honest though, a company like Facebook gets so many resumes that these mistakes are inevitable. Not saying it's acceptable, but it's just the nature of recruiting.

Unless you have competent recruiters. Are you saying that incompetent recruiters are the norm?

Re: Facebook recruiting and Unix systems

#90

Post by swalsh » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 1:48 AM UTC

Just because you're right, doesn't mean you've won. The recruiter is a gatekeeper, just say the thing you need to say to get past them... move on to the next level. The recruiter asks for Unix/Linux and yours says Unix-Like, get over yourself and change your resume. They are literally telling you the password.