Simply Hired is shutting down June 26 • Hacker News Board

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#91

Post by chrisbennet » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 11:59 AM UTC

I tried Simple Hired for job hunting years ago but back then they didn't handle searches for "C++" (WTF?). I tried it again today and they still don't. Here are the first 6 results I got just now searching for "C++" (50% error rate):

Simply Hired: Pediatric General Physician, Full Stack Software Engineer, QA Testing Analyst, Surgical Technician, Entry Level Developer, Specialist Software Design Eng, Director of Medical Staff Services

Compare this to Indeed's results for the same search (0% errors): Software Developer/C++ and SQL, Sr Computer Developer - C++/Java/UNIX, C++ Developer, Software Development Engineer 2, Software Engineer, Software Engineering Specialist

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#92

Post by huxley » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 12:04 PM UTC

808statetaway wrote: post #42

throwaway59511 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand. What about Yahoo VPs would lead you to expect the experience I had?

Good rule of thumb is that people from Yahoo or Sun are extremely nonproductive and tend to spend most of their time preparing powerpoint presentations for internal use.

Sad, Scott McNealy was reputed to have banned Powerpoints in 1997 for pretty much that reason.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#93

Post by Zelmor » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 12:37 PM UTC

mathattack wrote: post #89

bcantrill wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely! It is, after all, deadwood -- and given that it's broadly resistant to Oracle's management-by-asphyxiation, it will likely be there for quite some time to come...

What do you mean by "Oracle's management-by-asphyxiation"? And is it that Oracle has such marketplace strength that it can get away with holding the deadwood? I had heard that Oracle was a very competitive place.

"Too big to fail" market attitude, I guess.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#94

Post by ThenAsNow » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 12:47 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #78

dctoedt wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's an interviewing technique among senior execs to take on an aggressive, rude tone to interviewees to "see how they respond under pressure." Sounds like wannabes trying to imitate Admiral Rickover's interview style for the Navy's nuclear-propulsion program [0]. Forty-plus years on I can still recite my interview with the Kindly Old Gentleman [sic] practically verbatim. [0] E.g., http://the-military-guide.com/…

Sidenote: Rickover is the reason we don't use Thorium reactors today. So sorry you had to interact with him.

What a character. His famous Columbia University speech from '82 (excerpts: http://govleaders.org/rickover.htm ) contains a quite a bit of wisdom that, whatever his flaws may be, is still quite poignant, valid, and something which people in program management and government circles should internalize.

The word "controversial" is used a lot with respect to Rickover, but that word is so clichéd today that virtually anyone that gets things done can be so labeled. However, Rickover truly seems to deserve that categorization. Beyond the Wikipedia article and "Rickover: Controversy and Genius", are there any other sources you and dctoedt would recommend to learn more about him?

Fanboyism toward Steve Jobs causes me to reflexively cringe because of the extent to which the ends were viewed as justifying the means in his management philosophy. Not to mention something approaching a sadistic streak. It would seem that a similar lens should apply toward Rickover.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#95

Post by vthallam » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 1:03 PM UTC

mathattack wrote: post #55

x0x0 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but Indeed seems to be making plenty of money: $434m rev in 2014, $300m 1/2 year rev in 2015! I'm really curious what went wrong... http://press.indeed.com/press/indeed-2014-revenue-434-millio... http://press.indeed.com/press/indeed-half-year-2015-revenue-...

Many times companies can inflate revenues, or the revenue is very costly to acquire. These are two examples, though I don't know enough about Simply Hired to say if they did either. 1) Companies with Ad Revenue quote the gross amount, rather than the net they keep. So let's say that someone spends a dollar on advertising. 60 cents may go to the website that hosted the ad, 10 cents to their software vendor, 20 cents t…

About your second point, the only reason companies might do is to show growth and get more funding. Otherwise it's plain stupid IMO. For enterprise customers the predicting lifetime value might be tough, but in consumer business,they should be able to predict at least the average lifetime.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#96

Post by mathattack » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 1:10 PM UTC

vthallam wrote: post #95

mathattack wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many times companies can inflate revenues, or the revenue is very costly to acquire. These are two examples, though I don't know enough about Simply Hired to say if they did either. 1) Companies with Ad Revenue quote the gross amount, rather than the net they keep. So let's say that someone spends a dollar on advertising. 60 cents may go to the website that hosted the ad, 10 cents to their software vendor, 20 cents t…

About your second point, the only reason companies might do is to show growth and get more funding. Otherwise it's plain stupid IMO. For enterprise customers the predicting lifetime value might be tough, but in consumer business,they should be able to predict at least the average lifetime.

It can be tougher in consumer businesses. A game may seem hot for a while, but then all the users move at once. Or early adopters use the software longer or slower than the average user who comes later.

This doesn't mean they shouldn't be measured, just that it's very tough to get it accurate, and a small change in user churn can have a huge impact on corporate valuation.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#97

Post by mathattack » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 1:11 PM UTC

Zelmor wrote: post #93

mathattack wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "Oracle's management-by-asphyxiation"? And is it that Oracle has such marketplace strength that it can get away with holding the deadwood? I had heard that Oracle was a very competitive place.

"Too big to fail" market attitude, I guess.

"Too big to fail" usually involves outsiders (government) propping up companies. (Think GM or Bank of America) I don't think the government is propping up Oracle.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#98

Post by jazzyk » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 2:54 PM UTC

kriro wrote: post #83

caminante wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Staying calm and speaking during confrontations is a learnable skill. I humbly recommend reading the book Crucial Conversations, if you haven't read it, then practicing the techniques. I tell my "underlings" to breathe (with their diaphragm), to take their time, and to carry their voice. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-S...

Good book recommendation but my personal reaction if I ever encountered this during an interview would simply be standing up and excusing myself due to the lack of "cultural fit". Sure sometimes you need a job but compromising during job interviews is a pretty bad thing imo. You'll spend a good chunk of your time at a place, just walk if it smells funny.

Agreed, and that's why it pays to have some fuck-you money set aside, so that you can survive a few more weeks while looking for another job.

IT is so pervasive now, there is almost always another job.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#99

Post by jazzyk » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 3:05 PM UTC

lukasm wrote: post #28

throwaway59511 wrote: post #18

Throwaway to share my experience with them: I applied in mid-2014 to a software eng position based on encouragement from a recruiter. I went to two onsites with five people in total, each of which passed me to the next round. They had me come in for a third onsite(!) to meet with CEO James Beriker and some head of engineering. I had admitted to being let go for underperformance to the position I held two jobs ago (wa…

Why did you say you were fired for underperformance? Why didn't you say it was a bad fit? Usually, that's the root cause.

Being fired lost much of its stigma in highly intellectual professions. Often, it has to do with disagreements over certain business/technical decisions, rather than incompetence.

I have seen great people fired by terrible managers.

As an interviewer, I appreciate the honesty/brevity, and if the explanation for being fired is reasonable enough, it needn't be a huge red flag.

Re: Simply Hired is shutting down June 26

#100

Post by jazzyk » Wed, Jun 01, 2016, 3:17 PM UTC

anexprogrammer wrote: post #75

mathattack wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purchase was 6+ years ago, and the deadwood is still there?

Deadwood manages to stay, unnoticed by management, for decades. Most companies of a size has plenty, the body-shops (EDS etc) seem to consist of mainly deadwood.

A lot of the deadwood is management :-)