7 ms·

What is your definition of culture fit then? Be specific about traits which are indicative of a good or bad culture fit for your team/company in particular.

by abduhl 11y ago

x0x0 11y ago
Is this person going to be goddamn annoying to be around 40-45 hours a week? (Oh, how this has happened.) Does this non-medical phd demand to be addressed as doctor? (Yes, this happened.) Does he or she seem willing to do his or her share of the scut work? Is he or she a failed academic who is getting an industry job and going to be a pain about it, or is this what he or she wants to do? How much supervision does the candidate require? Initiative? If he or she runs out of work, is he or she going to to sit there and do fuck-all until I notice or will the candidate be proactive about getting more to do? I understand some of our code is under tested, but unlike TDD wankery, there is a real business cost to spending a bunch of time writing tests and, since those systems are either mostly finished / slowly changing, or on their way out, is this candidate going to be difficult or suck it up and deal? (Yes, this happened. See also scut work and/or the realities of living in our fallen world.) We've made a decision to standardize on scala/java and js/some frontend package I'm not sure of. I understand this isn't react or the new hotness; does this candidate seem like he or she will throw a fit then spend two months working on a service in a language nobody else uses (yes, this happened. And he was surprised when he was terminated. There were other issues but this was the proverbial straw.) Hygiene. This should go without saying, but apparently I am cursed. If I can smell you in an interview, we're done. (And yes, this has happened.) One more set of edits as the bad memories come back: You look at my two female data scientists and a female engineering peer and the one female office manager and ask why there are so many secretaries working here? Yes, this happened. You call one of my female directs "sweetie." Yes, this happened. We're talking on the phone and you couldn't be arsed to spend 10 minutes on our site and come up with a 1-2 sentence summary of what the company does. You can be wrong, but you must demonstrate minimal interest. And to be clear about the level of detail: if I were airbnb and you said platform to allow people to rent out their homes for short stays, that would be awesome.
- protomyth 11y ago
  I don't think any from that list is really cultural. They range from basic professional behavior to basic polite society behavior. I've run into people with the hygiene part. I've dealt with farmers who have just dealt with their pigs that smelled better than some folks I've encountered. Also, "sweetie", really? When I was younger (teens) I offended someone by saying "Ma'am"[1], but I'm pretty sure I would have took a swat to the head from my parents if I ever said "sweetie". 1) I'm pretty sure at this late date (20+ years ago), she was a bit ticked that I used "Ma'am" instead of "Miss" implying she was older than she was. I'm pretty sure she was between 18 and 20, and I was 15 and looked a lot older.
  - x0x0 11y ago
    Professional and polite behavior is cultural fit :) Or at least the working definition at this and previous employers where I've been a hiring manager.
  - crdoconnor 11y ago
    >I don't think any from that list is really cultural It looks to me like a laundry list of requirements that they wouldn't admit in polite company or want to have documented in their company records, or advertise on their website. They wouldn't want to put off any investors with bad breath, a PhD, or a penchant for saying 'sweetie', after all. Also, one of the items clearly advertises an objective deficiency in their working practices. It's pretty plain why they'd want to keep that under wraps. So yea, less about culture and more about having a list of hidden requirements.
- nommm-nommm 11y ago
  > Does this non-medical phd demand to be addressed as doctor? (Yes, this happened.) WTF is wrong with that!?!? It is polite to address someone the way they want to be addressed. I address my PhD holding colleagues as Dr. very often though none are medical doctors. I can't imagine how this is an issue for anyone ever.
  - x0x0 11y ago

What is your definition of culture fit then? Be specific about traits which are indicative of a good or bad culture fit for your team/company in particular.

by abduhl 11y ago

What is your definition of culture fit then? Be specific about traits which are indicative of a good or bad culture fit for your team/company in particular.

x0x0 11y ago

Is this person going to be goddamn annoying to be around 40-45 hours a week? (Oh, how this has happened.) Does this non-medical phd demand to be addressed as doctor? (Yes, this happened.) Does he or she seem willing to do his or her share of the scut work? Is he or she a failed academic who is getting an industry job and going to be a pain about it, or is this what he or she wants to do? How much supervision does the candidate require? Initiative? If he or she runs out of work, is he or she going to to sit there and do fuck-all until I notice or will the candidate be proactive about getting more to do? I understand some of our code is under tested, but unlike TDD wankery, there is a real business cost to spending a bunch of time writing tests and, since those systems are either mostly finished / slowly changing, or on their way out, is this candidate going to be difficult or suck it up and deal? (Yes, this happened. See also scut work and/or the realities of living in our fallen world.) We've made a decision to standardize on scala/java and js/some frontend package I'm not sure of. I understand this isn't react or the new hotness; does this candidate seem like he or she will throw a fit then spend two months working on a service in a language nobody else uses (yes, this happened. And he was surprised when he was terminated. There were other issues but this was the proverbial straw.) Hygiene. This should go without saying, but apparently I am cursed. If I can smell you in an interview, we're done. (And yes, this has happened.) One more set of edits as the bad memories come back: You look at my two female data scientists and a female engineering peer and the one female office manager and ask why there are so many secretaries working here? Yes, this happened. You call one of my female directs "sweetie." Yes, this happened. We're talking on the phone and you couldn't be arsed to spend 10 minutes on our site and come up with a 1-2 sentence summary of what the company does. You can be wrong, but you must demonstrate minimal interest. And to be clear about the level of detail: if I were airbnb and you said platform to allow people to rent out their homes for short stays, that would be awesome.

protomyth 11y ago
I don't think any from that list is really cultural. They range from basic professional behavior to basic polite society behavior. I've run into people with the hygiene part. I've dealt with farmers who have just dealt with their pigs that smelled better than some folks I've encountered. Also, "sweetie", really? When I was younger (teens) I offended someone by saying "Ma'am"[1], but I'm pretty sure I would have took a swat to the head from my parents if I ever said "sweetie". 1) I'm pretty sure at this late date (20+ years ago), she was a bit ticked that I used "Ma'am" instead of "Miss" implying she was older than she was. I'm pretty sure she was between 18 and 20, and I was 15 and looked a lot older.
- x0x0 11y ago
  Professional and polite behavior is cultural fit :) Or at least the working definition at this and previous employers where I've been a hiring manager.
- crdoconnor 11y ago
  >I don't think any from that list is really cultural It looks to me like a laundry list of requirements that they wouldn't admit in polite company or want to have documented in their company records, or advertise on their website. They wouldn't want to put off any investors with bad breath, a PhD, or a penchant for saying 'sweetie', after all. Also, one of the items clearly advertises an objective deficiency in their working practices. It's pretty plain why they'd want to keep that under wraps. So yea, less about culture and more about having a list of hidden requirements.
nommm-nommm 11y ago
> Does this non-medical phd demand to be addressed as doctor? (Yes, this happened.) WTF is wrong with that!?!? It is polite to address someone the way they want to be addressed. I address my PhD holding colleagues as Dr. very often though none are medical doctors. I can't imagine how this is an issue for anyone ever.
- x0x0 11y ago