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> no strong noes This is the problem. It allows one interviewer with a pet peeve to torpedo an otherwise excellent hire. Where I work, whoever ends up on the
by vonmoltke 11y ago
> no strong noes
This is the problem. It allows one interviewer with a pet peeve to torpedo an otherwise excellent hire. Where I work, whoever ends up on the wrong side of the majority needs to make a case good enough to convince the majority to switch. Being strongly in the minority is not good enough.
The culture of accepting high false negative rates leads to the "no weaknesses" hiring the GP was complaining about.
- ammon 11y agoYeah, I totally agree. We actually asked YC Companies about their fire rates. The fire rate at most of the companies was under 6% (documenting a high false negative rate approach)
- shimon 11y agoThis seems really low in an environment where the consequences of firing are minimal in terms of legal and financial cost (even for the employee, who can probably quickly find another job in this industry). Is this rate much lower for programmers than for other functions? Do you think that's because programmers tend to be nice people and firing someone is highly confrontational?
- henrikschroder 11y agoIsn't it kind of weird that startup culture is supposed to be all about failing fast, MVP, and pivoting, but when it comes to hiring, it has to be perfect from the start?
- frakkingcylons 11y agoHiring is a critical piece of running a startup. It's one of the few things a startup can control, so hiring choices should be as close to perfect as one can manage. Also, the hiring philosophy at most startups is closer to the 'fail fast' principle than you think. The universal piece of advice is to fire someone quickly when you realize you made a bad hire.
- freebish 11y agoI agree, but this is also a management failing, in not noticing the pattern. I've been able to successfully hire good people by noting that some interviewers are never satisfied with any candidate. Once the pattern is clear, I either remove them from the hiring process, or politely disregard their opinion. Hiring only with 100% consensus is a sucker's game. Some of my best hires have involved judging which "no" could be overridden safely.