4 ms·

Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that the same guy who wants to pay people to drop out of college is also the guy who only wants to hire from the "Top scho

Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that the same guy who wants to pay people to drop out of college is also the guy who only wants to hire from the "Top schools." I'm old enough now to know where you went to school doesn't correlate to who you are as a person and your level of intelligence (however you may wish to define the different types of intelligence). That and I've met way too many people from "Top Schools" who are just this side of morons, and too many people who have zero or little education who are quite intelligent/innovative/great "engineers"/etc. Still, it's all about that brand.

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- dbt00 10y ago
  I was a CS dropout who didn't work anywhere near SV when I was hired. The filter (and recruiting pipeline, given the proximity and deep connections to Stanford) tends to correlate with "top CS schools", but I promise you that they're not discarding resumes based on school.
  - canweriotnow 10y ago
    I was a philosophy dropout software engineer who worked on the other side of the country and was aggressively recruited by Palantir a few years back (I passed, mostly not wanting to relocate)... I think they like to keep that top-tier CS count high but still go after engineering talent when they spot it, like any half-sane software shop. The degree thing probably (theoretically?) helps the sales pitch but it's not like an East Coast "white-shoe" firm where anything other than a Harvard MBA is automatic disqualification.
- jonathankoren 10y ago
  You can justify any biases with that attitude.
  - aptwebapps 10y ago
    That's what makes it so convenient (not trying to be funny).
  - argonaut 10y ago
    Worth pointing out that you can pick apart any hiring criteria with the statement that "I've met lots of people who met the criteria but were idiots, and many people who didn't meet the criteria and where very intelligent."
  - deleted 10y ago
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    - bastionofsanity 10y ago
      How were the false negatives?
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
pedalpete 10y ago
The difference is Thiel is paying people to drop out of college to start a business, not to just go get a job. But yes, there is irony, maybe not as much as at first glance.
leroy_masochist 10y ago
> Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that the same guy who wants to pay people to drop out of college is also the guy who only wants to hire from the "Top schools." From what I understand, Thiel is not super-involved in the day-to-day running of Palantir.
yummyfajitas 10y ago
It's ironic that the guy who says college isn't best for everyone finds it a useful probabilistic filter, and a useful way to sell brand to clients?

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dbt00 10y ago
I was a CS dropout who didn't work anywhere near SV when I was hired. The filter (and recruiting pipeline, given the proximity and deep connections to Stanford) tends to correlate with "top CS schools", but I promise you that they're not discarding resumes based on school.
- canweriotnow 10y ago
  I was a philosophy dropout software engineer who worked on the other side of the country and was aggressively recruited by Palantir a few years back (I passed, mostly not wanting to relocate)... I think they like to keep that top-tier CS count high but still go after engineering talent when they spot it, like any half-sane software shop. The degree thing probably (theoretically?) helps the sales pitch but it's not like an East Coast "white-shoe" firm where anything other than a Harvard MBA is automatic disqualification.
jonathankoren 10y ago
You can justify any biases with that attitude.
- aptwebapps 10y ago
  That's what makes it so convenient (not trying to be funny).
- argonaut 10y ago
  Worth pointing out that you can pick apart any hiring criteria with the statement that "I've met lots of people who met the criteria but were idiots, and many people who didn't meet the criteria and where very intelligent."
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
  - bastionofsanity 10y ago
    How were the false negatives?
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]

pedalpete 10y ago

The difference is Thiel is paying people to drop out of college to start a business, not to just go get a job. But yes, there is irony, maybe not as much as at first glance.

leroy_masochist 10y ago

> Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that the same guy who wants to pay people to drop out of college is also the guy who only wants to hire from the "Top schools." From what I understand, Thiel is not super-involved in the day-to-day running of Palantir.

yummyfajitas 10y ago

It's ironic that the guy who says college isn't best for everyone finds it a useful probabilistic filter, and a useful way to sell brand to clients?