5 ms·

Best Way to Screen Future Employees? Play Sports.

8 points by sinzone 17y ago

gte910h 17y ago
And this really fall afoul of ADA rules on hiring those with disabilities.
lsc 17y ago
hah. wow. my first thought is "you know, you need Engineers at a startup, too; not just sales people" - It certainly doesn't sound like the sort of place I would want to work, but it might not be as bad of an idea as I initially thought; if you have an office full of people who play sports, I imagine that organization could translate to other kinds of teamwork. On the other hand, you are shutting out a whole lot of really good Engineers. (not to say there aren't good engineers who play sports, there certainly are, but there are a lot more good Engineers who don't.)
icey 17y ago
This whole article seems like terrible advice to me; and then there's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act...
evanreas 17y ago
agreed that it doesn't work for all employees and i don't mention it as a way of finding employees, rather a way to screen potential employees if they do happen to play sports. i'd also mention that i play ultimate with a bunch of engineers on a weekly basis so they are out there...
- LeBleu 17y ago
  You completely left out the "if they do happen to play sports" in the actual article, which heavily colors non-sports players view of the article. I definitely agree that many engineers and programmers play sports... but I also strongly suspect that on average, an engineer or programmer is less likely to play sports than the average person, and more likely to be the kid who always was picked last to play sports as a kid and hence have negative views of sports.
- foulmouthboy 17y ago
  And if said potential employee doesn't happen to play sports, then, to quote the article, "That's BULLSHIT"?
kilian 17y ago
I'd be all for a friendly (competitive) game every now and then, but if you intentionally play foul on me just to shit-test me, it means I don't want to work for you :)
matrix 17y ago
This article is vapid, banal at best. The author's theories are completely without substance or merit. I doubt he's ever actually hired anyone. Save yourself some time and read something else.
- lanstein 17y ago
  Some of this advice is actually relevant. I believe Bill Bradley vetted an assistant in one instance by seeing how good of a teammate he was. I'd cite this, but it's from some basketball book from the 60's/70's that I don't have on my desk at work :)
- keefe 17y ago
  I was going to write about how this article is the biggest crock of shit that I've ever seen, but you capture the point more eloquently. I'm fine with those people that enjoy sport for fun (just as I enjoy WoW) but both WoW and Sports are fucking stupid. They have nothing to do with coding ability. If you can't tell from your interview how your candidate will perform, YOU AREN'T FUCKING INTERVIEWING RIGHT. I've only participated in a few interviews, but I can have a conversation with someone and very quickly determine their coding ability, at least in broad strokes.
  - evanreas 17y ago
    it is not to test "coding ability" at all! it tests, drive, passion, competitiveness, motivation... the skills that are more important in a startup than raw ability to code. the coder who tries his hardest on every second in sports, is, more likely than not, going to be the better colleague because he/she will do whatever it takes to win.
    - scott_s 17y ago
      My sport of choice is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The person who "tries his hardest on every second" is thought of as a spaz, and is inexperienced. Such people try to overcome their lack of skill with brute force. On an experienced person, it fails. Part of any sport is knowing when to push as hard as you can. In BJJ, it means using your strength when you have leverage, and not trying to force something when you don't have leverage. I think that has transfer to other areas.
microcentury 17y ago
This guys seems like he'd be a total nightmare to work with. And that's NOT BULLSHIT.
EliRivers 17y ago
What of those who play for the love of the game? Those who think a good match is one in which everyone enjoyed themselves? Those for whom the score exists only as a by-product of what they see as the point - to have a good time? They're not competitive and they it more fun for everyone else. If that translates into their work, they'd surely be far better employees than hyper-competitives.
peteforde 17y ago
This is hilariously bad advice. If you go to an interview and they want to start quizzing you about sports, run the fuck away. Jesus!
- evanreas 17y ago
  To be clear, I am not advocating playing sports as a mandatory part of any interview process. What I am saying is that IF a prospective employee does play a sport, it is a HUGE value add to watch/play with them to be able to see and judge their personality in that context.
j_baker 17y ago
So... what about people who don't do sports? Or what about people who are disabled? Not only is this a bad idea, it could be a potential lawsuit.
Zot95 17y ago
Agree with others that this seems like a really bad idea. I'll throw another reason into the ring - the "Make terrible Foul calls on him" part. An interview is a two-way process. If my would-be co-workers are calling Mickey Mouse, ticky-tack fouls, _I'm_ going to think that _they_ are (to use a word from the article) dicks and less than fun to work with.

8 points by sinzone 17y ago

And this really fall afoul of ADA rules on hiring those with disabilities.

lsc 17y ago

hah. wow. my first thought is "you know, you need Engineers at a startup, too; not just sales people" - It certainly doesn't sound like the sort of place I would want to work, but it might not be as bad of an idea as I initially thought; if you have an office full of people who play sports, I imagine that organization could translate to other kinds of teamwork. On the other hand, you are shutting out a whole lot of really good Engineers. (not to say there aren't good engineers who play sports, there certainly are, but there are a lot more good Engineers who don't.)

icey 17y ago

This whole article seems like terrible advice to me; and then there's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act...

evanreas 17y ago

agreed that it doesn't work for all employees and i don't mention it as a way of finding employees, rather a way to screen potential employees if they do happen to play sports. i'd also mention that i play ultimate with a bunch of engineers on a weekly basis so they are out there...

LeBleu 17y ago
You completely left out the "if they do happen to play sports" in the actual article, which heavily colors non-sports players view of the article. I definitely agree that many engineers and programmers play sports... but I also strongly suspect that on average, an engineer or programmer is less likely to play sports than the average person, and more likely to be the kid who always was picked last to play sports as a kid and hence have negative views of sports.
foulmouthboy 17y ago
And if said potential employee doesn't happen to play sports, then, to quote the article, "That's BULLSHIT"?

kilian 17y ago

I'd be all for a friendly (competitive) game every now and then, but if you intentionally play foul on me just to shit-test me, it means I don't want to work for you :)

matrix 17y ago

This article is vapid, banal at best. The author's theories are completely without substance or merit. I doubt he's ever actually hired anyone. Save yourself some time and read something else.

lanstein 17y ago
Some of this advice is actually relevant. I believe Bill Bradley vetted an assistant in one instance by seeing how good of a teammate he was. I'd cite this, but it's from some basketball book from the 60's/70's that I don't have on my desk at work :)
keefe 17y ago
I was going to write about how this article is the biggest crock of shit that I've ever seen, but you capture the point more eloquently. I'm fine with those people that enjoy sport for fun (just as I enjoy WoW) but both WoW and Sports are fucking stupid. They have nothing to do with coding ability. If you can't tell from your interview how your candidate will perform, YOU AREN'T FUCKING INTERVIEWING RIGHT. I've only participated in a few interviews, but I can have a conversation with someone and very quickly determine their coding ability, at least in broad strokes.
- evanreas 17y ago
  it is not to test "coding ability" at all! it tests, drive, passion, competitiveness, motivation... the skills that are more important in a startup than raw ability to code. the coder who tries his hardest on every second in sports, is, more likely than not, going to be the better colleague because he/she will do whatever it takes to win.
  - scott_s 17y ago
    My sport of choice is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The person who "tries his hardest on every second" is thought of as a spaz, and is inexperienced. Such people try to overcome their lack of skill with brute force. On an experienced person, it fails. Part of any sport is knowing when to push as hard as you can. In BJJ, it means using your strength when you have leverage, and not trying to force something when you don't have leverage. I think that has transfer to other areas.

microcentury 17y ago

This guys seems like he'd be a total nightmare to work with. And that's NOT BULLSHIT.

EliRivers 17y ago

What of those who play for the love of the game? Those who think a good match is one in which everyone enjoyed themselves? Those for whom the score exists only as a by-product of what they see as the point - to have a good time? They're not competitive and they it more fun for everyone else. If that translates into their work, they'd surely be far better employees than hyper-competitives.

peteforde 17y ago

This is hilariously bad advice. If you go to an interview and they want to start quizzing you about sports, run the fuck away. Jesus!

evanreas 17y ago
To be clear, I am not advocating playing sports as a mandatory part of any interview process. What I am saying is that IF a prospective employee does play a sport, it is a HUGE value add to watch/play with them to be able to see and judge their personality in that context.

j_baker 17y ago

So... what about people who don't do sports? Or what about people who are disabled? Not only is this a bad idea, it could be a potential lawsuit.

Zot95 17y ago

Agree with others that this seems like a really bad idea. I'll throw another reason into the ring - the "Make terrible Foul calls on him" part. An interview is a two-way process. If my would-be co-workers are calling Mickey Mouse, ticky-tack fouls, _I'm_ going to think that _they_ are (to use a word from the article) dicks and less than fun to work with.