5 ms·

To avoid bias? As in to be completely unprepared? Wouldn't reading the résumé give you a better idea of the interviewee's background, and allow you to better as

To avoid bias? As in to be completely unprepared? Wouldn't reading the résumé give you a better idea of the interviewee's background, and allow you to better assess him?

UncleMeat 8y ago
At Google there are two layers of the hiring process. Interviewers provide information for the hiring committee. The hiring committee has the resume. They don't need people to read it to them.
- RightMillennial 8y ago
  > They don't need people to read it to them. I'm not following. Why would someone read the resume to someone else?
  - joshuamorton 8y ago
    So, when I interview someone, I ask them some technical questions and maybe some questions about their work, and provide structured feedback to a seperate group of people who make final hiring decisions. There's actually not a whole lot of reason for me to look at their resume. The group who makes hiring decisions has it, so my interpretation of it won't be that valuable. Potentially I could ask them to elaborate on some of their prior work or projects, but that's usually less meaningful than just asking technical questions.
s17n 8y ago
I'm not there to figure out how good the candidate is at the things they claim to be good at. I'm there to figure out how good they are at the things the company wants them to be good at. (Not trying to claim that I'm actually able to figure out much of anything in a technical interview, but that's the goal.)
danpalmer 8y ago
Or her/them.
- RightMillennial 8y ago
  In standard American English, masculine is the default gender when the subject is unknown. So using "him" is proper. Using "them" as a singular pronoun is jarring to the ears.
  - grzm 8y ago
    Third-person singular they has a long tradition in English. It may not be as familiar to you, but it's nothing new. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
  - danpalmer 8y ago
    I was not aware of this, I've mostly heard "they"/"them". I take "he" to be an awareness or assumption of the gender, and find it quite uncomfortable to hear with regards to an industry with such a strong gender imbalance.
  - geekbird 8y ago
    No. It's actually a fading usage. The current pronouns when not assuming gender are they/them.

To avoid bias? As in to be completely unprepared? Wouldn't reading the résumé give you a better idea of the interviewee's background, and allow you to better assess him?

UncleMeat 8y ago

At Google there are two layers of the hiring process. Interviewers provide information for the hiring committee. The hiring committee has the resume. They don't need people to read it to them.

RightMillennial 8y ago
> They don't need people to read it to them. I'm not following. Why would someone read the resume to someone else?
- joshuamorton 8y ago
  So, when I interview someone, I ask them some technical questions and maybe some questions about their work, and provide structured feedback to a seperate group of people who make final hiring decisions. There's actually not a whole lot of reason for me to look at their resume. The group who makes hiring decisions has it, so my interpretation of it won't be that valuable. Potentially I could ask them to elaborate on some of their prior work or projects, but that's usually less meaningful than just asking technical questions.

s17n 8y ago

I'm not there to figure out how good the candidate is at the things they claim to be good at. I'm there to figure out how good they are at the things the company wants them to be good at. (Not trying to claim that I'm actually able to figure out much of anything in a technical interview, but that's the goal.)

danpalmer 8y ago

Or her/them.

RightMillennial 8y ago
In standard American English, masculine is the default gender when the subject is unknown. So using "him" is proper. Using "them" as a singular pronoun is jarring to the ears.
- grzm 8y ago
  Third-person singular they has a long tradition in English. It may not be as familiar to you, but it's nothing new. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
- danpalmer 8y ago
  I was not aware of this, I've mostly heard "they"/"them". I take "he" to be an awareness or assumption of the gender, and find it quite uncomfortable to hear with regards to an industry with such a strong gender imbalance.
- geekbird 8y ago
  No. It's actually a fading usage. The current pronouns when not assuming gender are they/them.