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Ah, I also thought you meant a take home test. Do you work for a big company? I’m trying to picture how that interview style would scale. Thanks for sharing.

by ptd 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago
Well, the first time so saw it Done was for the only large company I ever worked for - what was then a Fortune 10 (non tech company). But on the other hand, the department that I was hired into was actually a recently acquired small company with four developers and the manager was the founder of the original company - so take that as you may. But, just because a company gets big, doesn’t mean that you can take hiring less seriously. You still have to be sure that you hire the right people. A false positive - hiring someone that can’t do the job - is worse than a false negative - not hiring someone who would be a good fit.
- ptd 8y ago
  Generally agree except for the last sentence. What if the false negative is Elon Musk? Netscape could have hired him, but they passed. You can always fire a bad hire. You can’t reinterview Musk when you realize your mistake.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Even though most people work “at will”, firing someone always has consequences. - There are usually HR policies around firing people that takes awhile and a lot of paperwork. - You open yourself up to lawsuits whether they are successful or not, it still a hassle and has costs. - you increase the amount you have to pay to your states unemployment insurance fund. - It puts a chilling effect on other employees. They think they can easily be fired to. - if the employee is really bad, they do “negative work” and put more work on the other employees who have to work around them or redo their work. Very rarely will one employee that you don’t hire make or break an established company.
    - ptd 8y ago
      Thanks again for sharing. Great insight. If you had a blog/newsletter, I would be a reader.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        No blog. I would rather keep my opinions on corporate America and my real life separate. Everything I know about management, hiring, firing and organizational theory comes from the Manager Tools/Career Tools Podcasts. As far as hiring, this is my go to guidance. https://www.manager-tools.com/2007/04/effective-hiring-set-the-bar-high https://www.manager-tools.com/2007/04/effective-hiring-set-t...

Ah, I also thought you meant a take home test. Do you work for a big company? I’m trying to picture how that interview style would scale. Thanks for sharing.

by ptd 8y ago

Ah, I also thought you meant a take home test. Do you work for a big company? I’m trying to picture how that interview style would scale. Thanks for sharing.

scarface74 8y ago

Well, the first time so saw it Done was for the only large company I ever worked for - what was then a Fortune 10 (non tech company). But on the other hand, the department that I was hired into was actually a recently acquired small company with four developers and the manager was the founder of the original company - so take that as you may. But, just because a company gets big, doesn’t mean that you can take hiring less seriously. You still have to be sure that you hire the right people. A false positive - hiring someone that can’t do the job - is worse than a false negative - not hiring someone who would be a good fit.

ptd 8y ago
Generally agree except for the last sentence. What if the false negative is Elon Musk? Netscape could have hired him, but they passed. You can always fire a bad hire. You can’t reinterview Musk when you realize your mistake.
- scarface74 8y ago
  Even though most people work “at will”, firing someone always has consequences. - There are usually HR policies around firing people that takes awhile and a lot of paperwork. - You open yourself up to lawsuits whether they are successful or not, it still a hassle and has costs. - you increase the amount you have to pay to your states unemployment insurance fund. - It puts a chilling effect on other employees. They think they can easily be fired to. - if the employee is really bad, they do “negative work” and put more work on the other employees who have to work around them or redo their work. Very rarely will one employee that you don’t hire make or break an established company.
  - ptd 8y ago
    Thanks again for sharing. Great insight. If you had a blog/newsletter, I would be a reader.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      No blog. I would rather keep my opinions on corporate America and my real life separate. Everything I know about management, hiring, firing and organizational theory comes from the Manager Tools/Career Tools Podcasts. As far as hiring, this is my go to guidance. https://www.manager-tools.com/2007/04/effective-hiring-set-the-bar-high https://www.manager-tools.com/2007/04/effective-hiring-set-t...