7 ms·

Cuture fit is a blank check to fail a person's interview just because you didn't like them in the first 30 seconds. Short of the candidate showing some glaring

by m0zg 7y ago

Cuture fit is a blank check to fail a person's interview just because you didn't like them in the first 30 seconds. Short of the candidate showing some glaring interpersonal issues (I once had a guy who used the word "fuck" during his interview like 100 times) it is categorically impossible to establish in a 45 minute interview whether a person is actually a "fit" or not. So it's mostly a legitimized form of hiring bias. Too old? That's a poor "culture fit" right there.

dehrmann 7y ago
It can be, but I've seen very valid uses of it. Some cultures value openness more than others, top-down vs. bottom-up, well-defined roles vs. flexibility, big company vs. small.
el_dev_hell 7y ago
> Cuture fit is a blank check to fail a person's interview just because you didn't like them in the first 30 seconds. I hear this all the time. Yeah, that might be true in some cases, but it's also valid in quite a lot of instances (like the example you provided). > it is categorically impossible to establish in a 45 minute interview whether a person is actually a "fit" or not I've run/sat in on several trainwreck interviews over the years (for ad account manager roles and logistical analyst roles mostly). Here are a few examples of candidates that were perfect in every way until the interview based on culture fit: * The guy that mentioned he only traveled to Thailand because ladyboys do it better. * The guy that mentioned he wouldn't work with anyone that drank alcohol because it's "the retardant of the masses". Fair enough opinion. About 20% of our ad sales came from alcohol-related businesses. I asked if he would have a problem dealing with liquor businesses. He explained that wouldn't be a problem as long as they didn't ask if he drank. * I was sitting in on an interview with the Marketing Director for an account management gig on a Monday morning. We asked the candidate if she did anything noteworthy over the weekend. She told us she went dancing with her friend "Molly" at a music festival and laughed. * The analyst that mentioned he scrapes NSFW subreddits in his spare time and links throwaway accounts to main accounts based on comment history, similar subreddit crossover, posting times, and vernacular (his tool was pretty impressive -- it sent him an email whenever it had a hit with over 50% accuracy or something which he received during the interview).
- epx 7y ago
  1/4 is homophobic.
  - leereeves 7y ago
    No matter what your sexuality, it's not appropriate to bring it up in an interview. Nor in the workplace. That's how sexual harassment happens.
    - damnyou 7y ago
      No, we should aim for people to live their authentic lives. If people cannot live their truths then society has failed.
  - el_dev_hell 7y ago
    No, it's not. That comment being inappropriate had nothing to do with the candidate's sexual preference. It had to do with a candidate making an inappropriate sexual remark during an interview. If the comment was "X women do it better" it would still be inappropriate. Ironically, the HR staff member present during the interview was a gay man himself. I guess he must be homophobic in your eyes also for discarding the application?
- blattimwind 7y ago
  Three out of those four don't seem particularly bad.
  - m0zg 7y ago
    +1. And the one that is bad is similar to the trainwreck I mentioned in the original post (complete lack of self-awareness). GP just underscored my point without intending to do so.
  - el_dev_hell 7y ago
    ...curiously, which three aren't particularly bad?
cperciva 7y ago
candidate showing some glaring interpersonal issues (I once had a guy who used the word "fuck" during an interview like 100 times) That sounds less like interpersonal issues and more like a tic disorder.
- rednixion 7y ago
  It is possible to have personality traits that are not a medical diagnosis.
  - cperciva 7y ago
    Absolutely. And if he was swearing occasionally, I'd say it was a personality trait. But swearing 100 times in an hour? That's rather extreme -- and a high stress situation like an interview is exactly when such a disorder would show up the most.
    - AstralStorm 7y ago
      So, why didn't the interviewer ask the important question about apparently excessive swearing? It's as if interviewers are lazy and guess.
  - Double_Cast 7y ago
    to be fair, i feel like the new entries in the DSM V are basically personality traits.
- m0zg 7y ago
  If it were, I'd understand. I'm quite aware and accommodating of autism spectrum issues. But the guy was just arrogant and acted with an unwarranted degree of familiarity towards me just because we're from the same country. I'm of the opinion that where the candidate was born should buy them absolutely nothing. Many interviewers don't share this opinion BTW. Some will give overt preference to their compatriots, possibly on the account of "cultural fit". It didn't help that he didn't do well on the coding question either. In the end I only mentioned the "fucks" in passing in my feedback, and disqualified him on technical merit.
p1necone 7y ago
Anecdotally I've seen "not a good culture fit" used to fail an interview when the applicant was so stunningly incompetent that it was too awkward to tell the truth.
- draw_down 7y ago
  Inability to tell the truth is a failure of company culture!!

by m0zg 7y ago

dehrmann 7y ago

It can be, but I've seen very valid uses of it. Some cultures value openness more than others, top-down vs. bottom-up, well-defined roles vs. flexibility, big company vs. small.

el_dev_hell 7y ago

> Cuture fit is a blank check to fail a person's interview just because you didn't like them in the first 30 seconds. I hear this all the time. Yeah, that might be true in some cases, but it's also valid in quite a lot of instances (like the example you provided). > it is categorically impossible to establish in a 45 minute interview whether a person is actually a "fit" or not I've run/sat in on several trainwreck interviews over the years (for ad account manager roles and logistical analyst roles mostly). Here are a few examples of candidates that were perfect in every way until the interview based on culture fit: * The guy that mentioned he only traveled to Thailand because ladyboys do it better. * The guy that mentioned he wouldn't work with anyone that drank alcohol because it's "the retardant of the masses". Fair enough opinion. About 20% of our ad sales came from alcohol-related businesses. I asked if he would have a problem dealing with liquor businesses. He explained that wouldn't be a problem as long as they didn't ask if he drank. * I was sitting in on an interview with the Marketing Director for an account management gig on a Monday morning. We asked the candidate if she did anything noteworthy over the weekend. She told us she went dancing with her friend "Molly" at a music festival and laughed. * The analyst that mentioned he scrapes NSFW subreddits in his spare time and links throwaway accounts to main accounts based on comment history, similar subreddit crossover, posting times, and vernacular (his tool was pretty impressive -- it sent him an email whenever it had a hit with over 50% accuracy or something which he received during the interview).

epx 7y ago
1/4 is homophobic.
- leereeves 7y ago
  No matter what your sexuality, it's not appropriate to bring it up in an interview. Nor in the workplace. That's how sexual harassment happens.
  - damnyou 7y ago
    No, we should aim for people to live their authentic lives. If people cannot live their truths then society has failed.
- el_dev_hell 7y ago
  No, it's not. That comment being inappropriate had nothing to do with the candidate's sexual preference. It had to do with a candidate making an inappropriate sexual remark during an interview. If the comment was "X women do it better" it would still be inappropriate. Ironically, the HR staff member present during the interview was a gay man himself. I guess he must be homophobic in your eyes also for discarding the application?
blattimwind 7y ago
Three out of those four don't seem particularly bad.
- m0zg 7y ago
  +1. And the one that is bad is similar to the trainwreck I mentioned in the original post (complete lack of self-awareness). GP just underscored my point without intending to do so.
- el_dev_hell 7y ago
  ...curiously, which three aren't particularly bad?

cperciva 7y ago

candidate showing some glaring interpersonal issues (I once had a guy who used the word "fuck" during an interview like 100 times) That sounds less like interpersonal issues and more like a tic disorder.

rednixion 7y ago
It is possible to have personality traits that are not a medical diagnosis.
- cperciva 7y ago
  Absolutely. And if he was swearing occasionally, I'd say it was a personality trait. But swearing 100 times in an hour? That's rather extreme -- and a high stress situation like an interview is exactly when such a disorder would show up the most.
  - AstralStorm 7y ago
    So, why didn't the interviewer ask the important question about apparently excessive swearing? It's as if interviewers are lazy and guess.
- Double_Cast 7y ago
  to be fair, i feel like the new entries in the DSM V are basically personality traits.
m0zg 7y ago
If it were, I'd understand. I'm quite aware and accommodating of autism spectrum issues. But the guy was just arrogant and acted with an unwarranted degree of familiarity towards me just because we're from the same country. I'm of the opinion that where the candidate was born should buy them absolutely nothing. Many interviewers don't share this opinion BTW. Some will give overt preference to their compatriots, possibly on the account of "cultural fit". It didn't help that he didn't do well on the coding question either. In the end I only mentioned the "fucks" in passing in my feedback, and disqualified him on technical merit.

p1necone 7y ago

Anecdotally I've seen "not a good culture fit" used to fail an interview when the applicant was so stunningly incompetent that it was too awkward to tell the truth.

draw_down 7y ago
Inability to tell the truth is a failure of company culture!!