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> Also, I never gave a single test, and I think I got it right, every time. There's bound to be some confirmation bias there
by leshow 7y ago
> Also, I never gave a single test, and I think I got it right, every time.
There's bound to be some confirmation bias there
- ChrisMarshallNY 7y agoYes. I confirm that everyone that worked on my team worked out well. Some had more challenges than others, but we got the job done. The team worked well together, and we worked with our overseas compatriots in exemplary fashion. I was very fortunate. It was a small, high-functioning, C++ team of experienced engineers. All family people, with decades of programming experience. I'm quite aware that this was a luxury. I'm grateful for that.
- saghm 7y ago> All family people, with decades of programming experience I might be reading into this wrong, but it almost sounds like you're saying that you only hired people who had families. Doesn't that sound a little bit discriminatory?
- ChrisMarshallNY 7y agoYou are reading it wrong.
- saghm 7y agoCould you clarify what the intended reading is, then?
- procombo 7y agoExperience + an "older" language typically mean those types of candidates.
- ChrisMarshallNY 7y agoAt my company, HR was run by the General Counsel. It was NOT a "warm fuzzy" HR, but it WAS an extremely "legal-correct" HR. I would have been fired if I had shown any bias at all. I had my differences with some folks there, and I wasn't always thrilled with the way that things were run, but it was the most diverse environment I've ever seen; and I include a lot of Silicon Valley companies in that statement. The simple fact of the matter was, that the jobs in my team required a fairly advanced knowledge of C++, and the lions' share of applicants were men in their 30s; usually married. Marital status, gender, race, religious or sexual orientation/gender identification mean absolutely nothing to me; unless the applicant insists that it should. In that case, I generally find that they might not work so well in the team. Lack of drama was important to me. We had a full plate.
- ChrisMarshallNY 7y agoI should also add that managing a team that has several senior, married people is NOT the same as managing a team of young, unmarried folks. An almost guaranteed way to lose people with families, is to insist that they must ignore their family to work the job. This means that things like offsites and travel need to take into account things like school schedules, childcare and time off. I would often let people travel on Sunday to Japan, taking the heat for them not being there for a Monday meeting (which usually was just a "set the agenda" meeting anyway). That was my job. It doesn't mean that someone going through a divorce, or caring for a sick family member, can take a ton of time off when a project is melting down, but it does mean that I would work with them, to ensure that their families get cared for, and that they can leave the job where it belongs, so that they are 100% for their families. If you do things like this, you end up with a team that will take a bullet for you, and will do things like travel to Japan for two weeks to work on an emergency integration. It's absolutely shocking how many managers don't get that.
- twobat 7y agoYou cannot hire by not discriminating. It's by default a task that discriminates.
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoSophistry. "Discrimination' is well-understood to mean 'decide with bias regarding protected categories'.