5 ms·

I have to wonder about the competence of a hiring manager who thinks that sending a candidate (who just rejected their offer) a dead fish in a package, without

I have to wonder about the competence of a hiring manager who thinks that sending a candidate (who just rejected their offer) a dead fish in a package, without any other context, is a good idea. But then again, we are talking about tech recruiting, so it’s probably not all that surprising.

brailsafe 6y ago
Meh, things in life don't need to be so serious. I'd get a good laugh out of it.
- EGreg 6y ago
  Microsoft execs were never known for their sense of humor https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtuDS0ntaJY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtuDS0ntaJY
  - asveikau 6y ago
    Somehow I pictured it'd be this one: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Zd3HYKCRE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Zd3HYKCRE
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - ralfd 6y ago
    To be fair, the early Silicon Valley was delightfully dorky: https://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/10/steve-jobs-appeared-in-apples-original-1984-blue-busters-video-spoof-of-ghostbusters/ https://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/10/steve-jobs-appeared-in-...
asveikau 6y ago
I start to wonder if he might be loosely summarizing the story in a way that makes it more amusing. Like maybe there was a card explaining it and he either threw it away without reading or left it out of the story. Maybe the parallels to The Godfather are something he thought of later. Or maybe you're right, and whoever sent it was kinda dopey and thought a fellow Washington State person would immediately get the reference, and he didn't.
- nsxwolf 6y ago
  It would have been packaged in a way that should have been obvious to anyone "This is a gift of fine food", so I find it hard to believe he would have actually perceived it as some kind of threat, except in a kind of tongue in cheek way. But sometimes it's important to lie a little bit to make a story better.
- sjwright 6y ago
  Like when you say dead fish, it sounds bad. But consider the alternative—a gift of live salmon would be far more annoying and less convenient for most people.
  - duncanawoods 6y ago
    That is a fascinating and disturbingly abusive prank - make someone responsible for killing a huge fish. What would they do - take it to a vet or a fishmonger or find a hammer? Call wildlife services for what you would buy in the supermarket the next day? It would be a pretty weird position to be in.
aaron695 6y ago
> But then again, we are talking about tech recruiting, so it’s probably not all that surprising. The people recruiting went out and really tried to be different and do something out of the box. Because of them we have this great story, and something at least a bit dear to Scott Forstall who clearly uses hyperbole since it wasn't a 'dead fish', it was in ice which normally we would say fresh fish when not telling stories.
rmason 6y ago
If I wanted to really get this guy to change course I'd have Bill Gates call to try and persuade him. But then again I am bad at puzzle tests so I could probably never get hired there. Maybe if you are great at puzzle solving sending him a dead fish has some greater meaning that eludes me.
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  From what I've heard, MS stopped doing puzzle interviews a couple decades ago. But stack-ranking ...
poulsbohemian 6y ago
I saw this as a matter of culture: for some people a dead fish is a threat. In the Pacific Northwest though, especially if you knew it was from Pike Place, then it's a tremendous gift.

brailsafe 6y ago

Meh, things in life don't need to be so serious. I'd get a good laugh out of it.

EGreg 6y ago
Microsoft execs were never known for their sense of humor https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtuDS0ntaJY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtuDS0ntaJY
- asveikau 6y ago
  Somehow I pictured it'd be this one: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Zd3HYKCRE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Zd3HYKCRE
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- ralfd 6y ago
  To be fair, the early Silicon Valley was delightfully dorky: https://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/10/steve-jobs-appeared-in-apples-original-1984-blue-busters-video-spoof-of-ghostbusters/ https://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/10/steve-jobs-appeared-in-...

asveikau 6y ago

I start to wonder if he might be loosely summarizing the story in a way that makes it more amusing. Like maybe there was a card explaining it and he either threw it away without reading or left it out of the story. Maybe the parallels to The Godfather are something he thought of later. Or maybe you're right, and whoever sent it was kinda dopey and thought a fellow Washington State person would immediately get the reference, and he didn't.

nsxwolf 6y ago
It would have been packaged in a way that should have been obvious to anyone "This is a gift of fine food", so I find it hard to believe he would have actually perceived it as some kind of threat, except in a kind of tongue in cheek way. But sometimes it's important to lie a little bit to make a story better.
sjwright 6y ago
Like when you say dead fish, it sounds bad. But consider the alternative—a gift of live salmon would be far more annoying and less convenient for most people.
- duncanawoods 6y ago
  That is a fascinating and disturbingly abusive prank - make someone responsible for killing a huge fish. What would they do - take it to a vet or a fishmonger or find a hammer? Call wildlife services for what you would buy in the supermarket the next day? It would be a pretty weird position to be in.

aaron695 6y ago

> But then again, we are talking about tech recruiting, so it’s probably not all that surprising. The people recruiting went out and really tried to be different and do something out of the box. Because of them we have this great story, and something at least a bit dear to Scott Forstall who clearly uses hyperbole since it wasn't a 'dead fish', it was in ice which normally we would say fresh fish when not telling stories.

rmason 6y ago

If I wanted to really get this guy to change course I'd have Bill Gates call to try and persuade him. But then again I am bad at puzzle tests so I could probably never get hired there. Maybe if you are great at puzzle solving sending him a dead fish has some greater meaning that eludes me.

redis_mlc 6y ago
From what I've heard, MS stopped doing puzzle interviews a couple decades ago. But stack-ranking ...

poulsbohemian 6y ago

I saw this as a matter of culture: for some people a dead fish is a threat. In the Pacific Northwest though, especially if you knew it was from Pike Place, then it's a tremendous gift.