3 ms·

Is there any statistical reason I should assume an interviewer at FAANG has some kind of special insight into what good technical and communication skills are?

Is there any statistical reason I should assume an interviewer at FAANG has some kind of special insight into what good technical and communication skills are? Were any attempts made to adjust for demographic biases? Is it possible, for instance, that Dropbox engineers are disproportionately taller white dudes with nice hair? I know that sounds a bit unserious, but all of those factors would increase the likelihood of a higher score. I appreciate that you never used "rockstar" or "ninja". That dig was a bit unfair of me.

leeny 5y ago
no, we didn't adjust for demographic biases because, look, we're an anonymous platform. we periodically survey our users to get demographic data, but it's not something we ask in the app because we've never been able to resolve "tell me your race & gender" with "hey we're anonymous, and you'll be judged on your performance and nothing else". last thing i want is to perpetuate stereotype threat inadvertently. it's possible to do this right, i think, but we haven't gotten there yet.
- kieselguhr_kid 5y ago
  The point about stereotype threat is valid, although it also means that we're unable to get any insight into a major axis of interview performance. I think what we have here is an attempt to imply, consciously or not, a causal link between interview success and previous/current employment. But without drilling into the other factors underlying their success, we get a lot of noise and not enough signal. Couple that with the continued mythologizing of FAANG greatness, and you get an article that perpetuates two of the more toxic notions in tech: FAANG is the top of a pyramid and talent is concentrated in a handful of companies. Neither are true, and neither are probably your intent, but that's how this reads.

3 ms·

Is there any statistical reason I should assume an interviewer at FAANG has some kind of special insight into what good technical and communication skills are?

by kieselguhr_kid 5y ago

leeny 5y ago
no, we didn't adjust for demographic biases because, look, we're an anonymous platform. we periodically survey our users to get demographic data, but it's not something we ask in the app because we've never been able to resolve "tell me your race & gender" with "hey we're anonymous, and you'll be judged on your performance and nothing else". last thing i want is to perpetuate stereotype threat inadvertently. it's possible to do this right, i think, but we haven't gotten there yet.
- kieselguhr_kid 5y ago
  The point about stereotype threat is valid, although it also means that we're unable to get any insight into a major axis of interview performance. I think what we have here is an attempt to imply, consciously or not, a causal link between interview success and previous/current employment. But without drilling into the other factors underlying their success, we get a lot of noise and not enough signal. Couple that with the continued mythologizing of FAANG greatness, and you get an article that perpetuates two of the more toxic notions in tech: FAANG is the top of a pyramid and talent is concentrated in a handful of companies. Neither are true, and neither are probably your intent, but that's how this reads.