10 ms·

So he was a highschool dropout. How do you not notice something like that on a resume? College degrees are always listed on resumes, and while they aren't that

• ianl 15y ago
  The point was he didn't have a resume nor did he do any background checks because he was obsessed with the fact that this guy must be good because he was a former vp of a $100m company.
  • wisty 15y ago
    VP of sales is the worst proxy for start-up skills you can think of. Firstly, a salesman in a big company might be good at reading off a script, or writing a highly polished script for worker bees to read off; but they aren't necessarily a good all-rounder. Second, it's common practice to give a VP position to anyone who asks for it, because it helps them convince customers that they are a mover and shaker in the company: "Look, I'll ask the engineers to put it in the next patch." ... "Well, I'm a VP - they should listen."
• tptacek 15y ago
  How would you notice that on a resume? High school drop-outs don't write "high school drop-out" on their resume. In fact, many people, including many of the best people, don't put "education" on their resume at all.
  • Bartlet 15y ago
    I think an "education" section is a boilerplate resume item. If it wasn't there, I'd at least ask for details.
    • daeken 15y ago
      I don't have an education section on my resume, as I'm a high school dropout myself. Last year I was looking for a new job and shot my resume to probably a dozen different companies. Of those, the only company who asked about the lack of an education section was Bloomberg (of the ~8 people I had in-person interviews with, at least half of them asked me about it, in fact, which told me a lot about what the company was looking for). I'm not sure if it's indicative of the tech market at large, but no one else batted an eye at my lack of an education section and focused purely on my skills and experience.
      • natrius 15y ago
        I always ask, not because it's required, but because the answer is often enlightening. Judging companies for asking isn't reasonable.
        • daeken 15y ago
          For me, interviewing with a company is as much about me judging whether or not the company is a good fit for me as it is them judging whether or not I'm a good fit for them. If it's clear from the interviewers that they're looking for someone with a college degree and a CS background, then not only am I not a good fit for them, they're not a good fit for me. With the ability to choose to work for the vast majority of tech companies, I'd rather err on the side of being very picky about who I spend my time with. In the case of Bloomberg, those who asked me about my education were clearly biased (not in the question itself, but in the context, tone, etc) against those who are self-educated, and that's not at all the environment I want to work in.
          • natrius 15y ago
            Ok, that makes plenty of sense.
        • tptacek 15y ago
          In the mid-90s I got reasonably far down the road with an interview at DE Shaw / Juno and stopped it cold when they demanded school transcripts. I guess I'm unreasonable, but, if you're looking for data points: hi, I'm a candidate who will turn you down cold if you require school information from me. For a long time, I thought this was a New York thing, but, no; I got an offer from a very excellent NY tech/finance company a few years before we started Matasano, and nobody there was dumb enough to want to see my report cards.
• elliottcarlson 15y ago
  Though don't hold not having a college degree against a candidate. A good candidate can come from all walks of life - but in the end it is the interviewers job to make sure that the candidate is suited for the job - regardless of his background.