5 ms·

Shopify has an initial round with recruiter called "Life Story interview". You basically start from the beginning, talking about your high school experience, wh

Shopify has an initial round with recruiter called "Life Story interview". You basically start from the beginning, talking about your high school experience, what did you like there and what did you study, your childhood hobbies ...

mistrial9 4y ago
I think the part that most "worker" people reading this are missing, is that with mature markets you get someone that is vaguely, a little bit, experienced and on your side, to give feedback over time. The last "team" you want setting every question, and expectation, and results.. is the adversarial side that is trying to get the most out of all candidates with the least trouble to themselves..
1270018080 4y ago
I wouldn't be too upset with that if it was time bounded to 2 minutes within a standard 30 min recruiter call.
- myth_drannon 4y ago
  it was around 45 minutes
- kevinmchugh 4y ago
  I've heard this story about the Shopify interview several times. It bounced a lot of people who were interested and probably otherwise qualified
astura 4y ago
This seems strange for a middle aged candidate, what are they looking for here? Communication skills? I wanna believe most people would pass unless they said their childhood hobbies are torturing animals and setting fires. But I have no idea.
- ChainOfFools 4y ago
  "My high school career was defined by the discovery in my early teens that I had been raised in an obscure Jesus People offshoot cult, followed by a several year process of distancing and extricating myself from this environment without excessively antagonizing my family. Coding was as much a stimulating intellectual challenge as it was a pretext for gradually increasing the time I spent away from both home and my customary social obligations, down at the library's computer lab." your move, interviewer.
- red-iron-pine 4y ago
  > This seems strange for a middle aged candidate, what are they looking for here? Communication skills? Culture fit, probably looking for a few keywords or experiences that match a profile. Seems fraught with peril from a legal perspective, IMO. Lotta hooks or opportunities for discrimination. OTOH I could also see the appeal, e.g. you're not the ideal-on-paper candidate, but you did a bunch of X and Y, had experience w/ Z, tell me about the other stuff, sell me a little. I'm not an MIT hyper-literati type but give me the chance to show why that doesn't matter, etc. etc.
excitom 4y ago
A few years ago I worked at a place that wanted to implement "Life Story Interviews." I had the experience of several candidates responding, basically, WTF?? and hanging up.
the_only_law 4y ago
Ugh do they at least get you drunk first.

mistrial9 4y ago

I think the part that most "worker" people reading this are missing, is that with mature markets you get someone that is vaguely, a little bit, experienced and on your side, to give feedback over time. The last "team" you want setting every question, and expectation, and results.. is the adversarial side that is trying to get the most out of all candidates with the least trouble to themselves..

1270018080 4y ago

I wouldn't be too upset with that if it was time bounded to 2 minutes within a standard 30 min recruiter call.

myth_drannon 4y ago
it was around 45 minutes
kevinmchugh 4y ago
I've heard this story about the Shopify interview several times. It bounced a lot of people who were interested and probably otherwise qualified

astura 4y ago

This seems strange for a middle aged candidate, what are they looking for here? Communication skills? I wanna believe most people would pass unless they said their childhood hobbies are torturing animals and setting fires. But I have no idea.

ChainOfFools 4y ago
"My high school career was defined by the discovery in my early teens that I had been raised in an obscure Jesus People offshoot cult, followed by a several year process of distancing and extricating myself from this environment without excessively antagonizing my family. Coding was as much a stimulating intellectual challenge as it was a pretext for gradually increasing the time I spent away from both home and my customary social obligations, down at the library's computer lab." your move, interviewer.
red-iron-pine 4y ago
> This seems strange for a middle aged candidate, what are they looking for here? Communication skills? Culture fit, probably looking for a few keywords or experiences that match a profile. Seems fraught with peril from a legal perspective, IMO. Lotta hooks or opportunities for discrimination. OTOH I could also see the appeal, e.g. you're not the ideal-on-paper candidate, but you did a bunch of X and Y, had experience w/ Z, tell me about the other stuff, sell me a little. I'm not an MIT hyper-literati type but give me the chance to show why that doesn't matter, etc. etc.

excitom 4y ago

A few years ago I worked at a place that wanted to implement "Life Story Interviews." I had the experience of several candidates responding, basically, WTF?? and hanging up.

the_only_law 4y ago

Ugh do they at least get you drunk first.