4 ms·

If you've got 300 CVs to review, much of them with similar experience, do you interview the people who've had 2 years off, or the people that haven't?

Tao3300 3y ago
I'd probably take a mix. Those people were probably doing some interesting stuff in those 2 years. Generally among our hires, those applicants have been much more eager to get down to business than the ones that are burned out from working the same job as the one they're applying for at a place they hate that isn't paying them enough. And before you think you dodged it, I'm still wondering what you're suggestions are.
robga 3y ago
At least in my field, it would be an absolute complete irrelevance. You’ve said 2 years here. What sort of gap wouldn’t be a factor to you? 3mo? 9mo?
haspok 3y ago
Why does this make any difference to you? Are you afraid that they secretly joined a terrorist organisation and were in a training camp in a Middle-Eastern country?
- bzzzt 3y ago
  That suspicion will surely be a problem for people of certain nationalities. (here in the EU there have been a few cases in the news which tends to make people more suspicious)
ChainOfFools 3y ago
What if you been running a freelance consultancy for 15 years or so, but have very few references from clients available due to seldom interacting with anyone on the client side with meaningful technical experience. Let's say for example your consultancy works with primarily physicians directly, or wealth managers, or attorneys - people who are not incapable of understanding technology, but have hired you precisely because they don't have the spare bandwidth to get into the weeds of another complex technical domain in addition to their own, and would have absolutely no idea how to comment on your understanding of algorithms or ability to function a small develepemt team as an IC, etc. I've never seriously considered trying to parlay my experience into a mainstream developer role because I assume that in a sea of 100 applications all having a similarly recognizable list of roles and references, anything that doesn't fit this model is ignored because it's too much trouble to to make a side by side comparison with the rest of the candidates.
oreally 3y ago
On one hand you're saying you want evidence of the candidate's work in recent years, but on the other hand you're also saying fuck people who take breaks to recharge, they should be on the rat race like the rest of us. I'd interview both of them so long as they pass the requirements. The second guy I'd want to see recent projects, not employment.

Tao3300 3y ago

I'd probably take a mix. Those people were probably doing some interesting stuff in those 2 years. Generally among our hires, those applicants have been much more eager to get down to business than the ones that are burned out from working the same job as the one they're applying for at a place they hate that isn't paying them enough. And before you think you dodged it, I'm still wondering what you're suggestions are.

robga 3y ago

At least in my field, it would be an absolute complete irrelevance. You’ve said 2 years here. What sort of gap wouldn’t be a factor to you? 3mo? 9mo?

haspok 3y ago

Why does this make any difference to you? Are you afraid that they secretly joined a terrorist organisation and were in a training camp in a Middle-Eastern country?

bzzzt 3y ago
That suspicion will surely be a problem for people of certain nationalities. (here in the EU there have been a few cases in the news which tends to make people more suspicious)

ChainOfFools 3y ago

What if you been running a freelance consultancy for 15 years or so, but have very few references from clients available due to seldom interacting with anyone on the client side with meaningful technical experience. Let's say for example your consultancy works with primarily physicians directly, or wealth managers, or attorneys - people who are not incapable of understanding technology, but have hired you precisely because they don't have the spare bandwidth to get into the weeds of another complex technical domain in addition to their own, and would have absolutely no idea how to comment on your understanding of algorithms or ability to function a small develepemt team as an IC, etc. I've never seriously considered trying to parlay my experience into a mainstream developer role because I assume that in a sea of 100 applications all having a similarly recognizable list of roles and references, anything that doesn't fit this model is ignored because it's too much trouble to to make a side by side comparison with the rest of the candidates.

oreally 3y ago

On one hand you're saying you want evidence of the candidate's work in recent years, but on the other hand you're also saying fuck people who take breaks to recharge, they should be on the rat race like the rest of us. I'd interview both of them so long as they pass the requirements. The second guy I'd want to see recent projects, not employment.