5 ms·
> interviewed me while having dinner (on his end) Wtf? Couldn’t he have done that at a more convenient time?
by thiht 3y ago
> interviewed me while having dinner (on his end)
Wtf? Couldn’t he have done that at a more convenient time?
- re-thc 3y ago[flagged]
- echelon 3y agoI'd rather him have the respect to not be doing anything else at all while conducting an interview.
- ghaff 3y agoDoesn't seem that odd? I imagine he has a pretty busy schedule.
- _zoltan_ 3y agoThis would be a deal breaker for me. 0 respect.
- ghaff 3y agoBecause Shuttleworth in particular or because someone at a company took someone out to a meal? The latter seems perfectly normal and I've been in that situation a number of times. Obviously you ought to have the opportunity to eat but having especially a more casual conversation over a meal just doesn't seem odd to me.
- rbanffy 3y agoShuttleworth is a very hands-on manager, which is both a blessing, if you like his style, or a curse, if you don't.
- pharrington 3y agoThat sounds like a euphemism for "micromanager".
- rbanffy 3y agoNot really. A micromanager is more consistent in their interventions. With him it was much more distributed and somewhat random.
- KptMarchewa 3y ago> Because Shuttleworth in particular or because someone at a company took someone out to a meal? It sounds more like situation where he was eating on zoom with mic on, while the second person just talked.
- ghaff 3y agoIn that case, it's entirely possible I misunderstood the situation.
- deaddodo 3y agoIt doesn't sound like they had a shared meal, but that he ate his dinner during a pre-allocated meeting time via zoom/google meet/etc.
- setgree 3y agoIn my dream world we would normalize things like eating on a zoom call. People gotta eat, it’s no big deal. Maybe if they’re audibly slurping soup that’s a problem in terms of noise, but that would also be a problem during a boardroom meeting. (I once got in a lot of trouble for having a bowl of cereal while I was a silent participant in a call with a client at a fintech company, so I understand that attitudes like yours are common.)
- S201 3y agoPeople also gotta shit. Should I do a Zoom call while on the toilet? It's a matter of where is your attention. If you're eating you're not fully focused on the other participant you're interacting with and not being fully present for them is rude.
- hobr 3y agoIsn't this a false equivalence? I'll often eat with other people, but I wouldn't take a sh*t with them.
- 9dev 3y agoIt’s okay, we’re all grownups here. You can say shit without censoring yourself.
- S201 3y agoIf society agrees that eating during workplace meetings is acceptable, then so be it. My point was that "it's a biological need therefore it's acceptable" isn't an excuse to use for eating in a meeting (working lunches excluded as all participants understand the intention of those).
- klyrs 3y agoMeals are an excellent venue for conversation. People are fully capable of eating, listening and responding. Being remote doesn't change that. Conversations on the can are less universally accepted. But do you ever see people go off-camera for a minute or ten? Some fraction of them must be listening from the loo.
- toyg 3y agoI don't disagree, but on the other hand: Lloyd's used to be a London pub where merchants would hang out all day, carrying out their business as they ate. Business deals at the highest level are still routinely done over breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I think the problem, as usual, is the power imbalance: they are eating and you are not, in addition to the fact that they have the money and you don't - so it becomes a bit too humiliating.
- ghaff 3y agoI gather the situation here was that he was multi-tasking over Zoom. But, yes, in-person meetings/conversations over a meal are not necessarily ideal but they're very commonplace in a business context and range from the very casual to more formal. (If you're at an event for business partners/customers/media/etc. they're pretty much inevitable.)
- windmark 3y agoApart from it being over Zoom, the main differentiator is that only one party eats. That’s a clear show of power. What you are talking about is that that both meet over food, which is very different.
- physicsguy 3y agoI recently turned down a job where the CEO of a startup came into an interview unexpectedly, and started texting or checking his emails or something halfway through. It wasn’t the only thing that put me off but it certainly was a big part.
- ugh123 3y agoI've learned over many years that someone who eats during an interview or meeting (while you're not the one eating), doesn't give a shit about you and perhaps has already made up their mind.
- hadlock 3y agoI would imagine he is on the phone 8-12 hours a day when not at the office, and still 4-6 hours a day at the office. Someone at his level, especially as a founder/owner is talking to somebody pretty much at all waking hours, and meals happen during calls unless it's an exceptionally important meeting.
- liendolucas 3y agoIf you were that busy you wouldn't even care interviewing anyone, you're supposed to delegate responsibility to the HR team. What would be the point to get involved in a one-time interaction with someone that is (I assume) in another plane to his day to day management of the company? I kind see this like: "Our king has the very last word on the matter, so good luck with him" which is nonsense.
- markshuttle 3y agoIf I remember correctly, the candidate was interested in a product management role for our cloud offerings, which is something that I care a great deal about. Hi, Rui ;) And yes, I'm on calls through lunch and dinner, so I sometimes get to have lunch or dinner with candidates.
- rcarmo 3y agoHi Mark! Yep. I didn’t think our chat was weird, mind. Just anecdotal, in the sense of something that stuck with me.
- peteradio 3y agoWhy would you do that? This sounds literally insane.