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I am not now, nor will I ever be, an employee of a company that compels a Director of Development to follow HR edicts about hiring practices without mutually re

I am not now, nor will I ever be, an employee of a company that compels a Director of Development to follow HR edicts about hiring practices without mutually respectful consultation.

wdewind 15y ago
So this is more of a "expect this type of stuff to happen if this becomes the norm" deal? Either way, interesting read and gave me some stuff to think about, as usual. Thanks.
- eshrews 15y ago
  Yes, he confirms further down in the comments that this is a fictional story.
  - doktrin 15y ago
    I wish he had made this more clear in the actual original post. Unless I'm missing something, there was no indication of this being a parable. As it stands, I had already scanned his resume to mentally blacklist his most recent employer. The massive google flamewar that occupies the top 1/3rd of this page notwithstanding, burying the true nature the article deep in the HN comments isn't really the best practice.
    - unreal37 15y ago
      I had figured out about half way through that the story was fictional. It wasn't explicit, but it was subtle. Who's going to write a resignation letter like that? No one.
  - seanp2k2 15y ago
    Boo. Should be disclosed in bold at the top of his article.
mark_integerdsv 15y ago
Oh, this is where the on-topic discussion is. I had to wade through a pretty meaty Google flamewar to get here... I have a question about this Facebook fiasco: what exactly does HR hope to discover and how would they plan to use such intelligence? The reason I ask is that here in South Africa, when applying to a position (from my experience as a business intelligence consultant) I must release HR to check both my credit history as well as submit to having my fingerprints taken by an electronic device which connects to a governmental database and checks my criminal record for any misconduct. Are these checks common place in your part of the world? Can you see anything that HR in South Africa might gain by snooping through Facebook that wouldn't be outweighed by the information already available to them?
- nbm 15y ago
  Wow, I've never heard of anyone in South Africa with a non-government job being asked to have their fingerprints taken. Admittedly, my background is mostly tech startups, but even friends who worked at big-ish companies (Didata, CS Holdings, &c.) have never mentioned it. Credit history is a mostly used as a poor indication that you won't be tempted to sell company or user private information. It might also be an indicator of poor judgement or other bad traits, I guess. I think only one company ever asked this of me, and they were certainly the most backward of those I interviewed at. Basically, companies are trying to avoid hiring bad people. Whether it's because they've bought into the "it is impossible to fire anyone" story or not, it is costly in terms of time and wasted effort and disruption. And, generalising from an admittedly small sample size, I'd say they're not as good or as introspective about how they hire as the few (admittedly really good) US companies I'm familiar with.
  - instakill 15y ago
    As another South African, I've actually heard of cases where people have taken companies to task for being passed over based on certain characteristics (like sexual orientation etc.) The acronym CCMA is thrown around a lot depending on whose conversations you listen to.
  - lancewiggs 15y ago
seanp2k2 15y ago
Mad respect for you, sir. I really feel like you did the right thing, and I hope the HR people there (and in the rest of our industry) get straightened out quick. P.S. I would have done the exact same thing as the two hires. I probably would have recorded it on video and remained silent until you were done. EDIT: boo for not disclosing clearly, in bold, at the top of your article that this is a fictional piece. Orig. comment left intact above.
- jeremyarussell 15y ago
  You didn't send him an email saying thanks. Edit: (I did, to my embarrassment)

I am not now, nor will I ever be, an employee of a company that compels a Director of Development to follow HR edicts about hiring practices without mutually respectful consultation.

wdewind 15y ago

So this is more of a "expect this type of stuff to happen if this becomes the norm" deal? Either way, interesting read and gave me some stuff to think about, as usual. Thanks.

eshrews 15y ago
Yes, he confirms further down in the comments that this is a fictional story.
- doktrin 15y ago
  I wish he had made this more clear in the actual original post. Unless I'm missing something, there was no indication of this being a parable. As it stands, I had already scanned his resume to mentally blacklist his most recent employer. The massive google flamewar that occupies the top 1/3rd of this page notwithstanding, burying the true nature the article deep in the HN comments isn't really the best practice.
  - unreal37 15y ago
    I had figured out about half way through that the story was fictional. It wasn't explicit, but it was subtle. Who's going to write a resignation letter like that? No one.
- seanp2k2 15y ago
  Boo. Should be disclosed in bold at the top of his article.

mark_integerdsv 15y ago

Oh, this is where the on-topic discussion is. I had to wade through a pretty meaty Google flamewar to get here... I have a question about this Facebook fiasco: what exactly does HR hope to discover and how would they plan to use such intelligence? The reason I ask is that here in South Africa, when applying to a position (from my experience as a business intelligence consultant) I must release HR to check both my credit history as well as submit to having my fingerprints taken by an electronic device which connects to a governmental database and checks my criminal record for any misconduct. Are these checks common place in your part of the world? Can you see anything that HR in South Africa might gain by snooping through Facebook that wouldn't be outweighed by the information already available to them?

nbm 15y ago
Wow, I've never heard of anyone in South Africa with a non-government job being asked to have their fingerprints taken. Admittedly, my background is mostly tech startups, but even friends who worked at big-ish companies (Didata, CS Holdings, &c.) have never mentioned it. Credit history is a mostly used as a poor indication that you won't be tempted to sell company or user private information. It might also be an indicator of poor judgement or other bad traits, I guess. I think only one company ever asked this of me, and they were certainly the most backward of those I interviewed at. Basically, companies are trying to avoid hiring bad people. Whether it's because they've bought into the "it is impossible to fire anyone" story or not, it is costly in terms of time and wasted effort and disruption. And, generalising from an admittedly small sample size, I'd say they're not as good or as introspective about how they hire as the few (admittedly really good) US companies I'm familiar with.
- instakill 15y ago
  As another South African, I've actually heard of cases where people have taken companies to task for being passed over based on certain characteristics (like sexual orientation etc.) The acronym CCMA is thrown around a lot depending on whose conversations you listen to.
- lancewiggs 15y ago

seanp2k2 15y ago

Mad respect for you, sir. I really feel like you did the right thing, and I hope the HR people there (and in the rest of our industry) get straightened out quick. P.S. I would have done the exact same thing as the two hires. I probably would have recorded it on video and remained silent until you were done. EDIT: boo for not disclosing clearly, in bold, at the top of your article that this is a fictional piece. Orig. comment left intact above.

jeremyarussell 15y ago
You didn't send him an email saying thanks. Edit: (I did, to my embarrassment)