4 ms·

How do you measure "are they cool" without just directly transforming all of your biases and stereotypes about the candidate into a numeric score?

946789987649 3y ago
Have a diverse team and have them also score for cool? Of course a bit of a chicken and egg with hiring the diverse team.
grdgyredb 3y ago
As long as you aren’t illegally discriminating, it’s more important that you avoid hiring shitty people than it is that you eliminate all bias. You can’t single-handedly solve the systemic problem of unequal access to opportunity.
- klyrs 3y ago
  I can't clean the world, but my kitchen is my responsibility.
- TylerE 3y ago
  One bad apple poisons the whole team. It's totally morale destroying.
Aurornis 3y ago
"Cool" isn't a good word to use, but it is important to filter for people who can get along with others. Some candidates can't make it through an interview without being condescending to someone, making snide remarks, being arrogant, trying to start arguments about trivial things, or other negative behaviors. If they're doing this during the interview, you're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. It's going to be 100X worse when you have to deal with that person 5 days a week. Other candidates behave well during interviews but have a history of causing social problems at other companies. It takes some work to uncover these (and, importantly, validate their veracity). Some of the most toxic people I ever worked with were very charming in interviews. They swung from company to company, leaving a trail of unhappy coworkers behind them. They could only get hired into new companies where nobody knew any of their past coworkers, because a simple reference check would reveal how difficult they were to work with. Filtering this behavior out before someone joins the team is very important. Hiring a single socially toxic or subversive person into a team is like dropping a bomb on a healthy team dynamic. You may lose multiple good employees before you figure out what's going on and put together a case for firing the bad apple.
- CobrastanJorji 3y ago
  I completely agree that toxic people destroy teams. I just have no idea how to detect that in an interview. It definitely makes sense to immediately filter out anyone who sets off "this person may be an asshole" vibes, but beyond that, what can you do? Some sort of "probationary let's see if we get along" period would probably be pretty effective, but that's unfair to new hires.
  - quickthrower2 3y ago
    Also culture plays a big part. If asshole behaviour is unacceptable all the way to the top it tends not to happen. Being the only asshole sticks out and if there is a safe way people can complain that helps. Worked at a wide range of cultures on the asshole scale. Being at a zero asshole company is why I will probably life it here even if it hurts TC. Asshole means different things to different people but if someone is power flexing, condescending, aggressive, uses process as a weapon, bullying etc. this is what I mean rather than say straight shooting and direct talk.
  - bruce343434 3y ago
    Probationary periods are pretty much standard in the Netherlands. First month you can leave or get fired for any reason, without delay.
    - CobrastanJorji 3y ago
      Yes, but that's because in the Netherlands, after that period, you cannot fire an employee without cause, and firing for cause requires a sub-district court proceeding. In the US, if someone only reveals that they're a tremendous asshole to months into the role, you just fire them two months into the role.
- geraldhh 3y ago
  > Some of the most toxic people I ever worked with were very charming in interviews this may well be a feature of (social) economics and hence a necessary evil
- 3y ago
th3byrdm4n 3y ago
I think "cool" is synonymous with, "would they be a good fit for your team/culture" ... not a specific type/race/ethnicity/political persuasion... Are they someone that's going to disrupt your team's focus on product and execution. No? Cool.
dzikimarian 3y ago
You put bias next to stereotype like it's the same and taint it with bad connotations. I might have team where talkative person can be good fit. Other teams may consider such trait distracting. You're choosing companion for 8h a day. Nothing wrong with checking culture fit (because that's basically what it is).

946789987649 3y ago

Have a diverse team and have them also score for cool? Of course a bit of a chicken and egg with hiring the diverse team.

grdgyredb 3y ago

As long as you aren’t illegally discriminating, it’s more important that you avoid hiring shitty people than it is that you eliminate all bias. You can’t single-handedly solve the systemic problem of unequal access to opportunity.

klyrs 3y ago
I can't clean the world, but my kitchen is my responsibility.
TylerE 3y ago
One bad apple poisons the whole team. It's totally morale destroying.

Aurornis 3y ago

"Cool" isn't a good word to use, but it is important to filter for people who can get along with others. Some candidates can't make it through an interview without being condescending to someone, making snide remarks, being arrogant, trying to start arguments about trivial things, or other negative behaviors. If they're doing this during the interview, you're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. It's going to be 100X worse when you have to deal with that person 5 days a week. Other candidates behave well during interviews but have a history of causing social problems at other companies. It takes some work to uncover these (and, importantly, validate their veracity). Some of the most toxic people I ever worked with were very charming in interviews. They swung from company to company, leaving a trail of unhappy coworkers behind them. They could only get hired into new companies where nobody knew any of their past coworkers, because a simple reference check would reveal how difficult they were to work with. Filtering this behavior out before someone joins the team is very important. Hiring a single socially toxic or subversive person into a team is like dropping a bomb on a healthy team dynamic. You may lose multiple good employees before you figure out what's going on and put together a case for firing the bad apple.

CobrastanJorji 3y ago
I completely agree that toxic people destroy teams. I just have no idea how to detect that in an interview. It definitely makes sense to immediately filter out anyone who sets off "this person may be an asshole" vibes, but beyond that, what can you do? Some sort of "probationary let's see if we get along" period would probably be pretty effective, but that's unfair to new hires.
- quickthrower2 3y ago
  Also culture plays a big part. If asshole behaviour is unacceptable all the way to the top it tends not to happen. Being the only asshole sticks out and if there is a safe way people can complain that helps. Worked at a wide range of cultures on the asshole scale. Being at a zero asshole company is why I will probably life it here even if it hurts TC. Asshole means different things to different people but if someone is power flexing, condescending, aggressive, uses process as a weapon, bullying etc. this is what I mean rather than say straight shooting and direct talk.
- bruce343434 3y ago
  Probationary periods are pretty much standard in the Netherlands. First month you can leave or get fired for any reason, without delay.
  - CobrastanJorji 3y ago
    Yes, but that's because in the Netherlands, after that period, you cannot fire an employee without cause, and firing for cause requires a sub-district court proceeding. In the US, if someone only reveals that they're a tremendous asshole to months into the role, you just fire them two months into the role.
geraldhh 3y ago
> Some of the most toxic people I ever worked with were very charming in interviews this may well be a feature of (social) economics and hence a necessary evil
3y ago

th3byrdm4n 3y ago

I think "cool" is synonymous with, "would they be a good fit for your team/culture" ... not a specific type/race/ethnicity/political persuasion... Are they someone that's going to disrupt your team's focus on product and execution. No? Cool.

dzikimarian 3y ago

You put bias next to stereotype like it's the same and taint it with bad connotations. I might have team where talkative person can be good fit. Other teams may consider such trait distracting. You're choosing companion for 8h a day. Nothing wrong with checking culture fit (because that's basically what it is).