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In case OP reads this: You didn't do anything wrong. Odds are that "Adam" was a scammer. Perhaps he doesn't know how to code at all and was looking for a job t

In case OP reads this: You didn't do anything wrong. Odds are that "Adam" was a scammer. Perhaps he doesn't know how to code at all and was looking for a job that would hire based on his resume, let him cruise for 2 weeks while "onboarding," let him flail around for 4 weeks, be put on a PIP for 2 more, then fired with severance after getting 8 free weeks of bay-area pay. Or perhaps he does know how to code but was looking for a second job (to do the exact same thing I mentioned above). You didn't do anything wrong. You just dodged a bullet.

johnneville 2y ago
maybe he wanted to the subcontract the work but was looking for a remote job to make that easier. the trigger to him ending the interview could have been the interviewer mentioning the office
ryandrake 2y ago
This guy sounds more like the people we've encountered in our careers who seem to get by entirely on confidence and bullshit. All he needs to do is find one vulnerable company that has a weakness in its hiring chain, nestle in, and schmooze his way as fast as possible to a Director or some other "thought leader" job where he doesn't have to write code. It's a tried and true strategy. Usually the schmoozers don't take such an aggressive route right from the start, but I can see it working on a certain type of company. In the rare chance that "Adam" was, in fact, as good as he said he was, you still dodged a bullet because nobody wants to work with a brilliant, arrogant jerk, no matter how good he is. Someone could have the demonstrated programming skills of Linus Torvalds and John Carmack put together, but if he acts and talks like "Adam" I'm not going to hire him.
humansareok1 2y ago
So he hoped to achieve this by applying to an early stage YC startup with probably under 10 employees??
- pavel_lishin 2y ago
  It sure sounded like he was interviewing at a lot of places. For all we know, at the time of this call, "Adam" was one of those mythical folks who's holding down four jobs at a time, slowly rotating through them as he gets fired.
  - humansareok1 2y ago
    Again it seems that working at an early stage startup where the work culture is notoriously crazy with very clear deliverables would be the last place such a person would want to work.
SPBS 2y ago
but if he was a scammer, "Adam" didn't have to follow up with a vitriol-filled email chain after abruptly hanging up. This felt personal, he genuinely felt wronged because the small startup calling him back for an interview was not begging to get him on because he was the "best Node/React developer in San Francisco by far" just from looking at his GitHub profile alone.
mindcrash 2y ago
> You just dodged a bullet. They dodged a bullet alright, because "Adam" isn't a scammer. He is just incredibly and utterly toxic, and would be extremely damaging to everybody he would be working with and/or for.
- anself 2y ago
  Aren’t “utterly toxic” and “scammer” kinda the same thing? The only difference is the intention, and does that really matter?
  - LoganDark 2y ago
    Not the same thing. A scammer doesn't know how to code. This guy probably knows how to code but has the worst attitude about it.
djaouen 2y ago
Yes, he did something wrong. As soon as he saw the words, "I am the best React developer in SF," he should have known this candidate was a clown. Anyone who says something like that out loud or on paper is not the best anything.
- redsparrow 2y ago
  I worked with a guy who introduced himself by saying "Hi, I'm firstName and I'm the world's best Java programmer." He would say that while shaking your hand and looking you in the eye like an otherwise normal person. I gather he had won some international Java programming competition. Luckily I didn't work with him very much. He was a technical consultant for a customer of ours. He was brought in to hold us to account so he wasn't going to be fun to work with even without the ego...

johnneville 2y ago

maybe he wanted to the subcontract the work but was looking for a remote job to make that easier. the trigger to him ending the interview could have been the interviewer mentioning the office

ryandrake 2y ago

This guy sounds more like the people we've encountered in our careers who seem to get by entirely on confidence and bullshit. All he needs to do is find one vulnerable company that has a weakness in its hiring chain, nestle in, and schmooze his way as fast as possible to a Director or some other "thought leader" job where he doesn't have to write code. It's a tried and true strategy. Usually the schmoozers don't take such an aggressive route right from the start, but I can see it working on a certain type of company. In the rare chance that "Adam" was, in fact, as good as he said he was, you still dodged a bullet because nobody wants to work with a brilliant, arrogant jerk, no matter how good he is. Someone could have the demonstrated programming skills of Linus Torvalds and John Carmack put together, but if he acts and talks like "Adam" I'm not going to hire him.

humansareok1 2y ago

So he hoped to achieve this by applying to an early stage YC startup with probably under 10 employees??

pavel_lishin 2y ago
It sure sounded like he was interviewing at a lot of places. For all we know, at the time of this call, "Adam" was one of those mythical folks who's holding down four jobs at a time, slowly rotating through them as he gets fired.
- humansareok1 2y ago
  Again it seems that working at an early stage startup where the work culture is notoriously crazy with very clear deliverables would be the last place such a person would want to work.

SPBS 2y ago

but if he was a scammer, "Adam" didn't have to follow up with a vitriol-filled email chain after abruptly hanging up. This felt personal, he genuinely felt wronged because the small startup calling him back for an interview was not begging to get him on because he was the "best Node/React developer in San Francisco by far" just from looking at his GitHub profile alone.

mindcrash 2y ago

> You just dodged a bullet. They dodged a bullet alright, because "Adam" isn't a scammer. He is just incredibly and utterly toxic, and would be extremely damaging to everybody he would be working with and/or for.

anself 2y ago
Aren’t “utterly toxic” and “scammer” kinda the same thing? The only difference is the intention, and does that really matter?
- LoganDark 2y ago
  Not the same thing. A scammer doesn't know how to code. This guy probably knows how to code but has the worst attitude about it.

djaouen 2y ago

Yes, he did something wrong. As soon as he saw the words, "I am the best React developer in SF," he should have known this candidate was a clown. Anyone who says something like that out loud or on paper is not the best anything.

redsparrow 2y ago
I worked with a guy who introduced himself by saying "Hi, I'm firstName and I'm the world's best Java programmer." He would say that while shaking your hand and looking you in the eye like an otherwise normal person. I gather he had won some international Java programming competition. Luckily I didn't work with him very much. He was a technical consultant for a customer of ours. He was brought in to hold us to account so he wasn't going to be fun to work with even without the ego...