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Last year, I was contacted out of the blue by an Automattic recruiter who encouraged me to apply for an engineering position there. I was intrigued for a few mi

Last year, I was contacted out of the blue by an Automattic recruiter who encouraged me to apply for an engineering position there. I was intrigued for a few minutes because I recognized the company and knew they did some really terrific open source work once upon a time. But then I regained my senses... I don't have any kind of reputation or extensive proof of accomplishments or character outside of my resume and real-life social circle. Any company that would cold-contact someone like me is 100% dealing with either abnormally low offer acceptance or abnormally high employee turnover, or both. I also remember reading (on Reddit and such) from previous employees that the CEO was best described as "mercurial." There were enough bright waving red flags that I did not bother to respond.

caekislove 2y ago
Heh, like that old joke "I'd never join a club that would have me as a member"!
- vlod 2y ago
  Groucho Marx for those that are interested.
- bityard 2y ago
  Hah, I was literally thinking of that as I was writing the comment.
simanyay 2y ago
If it was a recruiter encouraging you to apply, chances are it was a mass campaign to fill the recruiting pipeline. In my experience that’s how recruiters work and the only thing it indicates is that the company has open roles to fill.
- abirch 2y ago
  Plus the recruiter adds your name to their file and tells future employers that they have x number of great programmers from which to select. You just ++x for the recruiter
FireBeyond 2y ago
Automattic's recruitment process is also... "involved": > Write a thoughtful cover letter, and thorough responses to application questions. I've seen these kind of application questions before. These are not from Automattic but comparable to what I saw from them: "Describe in detail, including the metrics, KPIs and reasoning you used when you launched your previous 0 to 1 product to ensure a good fit to your customer", "Describe in detail the biggest challenge and obstacles you've overcome getting a product to market, including both the technical aspects and business/people components, and be specific about the role you played in making sure these were surmountable" and so on. > a Slack interview This is actually novel and kinda cool, especially when it's one of the primary ways you might communicate day-to-day. > 30-60 minutes Zoom interview > Code Test for engineers - We expect the code test will take no more than a couple of days, and this is done asynchronously over the course of approximately a week That's starting to add up. > Trial "can last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. Most candidates complete the trial while working full-time and we know life is busy" Better check your existing employment contract about moonlighting / outside employment (I am not saying I agree with such restrictions, but given how common they are, maybe this should be called out a little more....)
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  Sounds like canonical.
  - duskwuff 2y ago
    It's not quite as bad. At least A8C doesn't ask you to talk about what grades you got in high school.
    - jasdfwasdf 2y ago
      Canonical accepts my PR's but won't hire because I didn't graduate high school :-)
      - FireBeyond 2y ago
rurp 2y ago
There's a good chance the recruiter was just spamming anyone and everyone they could find. At least 50% of the cold recruiter messages I've gotten have been for roles that had nothing to do with my background.
deleted 2y ago
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neilv 2y ago
Cold outreaches from an employer's recruiters can be from sourcers doing dumb keyword searches. But can also be because your name was put in the hat by someone at the company (either because they know you, or because they saw something you said online).
- bityard 2y ago
  Sure, I've had that happen too. In this case, I didn't know anyone at Automattic.
evantbyrne 2y ago
I've worked for quite a few recognizable organizations and let me say this: Basing hiring decisions on past employers is just plain dumb unless you are looking for someone with extremely niche skills. Earlier in my career, some local jerk told me I hadn't worked with "prestigious" enough institutions to join his startup, despite having the exact skills he needed in a candidate. His startup failed while I, coincidentally, went to work for those "prestigious" organizations he was chasing. It's all very silly.

caekislove 2y ago

Heh, like that old joke "I'd never join a club that would have me as a member"!

vlod 2y ago
Groucho Marx for those that are interested.
bityard 2y ago
Hah, I was literally thinking of that as I was writing the comment.

simanyay 2y ago

If it was a recruiter encouraging you to apply, chances are it was a mass campaign to fill the recruiting pipeline. In my experience that’s how recruiters work and the only thing it indicates is that the company has open roles to fill.

abirch 2y ago
Plus the recruiter adds your name to their file and tells future employers that they have x number of great programmers from which to select. You just ++x for the recruiter

FireBeyond 2y ago

Automattic's recruitment process is also... "involved": > Write a thoughtful cover letter, and thorough responses to application questions. I've seen these kind of application questions before. These are not from Automattic but comparable to what I saw from them: "Describe in detail, including the metrics, KPIs and reasoning you used when you launched your previous 0 to 1 product to ensure a good fit to your customer", "Describe in detail the biggest challenge and obstacles you've overcome getting a product to market, including both the technical aspects and business/people components, and be specific about the role you played in making sure these were surmountable" and so on. > a Slack interview This is actually novel and kinda cool, especially when it's one of the primary ways you might communicate day-to-day. > 30-60 minutes Zoom interview > Code Test for engineers - We expect the code test will take no more than a couple of days, and this is done asynchronously over the course of approximately a week That's starting to add up. > Trial "can last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. Most candidates complete the trial while working full-time and we know life is busy" Better check your existing employment contract about moonlighting / outside employment (I am not saying I agree with such restrictions, but given how common they are, maybe this should be called out a little more....)

throwaway48476 2y ago
Sounds like canonical.
- duskwuff 2y ago
  It's not quite as bad. At least A8C doesn't ask you to talk about what grades you got in high school.
  - jasdfwasdf 2y ago
    Canonical accepts my PR's but won't hire because I didn't graduate high school :-)
    - FireBeyond 2y ago

rurp 2y ago

There's a good chance the recruiter was just spamming anyone and everyone they could find. At least 50% of the cold recruiter messages I've gotten have been for roles that had nothing to do with my background.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

neilv 2y ago

Cold outreaches from an employer's recruiters can be from sourcers doing dumb keyword searches. But can also be because your name was put in the hat by someone at the company (either because they know you, or because they saw something you said online).

bityard 2y ago
Sure, I've had that happen too. In this case, I didn't know anyone at Automattic.

evantbyrne 2y ago

I've worked for quite a few recognizable organizations and let me say this: Basing hiring decisions on past employers is just plain dumb unless you are looking for someone with extremely niche skills. Earlier in my career, some local jerk told me I hadn't worked with "prestigious" enough institutions to join his startup, despite having the exact skills he needed in a candidate. His startup failed while I, coincidentally, went to work for those "prestigious" organizations he was chasing. It's all very silly.