4 ms·

Exactly this. He's hiring someone to do account management. The candidate has experience in account management, the rest of the team thought he'd be able to do

by dlss 14y ago

Exactly this. He's hiring someone to do account management. The candidate has experience in account management, the rest of the team thought he'd be able to do it. The autor vetoed hiring for a customer facing position because the candidate spent more time with people than books during college. With the information provided I'm pretty sure the hypothetical alternate hire, who does have a favorite century of literature and who does have favorite poems at the top of his mind turns out to be a worse hire. "Snobs exist. Don't let them make hiring decisions"

LaGrange 14y ago
It's not even that the candidate obviously didn't read stuff. The guy was suddenly grilled about irrelevant crap by some jerk. Having a mind go blank in such a situation isn't exactly unheard of. And then consider, that such a situation already smells hostile, and you might decide to not share. Or, just essentially, not actually be happy about your previous life choice, and not really eager to discuss that with a person you've met for the first time in your life.
- eropple 14y ago
  Figuring out if a candidate is a person, rather than a meat robot, isn't "irrelevant crap." I have noticed a strong correlation between people who don't get jazzed over something--hobbies, academics, whatever--are not people I want to work with. The author's method isn't the only one, but it seems like a reasonable one to me. It isn't "hire somebody who can talk about English." It's "don't hire someone who can't talk about something he (or she) cares about." If the guy's going to be in a sales role, he should at the least be able to pivot the conversation to something interesting that he can talk about.
  - dlss 14y ago
    > Figuring out if a candidate is a person, rather than a meat robot, isn't "irrelevant crap." I have noticed a strong correlation between people who don't get jazzed over something--hobbies, academics, whatever--are not people I want to work with. Do you actually know anyone who doesn't get excited by something? They don't exist. I think what you're perhaps saying is that you prefer working with people who share a passion with you. Makes sense, I also have this preference :) > If the guy's going to be in a sales role, he should at the least be able to pivot the conversation to something interesting that he can talk about. I agree... however if the sales guy really is the sort that couldn't smoothly change topics, why did the rest of the Author's team think he'd be a good fit for the job?

by dlss 14y ago

LaGrange 14y ago

It's not even that the candidate obviously didn't read stuff. The guy was suddenly grilled about irrelevant crap by some jerk. Having a mind go blank in such a situation isn't exactly unheard of. And then consider, that such a situation already smells hostile, and you might decide to not share. Or, just essentially, not actually be happy about your previous life choice, and not really eager to discuss that with a person you've met for the first time in your life.

eropple 14y ago
Figuring out if a candidate is a person, rather than a meat robot, isn't "irrelevant crap." I have noticed a strong correlation between people who don't get jazzed over something--hobbies, academics, whatever--are not people I want to work with. The author's method isn't the only one, but it seems like a reasonable one to me. It isn't "hire somebody who can talk about English." It's "don't hire someone who can't talk about something he (or she) cares about." If the guy's going to be in a sales role, he should at the least be able to pivot the conversation to something interesting that he can talk about.
- dlss 14y ago
  > Figuring out if a candidate is a person, rather than a meat robot, isn't "irrelevant crap." I have noticed a strong correlation between people who don't get jazzed over something--hobbies, academics, whatever--are not people I want to work with. Do you actually know anyone who doesn't get excited by something? They don't exist. I think what you're perhaps saying is that you prefer working with people who share a passion with you. Makes sense, I also have this preference :) > If the guy's going to be in a sales role, he should at the least be able to pivot the conversation to something interesting that he can talk about. I agree... however if the sales guy really is the sort that couldn't smoothly change topics, why did the rest of the Author's team think he'd be a good fit for the job?