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I don't fully dislike this idea-- I think it has some value for both sides-- but it could evolve into backdoor age discrimination (which is what a lot of the st

I don't fully dislike this idea-- I think it has some value for both sides-- but it could evolve into backdoor age discrimination (which is what a lot of the startup "culture" is). Weebly seems to be doing it right-- 66% hire rate, not a competition, everything paid-for, etc.-- but I'd be worried if this caught on. What if companies start instituting 2-month trial periods at submarket rates, and what if that becomes the norm? What if hiring rates of 20% (comparable to in-office interviews, but harmful when contiguous periods are required and vacation time, instead of stray sick days for interviews, must be used)? What if companies delay reimbursement for months, exacerbating the disadvantage of a protracted job search? Or, what if companies use the trial week period not to evaluate work, but for unethical purposes such as doing the sketchier reference checks (e.g. back-channel) that savvy job seekers prevent by using (or faking) time pressure from competing offers? Speaking of which, exactly how is this going to interplay with the (presumably ongoing) job search of the candidate, and the likelihood of offers coming in with tight timeframes? Do people get to move around their trial days to take other interviews? They should have that right. It's an interesting idea, but I can see it going in a really bad direction.

EvanKelly 13y ago
You've obviously thought a lot about hiring practices. Do you think hiring for "culture fit" is always bad or do you think most companies have a poor interpretation of what a "culture fit" is?
- michaelochurch 13y ago
  I think "culture" is a strange word in this sense. Are you talking about whether people drink after hours, or how much autonomy employees have over their project assignments? Some cultural elements are meaningful, some are not, and it's highly subjective. Sometimes, "not a culture fit" means "arrogant asshole". Sometimes, it means "not 23, privileged, white and male". The cultural things I care about, personally, are the ones that affect how I work. I'm a huge fan of open allocation, as you might know from my other posts. I don't care much about making friends. I'll make a couple, if I'm lucky, and that will happen naturally; but I go to work to work, not to be "cool" or find drinking buddies. Also, the chummy culture of the VC-darling hot startups is really superficial. These people act like they have deep friendships because it fills a void and makes the 90-hour weeks bearable, but as soon as a person leaves, he's spoken-of as if he were hanged unto death for some unspeakable crime. Just shows how much real friendship there is in the VC-funded world.

EvanKelly 13y ago

You've obviously thought a lot about hiring practices. Do you think hiring for "culture fit" is always bad or do you think most companies have a poor interpretation of what a "culture fit" is?

michaelochurch 13y ago
I think "culture" is a strange word in this sense. Are you talking about whether people drink after hours, or how much autonomy employees have over their project assignments? Some cultural elements are meaningful, some are not, and it's highly subjective. Sometimes, "not a culture fit" means "arrogant asshole". Sometimes, it means "not 23, privileged, white and male". The cultural things I care about, personally, are the ones that affect how I work. I'm a huge fan of open allocation, as you might know from my other posts. I don't care much about making friends. I'll make a couple, if I'm lucky, and that will happen naturally; but I go to work to work, not to be "cool" or find drinking buddies. Also, the chummy culture of the VC-darling hot startups is really superficial. These people act like they have deep friendships because it fills a void and makes the 90-hour weeks bearable, but as soon as a person leaves, he's spoken-of as if he were hanged unto death for some unspeakable crime. Just shows how much real friendship there is in the VC-funded world.