5 ms·

> Turned me down in 07 Telling the story now is an interesting historical anecdote, but you probably didn't blog or tweet about it in 2007, right? I can't qui

> Turned me down in 07 Telling the story now is an interesting historical anecdote, but you probably didn't blog or tweet about it in 2007, right? I can't quite understand why Brian Acton was so public about the companies that turned him down. Isn't this bad for him if he's in a job search? Doesn't this send out a negative message (assuming any employer bothered to look)?

a_bonobo 13y ago
You could see it as a badge of honor that Google or another large company, which purportedly hires only the best of the best, deemed you worthy of an interview. The mere fact that you have been considered for a position might raise your standing with potential employers [citation needed].
- kkwok 13y ago
  Doubt that was the reason for him. He was already very established engineering leader at yahoo.
- incision 13y ago
  >"The mere fact that you have been considered for a position might raise your standing with potential employers [citation needed]." Personally, the weeks following my interviews with one of those big players saw me approached by a couple of established start-ups and a major financial company - far more attention than I'd ever received previously.
  - eru 13y ago
    How did the other companies learn about your interview with the big players?
  - tedchs 13y ago
    > established start-up The word you're looking for is "company".
- eru 13y ago
  Nah, Google interviews anyone with a pulse.
  - vog 13y ago
    Related HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7128458 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7128458
    - eru 13y ago
      For me the first contact by their recruiters actually resulted in a job. But the interviews weren't particularly challenging.
- mjn 13y ago
  I see that in academia occasionally. People will semi-publicly mention that they didn't get the job at MIT, which is a kind of roundabout way of advertising that MIT was considering them for a job.
  - chrisBob 13y ago
    In academia interviews are how you get a raise. In a lot of places, the only way to get more money is to say you got the offer elsewhere.
- matwood 13y ago
  Honestly, Google calls me regularly wanting to set up an interview and I'm no one special. I just view it as the market really is getting tight for talent.
  - wavefunction 13y ago
    I'm nothing special and I just got approached for a "principal" position with one of the largest tech companies in the world. The market is tight!
  - mattdeboard 13y ago
    The attitudes about FB & Google were very different in 2007 compared to what they are now.
    - chadillac 13y ago
      Google and/or Facebook were my dream jobs at the time, if not for the work and peers, the bragging rights and resume fodder alone had an appeal. In 07' they were the cream of the crop hotbeds, you had Facebook poaching talent from Goog and both of them poaching talent from Paypal, Yahoo, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. Even the early backers that had left FB had gone on to found things like LinkedIn. It was a case of "if you work here, you're certified as knowing your shit" and "it's not what you know, it's who you know." As said, I was self taught programmer, so for me this was a type of validation which meant the job had more significance for me at the time. If I could make it onto the Facebook staff, I was legit. It took me a lot of hard work and dedication to overcome that mental set back. I think all of us self taught devs have a lingering suspicion we're not good enough, not vetted enough, not seasoned enough, etc. Having a major life goal (@ 22yo) sitting at your doorstep and missing it due to your own shortcomings pretty much brought those back of mind doubts to the forefront and crushed my self worth, for me. Luckily I'm not a "ah well, guess I'll go cry" kind of guy and adhere more to the "oh yeah?! well fuck you too!" attitude and having this happen to mean early in my career did nothing short of light a fire under my ass to be better than I was and better than I think I need to be. The salary offered for the position was about $28k more than I was making at the time and through a lot of self teaching, negotiations, and job jockeying I was making more than that position offered by about $5k within 1 year. Despite all of this, that FB denial still has a tinge of "you suck, give up, go home, raise rabbits or something... you'd be a good ditch digger..." that still sits in the back of my mind reminding me constantly that some goals just aren't achievable... even if I don't want them at this point in my life anyways. /rant
chadillac 13y ago
Nah, I didn't announce it publicly, I was pretty ashamed of it at the time. Most people didn't even know I was up for it and I liked it that way. I'd rather surprise my friends with a "So I'm moving to Palo Alto!" message than a "Dang, apparently I'm not good enough." follow up/pity party.
flinty 13y ago
humblebrag?

a_bonobo 13y ago

You could see it as a badge of honor that Google or another large company, which purportedly hires only the best of the best, deemed you worthy of an interview. The mere fact that you have been considered for a position might raise your standing with potential employers [citation needed].

kkwok 13y ago
Doubt that was the reason for him. He was already very established engineering leader at yahoo.
incision 13y ago
>"The mere fact that you have been considered for a position might raise your standing with potential employers [citation needed]." Personally, the weeks following my interviews with one of those big players saw me approached by a couple of established start-ups and a major financial company - far more attention than I'd ever received previously.
- eru 13y ago
  How did the other companies learn about your interview with the big players?
- tedchs 13y ago
  > established start-up The word you're looking for is "company".
eru 13y ago
Nah, Google interviews anyone with a pulse.
- vog 13y ago
  Related HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7128458 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7128458
  - eru 13y ago
    For me the first contact by their recruiters actually resulted in a job. But the interviews weren't particularly challenging.
mjn 13y ago
I see that in academia occasionally. People will semi-publicly mention that they didn't get the job at MIT, which is a kind of roundabout way of advertising that MIT was considering them for a job.
- chrisBob 13y ago
  In academia interviews are how you get a raise. In a lot of places, the only way to get more money is to say you got the offer elsewhere.
matwood 13y ago
Honestly, Google calls me regularly wanting to set up an interview and I'm no one special. I just view it as the market really is getting tight for talent.
- wavefunction 13y ago
  I'm nothing special and I just got approached for a "principal" position with one of the largest tech companies in the world. The market is tight!
- mattdeboard 13y ago
  The attitudes about FB & Google were very different in 2007 compared to what they are now.
  - chadillac 13y ago
    Google and/or Facebook were my dream jobs at the time, if not for the work and peers, the bragging rights and resume fodder alone had an appeal. In 07' they were the cream of the crop hotbeds, you had Facebook poaching talent from Goog and both of them poaching talent from Paypal, Yahoo, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. Even the early backers that had left FB had gone on to found things like LinkedIn. It was a case of "if you work here, you're certified as knowing your shit" and "it's not what you know, it's who you know." As said, I was self taught programmer, so for me this was a type of validation which meant the job had more significance for me at the time. If I could make it onto the Facebook staff, I was legit. It took me a lot of hard work and dedication to overcome that mental set back. I think all of us self taught devs have a lingering suspicion we're not good enough, not vetted enough, not seasoned enough, etc. Having a major life goal (@ 22yo) sitting at your doorstep and missing it due to your own shortcomings pretty much brought those back of mind doubts to the forefront and crushed my self worth, for me. Luckily I'm not a "ah well, guess I'll go cry" kind of guy and adhere more to the "oh yeah?! well fuck you too!" attitude and having this happen to mean early in my career did nothing short of light a fire under my ass to be better than I was and better than I think I need to be. The salary offered for the position was about $28k more than I was making at the time and through a lot of self teaching, negotiations, and job jockeying I was making more than that position offered by about $5k within 1 year. Despite all of this, that FB denial still has a tinge of "you suck, give up, go home, raise rabbits or something... you'd be a good ditch digger..." that still sits in the back of my mind reminding me constantly that some goals just aren't achievable... even if I don't want them at this point in my life anyways. /rant

chadillac 13y ago

Nah, I didn't announce it publicly, I was pretty ashamed of it at the time. Most people didn't even know I was up for it and I liked it that way. I'd rather surprise my friends with a "So I'm moving to Palo Alto!" message than a "Dang, apparently I'm not good enough." follow up/pity party.

flinty 13y ago

humblebrag?