4 ms·

> Weren't these the guys that famously wrote a blog post saying that culture is everything, and that people that come to interviews in suits are automatically d

> Weren't these the guys that famously wrote a blog post saying that culture is everything, and that people that come to interviews in suits are automatically denied? https://web.archive.org/web/20140618142018/http://blog.42floors.com/interviewing-at-a-startup/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140618142018/http://blog.42flo... Not automatically denied. That's only ding #1. You also lose-- ahem don't win-- points for leaving the interview on time, neglecting to bring a fancy gift, and failing to obsessively read the company blog.

bshimmin 11y ago
I think it's terrific that they post things like that so openly. If I were ever going to apply for a job again (and I hope never to), I would definitely read up about the company and read at least some of their blog posts. And if I found a post both so intensely dim and so offensively exclusionary as the one on archive.org that you link, I would immediately know that this was not a company for me. My personal favourite bit is sneering at the guy for saying "you can never overdress for an interview" - I can just imagine the poor candidate sitting there in his suit, feeling horribly out of place amongst these imbeciles, trying desperately to make light of his situation with that remark (it's probably just what I would say myself, in fact) and unwittingly providing more fodder for their asinine blog.
- throwaway128363 11y ago
  I was once in that situation and my life-saver was: "Yeah, I'm a big Leonard Cohen fan". Turned out the team-lead was as well. It got me through the awkward moment, but I didn't get the job.
- jackgavigan 11y ago
  It's interesting that they've removed that post from their blog. I just asked Jason on Twitter why they removed it: https://twitter.com/JackGavigan/status/620915571052412928 https://twitter.com/JackGavigan/status/620915571052412928
  - jackgavigan 11y ago
    His response: "because it was crap" https://twitter.com/jasonfreedman/status/620956827870720000 https://twitter.com/jasonfreedman/status/620956827870720000
    - bshimmin 11y ago
      Now I feel slightly (only slightly) bad for using the word "imbecile".
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
will_hughes 11y ago
I thought you had to be kidding about the gift thing. Does anyone else see that as odd? You're not trying to date the company, nor are you family. Don't get me wrong - being enthusiastic and passionate about your work is important. You don't know these people though - any form of gifting just seems like an opportunity to make things really awkward.
- njloof 11y ago
  Bribery and reducing your net compensation -- what's not for a company to love?
- aplummer 11y ago
  I work at a big corporation, and the stuff he said is literally against the rules. The intro, the gift, how could you give someone of a different culture and from a different area a fair chance if people are getting bonuses for that?
br3w5 11y ago
That blog post could be a metaphor for 42floors foray into the brokerage market - the guy in the suit being 42floors: "it’s totally fine to ask someone before you come into the office what appropriate dress means" = it's totally fine to understand the market before deciding to enter it "He was failing the go-out-for-a-beer test and he didn’t even know it" = they just failed the go-into-a-new-market-beyond-your-means-test Maybe Jason Freedman's lack of humility in the past led him to the idea that led to these lay-offs, and hopefully he now has some humility and focuses on the business not how much of a cliché he can make his startup.
- br3w5 11y ago
  But yeah do remember to check what you should wear/company culture before going to an interview :)
  - michaelt 11y ago
    I remember back in the nineties when tech company culture was a reaction against the stuffy, seemingly irrational dress codes of older companies. The refrain used to be "we want people who can get the job done, who cares if they wear a tee shirt and jeans instead of a suit and tie?" Perhaps we're going full circle and the people who want to tell their employees how to dress are back in charge. But now instead of getting a choice between a button-down shirt in white and one in light blue, the choice is between a tee with a funny picture on it and one with a vendor logo on it :)
scott_s 11y ago
HN submission and discussion on why the attitude expressed in that blog post is harmful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7930430 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7930430
- bshimmin 11y ago
  Thanks for posting that. It led me to the best comment I've ever seen on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7932261 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7932261

bshimmin 11y ago

I think it's terrific that they post things like that so openly. If I were ever going to apply for a job again (and I hope never to), I would definitely read up about the company and read at least some of their blog posts. And if I found a post both so intensely dim and so offensively exclusionary as the one on archive.org that you link, I would immediately know that this was not a company for me. My personal favourite bit is sneering at the guy for saying "you can never overdress for an interview" - I can just imagine the poor candidate sitting there in his suit, feeling horribly out of place amongst these imbeciles, trying desperately to make light of his situation with that remark (it's probably just what I would say myself, in fact) and unwittingly providing more fodder for their asinine blog.

throwaway128363 11y ago
I was once in that situation and my life-saver was: "Yeah, I'm a big Leonard Cohen fan". Turned out the team-lead was as well. It got me through the awkward moment, but I didn't get the job.
jackgavigan 11y ago
It's interesting that they've removed that post from their blog. I just asked Jason on Twitter why they removed it: https://twitter.com/JackGavigan/status/620915571052412928 https://twitter.com/JackGavigan/status/620915571052412928
- jackgavigan 11y ago
  His response: "because it was crap" https://twitter.com/jasonfreedman/status/620956827870720000 https://twitter.com/jasonfreedman/status/620956827870720000
  - bshimmin 11y ago
    Now I feel slightly (only slightly) bad for using the word "imbecile".

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

will_hughes 11y ago

I thought you had to be kidding about the gift thing. Does anyone else see that as odd? You're not trying to date the company, nor are you family. Don't get me wrong - being enthusiastic and passionate about your work is important. You don't know these people though - any form of gifting just seems like an opportunity to make things really awkward.

njloof 11y ago
Bribery and reducing your net compensation -- what's not for a company to love?
aplummer 11y ago
I work at a big corporation, and the stuff he said is literally against the rules. The intro, the gift, how could you give someone of a different culture and from a different area a fair chance if people are getting bonuses for that?

br3w5 11y ago

That blog post could be a metaphor for 42floors foray into the brokerage market - the guy in the suit being 42floors: "it’s totally fine to ask someone before you come into the office what appropriate dress means" = it's totally fine to understand the market before deciding to enter it "He was failing the go-out-for-a-beer test and he didn’t even know it" = they just failed the go-into-a-new-market-beyond-your-means-test Maybe Jason Freedman's lack of humility in the past led him to the idea that led to these lay-offs, and hopefully he now has some humility and focuses on the business not how much of a cliché he can make his startup.

br3w5 11y ago
But yeah do remember to check what you should wear/company culture before going to an interview :)
- michaelt 11y ago
  I remember back in the nineties when tech company culture was a reaction against the stuffy, seemingly irrational dress codes of older companies. The refrain used to be "we want people who can get the job done, who cares if they wear a tee shirt and jeans instead of a suit and tie?" Perhaps we're going full circle and the people who want to tell their employees how to dress are back in charge. But now instead of getting a choice between a button-down shirt in white and one in light blue, the choice is between a tee with a funny picture on it and one with a vendor logo on it :)

scott_s 11y ago

HN submission and discussion on why the attitude expressed in that blog post is harmful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7930430 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7930430

bshimmin 11y ago
Thanks for posting that. It led me to the best comment I've ever seen on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7932261 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7932261