We only hire the trendiest

Re:We only hire the trendiest by rntz on Monday March 21, 2016 @01:30PM (#11329891)

A big long list of relevant but subjective traits is a perfect vector for bias to creep in. Take what you call "poker face", for example - how do you measure openness? By how well they make small talk? What if they're just nervous because of the interview; what if they experience social anxiety; or what if they're just an introvert, and don't tend to be open around new people?

For a less trivial example, take "resourcefulness". To a large extent, resourcefulness is determined by access to resources. Continued learning after college takes more than curiosity: it takes a bunch of free time to burn on reading, hacking, debugging, etc. What if the interviewee has been spending their time outside of work raising a family instead?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by grandalf on Monday March 21, 2016 @01:54PM (#11330114)

I agree about the possibility of bias creeping in. On the other hand, humans are biased, so understanding how to hire for success within your own (or your organization's) biases is useful. Some people would want the opposite candidate to the one I described.

Resourcefulness is more of a mindset. New parent? OK, what have you discovered about childrearing that you didn't anticipate? What will you do differently next time? What is your ideal work/life balance? These are all relevant things, and sometimes the young parent is a superb hire and may read very interesting books in anticipation of having more time to hack in a couple of years.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by nommm-nommm on Monday March 21, 2016 @05:00PM (#11331990)

> New parent? OK, what have you discovered about childrearing that you didn't anticipate? What will you do differently next time?

These are extremely inappropriate questions for a job interview.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by grandalf on Monday March 21, 2016 @06:34PM (#11332737)

I would not ask those things, my point was that whatever a person is focused on can indicate the characteristics I mentioned. Obviously some things are personal and cannot be asked about, but may be volunteered by an applicant.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by rmc on Tuesday March 22, 2016 @06:36AM (#11335537)

But if that topic is verboten in the job interview then you cannot learn anything from it. You cannot hope or expect people to volunteer it

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by nommm-nommm on Monday March 21, 2016 @06:58PM (#11332884)

Why give a question you wouldn't ask as an example?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by emcq on Monday March 21, 2016 @04:10PM (#11331465)

FYI asking people what they do outside work is often a big HR no-no because it can easily fall into illegal but accidental discriminatory questions that are unrelated to the job which can be unnecessary PR and legal risks for your company.

I like the attributes you're probing but I'd keep it within the context of engineering and programming if that's what you're hiring for. That's part of the reason open source and github projects are such strong signals in hiring.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by grandalf on Monday March 21, 2016 @04:28PM (#11331647)

True. I typically ask about technology related interests.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by rmc on Tuesday March 22, 2016 @06:35AM (#11335533)

Yikes! Asking about what they've learned as a parent is walking yourself into a nice big lawsuit. Don't do it!

There is essentially no way to you can ask or solicit for information about their family status. Don't even go there.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by nommm-nommm on Wednesday March 23, 2016 @02:28AM (#11342523)

Not only a lawsuit it's just totally inappropriate, invasive, and rude.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:We only hire the trendiest by rmc on Wednesday March 23, 2016 @09:29AM (#11344186)

That's true. But companies tend to listen when you say "If you do that, the person will sue you and win!"

[ Parent | on HN ]