Do You Tell a Job Candidate How Badly They Did? 702
skelter asks: "I have been lamenting with friends in the industry about interviewing woes and the candidates that we find. Consider a hypothetical job candidate comes in after some how making it through screening. In the team technical interview they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that not only is he (or she) not as adequate as he thinks he is, but has demonstrated that he is a danger to any code base. Do you tell them? Quietly step away, usher them out and say nothing? Play with them on the whiteboard the way your cat plays with injured mice? Should you leave them as their own warning to others? Is there any obligation to guide them to gaining real experience? Can you give them any advice or is it all liability?"
Just... (Score:5, Funny)
Scream something random to people in the next room at unpredictable intervals.
By the time the interview's over, a callback will be the last thing they're wondering about.
Depends on the situation (Score:5, Funny)
That said, I think in many circumstances, it can be a good thing to explain to somebody why they didn't get the gig. If they undertake a course of self improvement, they could potentially apply for a different position in a few years and prove a really valuable asset. Before I left my last job, there was a huge amount of bitterness related to internal job applications for position transfers. People would be rejected with no idea why. It was killing morale. I don't know if they ever improved the situation, but it would have been really easy to say,
"Look, Suzie Q, when we open up to public applications, most of the people applying for this type of position have qualifications X,Y, and Z in these amounts. You only have X, and only in this amount. So, it's not personal, but I think we are going to keep looking. If you really want to move into this position, we really think that only A and not B will be the best route to getting Y and Z."
Instead, with really vague requirements, people thought they were perfectly qualified, and had no idea how to get better-qualified. They also thought that it was just a matter of personal grudges.
With external applicants, I think it is less important, but it doesn't usually hurt. I suppose you might consider it valuable to keep some of the stunning idiots in the industry in hopes that they will work with your competitors. But, you may eventually work with them too. And, you will have to maintain their code. Probably safer for everybody just to point out to them how clueless they are.
And, when I'm away from my day job, I do theater stuff. I was recently involved in some auditions to expand an improv troupe I am in. Not everybody got individual commentary, but the folks dismissed in the first round did at least get a general explanation. Everybody who made it past the first cut got an explanation of what impressed the director, and what he thought they could most work on - both the folks who made it and those who didn't. Personally, I wish we could have taken a little more time to offer personal advice to some of the folks in the first round. I would have liked suggesting that the hot chicks take classes that I can sit in on and watch them learn. Especially one blonde. I tried to convince the director that she should join the troupe and just not be allowed to say anything. I would have been cool with that.
Uhhh.... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Mum's the word. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:3, Funny)
Rejecting failed applicants? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:As someone who is searching/interviewing now... (Score:2, Funny)
Best regards,
Lois, file this under recycling please.
Re:Depends on the situation (Score:2, Funny)
from insightful to offtopic in 3 paragraphs
Re:Not a word! (Score:5, Funny)
That guy went on to get a Nobel Prize for the said research in 2005 and now he opens his talks by showing the "fuckoff" rejection letter...
Luckily for the idiot that wrote the letter, Dr. Marshall magnanimously blacks out the name and the sig!
The lesson here is: be nice to "insecure geeks."
Re:At least be somewhat diplomatic about it. (Score:2, Funny)
I think I know the agency you're talking about. Is it that one with all the worthless, low-life scumbags? Oh wait, that's just about all of them.
It's okay, I'm not bitter.
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Discrimination? (Score:5, Funny)
How's that?
I'm over 60, and I've been in IT since the late '70s.
I have less than 6 years of experience.
(between naps, lunch, and endless meetings)
Re:YES!!! (Score:3, Funny)
Tiny little things...
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:3, Funny)
So you are saying Eskimo Pie is like a nigger pie?
Me:"Mmm, Eskimo Pie!!"
Native Alaskan-American: "Lets get him!!!"
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:5, Funny)
(you're welcome)
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:3, Funny)
Interviewee: "Oh, yeah, well... I read slashdot religously."
So naturally the correct way to inform them is as an anonymous coward... No company liability.
Re:True Story (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Be kind rewind.... (Score:2, Funny)
I started out doing tech support for an ISP at $8.25/hr. Of course, this was 13 years ago.
Hmm...flip burgers or spend 8 hours a day telling retirees how to double click? Not an easy choice there.
Re:Honesty would help (Score:3, Funny)
Candidate Danger vs. Management Danger (Score:3, Funny)
I'm currently working for a company I interviewed for out of desperation. I really needed a job close to home, as I was about to have a baby. The job was mine, easily, based on my skillset and their desperation for someone to 'bail them out'. After 6 months of doing basically nothing productive at this company, I find myself, on a daily basis, watching my manager, errrr "DIRECTOR!" [don't steal his rank from him!] tearing this company to shreds with his empty promises and lack of self control.
"My cock is HUGE! And behold as I whip it out, and write magnificent code! I will solve all of your problems with one swift stroke!"
This poor COBOL bastard couldn't tell me the difference between preceding-sibling and ancestor-or-self, let alone the difference between a private or public var, yet, this fuckmonkey is in charge of this small family-owned statistics business. Ridiculous.
"I am the Bratt and you shall beat On me with your baseball bat!"
Re:Be kind rewind.... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:3, Funny)
Torben
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:1, Funny)
RE: Application post z6334-1207 - Galactic Emperor
Thank you for your interest in this position. We are sorry to inform you that you have been unsuccessful in your application. It was felt that your previous experience as the Assistant Clerk for Staples and Miscellaneous Objects for the General Services Department of Polk County, Iowa, fell short of the standard required for this position. We suggest you may wish to apply for the vacant Senatorial position on Naboo.
Yours sincerely,
Valorum, Chancellor of the Republic
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Depends how much of a dick you are... (Score:1, Funny)