Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by caio1982 2908 days ago
> What next, psychometric screening?

I did one about 10 years ago, and let me share a funny story. The head of HR was sitting next to me and right after the psychometric test she gave me a blank sheet of paper and told me to draw a human being. I promptly asked (without even considering my question, I was ready to ask the person's gender right next, looking for requirements): with clothes on or naked? She laughed so hard that I thought I had failed and laughed at it too. I got the job, though.

1 comments

That would have been an absolute perfect opportunity to to draw a middle finger and walk out. That sounds like an absolutely idotic application process.

I might have even laughed at the HR person and asked the question "are you fucking serious?"

Agreed. That's beyond the pale and simply unprofessional.
Sounds like you've got a fair bit of experience limiting your own career.
Not really, a company that's employing those tactics is probably one not worth working for. An interview is a two way street, they are interviewing me and I am interviewing them. This would be a huge red flag.
The best companies I've worked for have been the ones who put a lot of effort into making sure they understand who they're hiring. That usually means a lot of weird questions about topics that aren't related to the technical aspects of the job.

My last round of interviews I got the tech side without any issues, but I was subjected to three rounds of the soft skills side because they were concerned my quiet affect might not fit into the team. I did what I was asked and was rewarded with working on a fantastic team that someone had put significant effort into ensuring the personalities meshed well.

Burning a bridge because you thought someone cared too much about the wrong thing is a great way to never get another callback from everyone involved in the process. Recruiters and HR people move around a lot, and have long memories.

I'd rather someone cared too much, than not enough.

I'd happily burn a bridge with someone in HR that expected me to jump through hoops and draw pictures. Those people need to hear the truth, they are bad at their jobs.