Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by shaddi 6068 days ago
Fair enough, but I have to agree with the GP. Sure, your average MIT grad may be pretty good, but some of the most talented and impressive people I know come from (decently ranked but not super prestigious) state schools. Hiring from one population is going to lead to homogeneity, and if I were doing the hiring my first cut would be based on proven accomplishments, not school.

In short: no, not everyone is equally skilled, but you're going to miss a lot of gems if you only hire from MIT's peer institutions. I'm sure Dropbox will have no problem finding someone good to fill their position, however, so I guess that isn't such a big concern for them.
1 comments
nixme 6068 days ago
In short: no, not everyone is equally skilled, but you're going to miss a lot of gems if you only hire from MIT's peer institutions.

You are correct, but that doesn't matter. Hiring filters are intentionally excessively restrictive because a bad hire is much worse than losing out on a few good individuals.

Remember that in our industry (and probably others), even a full-day interview tells you very little about a candidate and their ability.

link
amichail 6068 days ago
Is this a form of discrimination? Is it legal?
link
nixme 6068 days ago
Is this a form of discrimination?

It is a form of exclusion based on past education and experience. Are you implying that it is unethical to do so? I say no. Past performance is the best predictor of future performance. Getting accepted into and performing well at a top-tier university is past performance. This will undoubtedly exclude many great candidates. But the reality of hiring is that there's always a time constraint and bad hires are incredibly disastrous to an organization.

Is it legal?

In the United States, it is certainly legal to judge candidates on their education and experience. I'd also wager it's legal just about everywhere. Otherwise, as tsally said, employers would be forced to interview just about anyone that applies for a position.

link
gcheong 6068 days ago
It is a legal form of discrimination.
link
tsally 6068 days ago
As opposed to being forced to interview every candidate who applies?
link