I read Technology’s Man Problem in the New York Times this weekend. I thought those days were long gone—but they’re not. Since when is it acceptable to make any comment about anybody’s body part at work? Hello? Are we in the 7th grade? I thought “men” were past that. The gentlemen I know are past […]
When I was a young developer, my employers were hungry for talent. They hired women, as well as men. Of course, my first employer wanted to know what birth control I used, which was an illegal question at the time. I told them so. Fast forward to the 80’s, when I became a hiring manager.
Summary: Hiring is difficult to do well, Johanna Rothman writes in her latest management myth piece. Because everyone who is looking to hire has a job, they think they know how to hire. But it’s not easy. You want to hire the best people you can who fit the team and the organization. “Hi, Tricia,
There are many hiring traps and shortcuts, especially for technical people. Partially that’s because too few HR people know about technical people. But, partially that’s because too many technical people think, “I have a job, I must know what it takes to hire well.” In my most recent management myth, Management Myth 27: We Can
I saw this post on Twitter, The 3 Interview Questions You Should Ask to Instantly Gauge Fit. I got excited. Oh, maybe we do have questions that address cultural fit. No such luck. More stupid irrelevant and hypothetical questions. I am so disappointed. If you are a candidate and an interviewer asks you these questions
Part 1 of this is More Interview Questions Not to Ask, Part 1. There are more questions from Interview Questions: Hiring Experts Reveal Their Favorites. I had mixed feelings about these questions. You need to be a savvy interviewer to pull these off: • Describe an environment in which you would not thrive. • So
While I was on vacation in early January, there were two interviews posted on InfoQ: Ben Linders interviewed Esther Derby, Don Gray, and me about the Change Artistry book. I’m really pleased about the way the interview came out. Thanks, Ben! Back at Agile 2013, Shane Hastie interviewed me. The interview is here. We spoke
I’ve met many managers who were in the wrong position. Sometimes, it was the Peter Principle. Sometimes, it’s managers who have been founders or who have been technically great and got promoted into management positions. Because they are so intelligent, and because they do not read about management, they don’t know or don’t care about
There’s a great post, Please: Stop “Hiring to Cultural Fit”. Laura Bergells explains the problems of what she sees when people supposedly hire for cultural fit: They consider for personality first They consider tech and business skills second If you read this blog on a regular basis, you are shaking your head in disbelief. That’s
When I was a hiring manager, I almost never negotiated the offer I made to candidates. Why? I got to know people during the interviewing. I often asked in the phone screen when I knew I wanted to bring someone in, “The typical salary for this job is this range: x- y. Are we on