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It is often a great disappointment to people looking for jobs when they figure out that employers just don't care if they miss out on someone. They are trying to avoid a bad hire more than they need to hit a 100% rate identifying all good hires.

(Not to mention, if you cannot perform under stress, that is a negative aspect of your capabilities, and a fair reason to bring in someone who doesn't fail under stress.)



> They are trying to avoid a bad hire more than they need to hit a 100% rate identifying all good hires.

This is absolutely correct.

I mean, sure, hiring great people is hard enough that I hate to miss out on somebody great, but not nearly as much as I hate making a bad hire.

Bad hires cost a lot, and not just directly (cost of hiring, salary, etc.), but in time, stress, and motivation of the people they work with.


I don't like the term 'bad hire' as it grossly simplifies things. I think some companies are better off letting in some types of bad hires to acquire the rock star introverts(some of my best performing co-workers would fail miserably at modern interviews). I'm not saying that hiring a sociopath won't kill your team's productivity. I'm saying hiring someone who doesn't know algorithms won't necessarily kill your team. There is probably grunt work you could pass on to them and actually figure out how to make them work. I don't agree with this modern approach to having a moat around your devs in all cases. The reality is more nuanced




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