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> When I read a resume, the very first thing I do is scan the name of the companies you've worked at to see if I recognize any of them as either a place known for great hires or somewhere I've actually worked.

Ughh, as someone who went to a state school and spent most of his career toiling away at non-name brand companies, please allow me a moment to shake my fist angrily at you over the Internet!

You’ve probably already considered this and accept the trade off, but I can’t help but think that these kinds of filters result in many false negatives and contribute to some of the monocultures we find inside tech companies (everyone here is ex-Microsoft, everyone here is from Stanford or MIT, etc.) When building the content for a resume, Shouldn’t the work content be more important than name dropping celebrity companies? Am I being too naive?

Honestly I wish there was a norm of not mentioning specific companies on resumes, letting your actual skills and experiences speak for themselves, but that ship sailed long before I was born.




I don't ever cut anyone because of where they worked or went to school. I'm only looking for a signal in the noise or some common experience for us to discuss.


>I’m only looking for a signal in the noise or some common experience for us to discuss.

That is a strange thing to do on first read for someone who reads a lot of resumes.

You can be honest. Nobody here will be surprised. When you are held responsible for who you hire, it’s logical to defer to heuristics like that. I have never met anyone truly passionate about hiring black swans. I don’t think it is your fault, but this trend is just as common as it is harmful to society as a whole.

>When I read a resume, the very first thing I do is scan the name of the companies you've worked at to see if I recognize any of them...




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