And more letters

Lots of great questions of late.  Here is a selection:

To do your job well, do you have to lie?

Thanks for asking. This is a very broad question, so I’ll focus on the employee/supervisor relationship.

Personally, I have had the opportunity to work for a couple dozen people in my career, and due to the nature of my work, I have consulted with many dozens (maybe hundreds) of people leaders who are also managers. What I have learned is that there are managers who prefer to hear what they want to hear (regardless of what the “truth” is, and there managers that prefer to hear what I have to say (even if it’s not what they want to hear), and that most managers fall somewhere in between.

That’s not specifically a matter of “doing one’s job well” as you phrase it in your question. Rather, I fine that it’s a precursor to having a job, at all. In other words, I need to determine, in any given situation, what kind of person I am interacting with so that I can determine the best way to interact with them — in order to then move on and get the job done well….or, simply, to move on, if I find the expectation of “don’t mention the emperor’s lack of clothes” too onerous to stomach.

What didn't you realize would be an unintended consequence of working at a top tier tech company like Google or Facebook?

Thanks for asking. While there are many good answers to this question, one thing that struck me when working for “big name” companies is that day to day work at any firm carries with it many of the same joys and challenges regardless of a marquee name. I knew a woman who worked tirelessly to become a master in her field, a name sought out for keynote presentations at conferences in her field, who managed to land a key role at Facebook….who realized within weeks that it contained all the same annoyances that similar roles and much less prestigious companies contained….and, in fact, that BECAUSE of the marquee name, more annoyances were tolerated as “the cost of working for the a famous company.” In other words, if I don’t enjoy my chosen profession, doing it for a famous name doesn’t make it any more pleasant.

Why is failing to send a thank you email after an interview a huge mistake—one that can lose you a job you were about to get? (Article)

Thanks for asking. I am curious why you are asking this question since the article and the follow up article you link to both answer the question, and then answer concerns about the answer.

I can only add a little bit to those answers: Even if most hiring managers, teams, companies don’t expect a thank you email, and even if it doesn’t give a candidate an edge, the fact that some hiring managers, teams or companies like to receive a thank you note means it might help my standing in the process a little.

That being said, I think a thank you note is more effective as a “closing the deal” type note if I am able to add something material to the discussion I have already had, or at least underline the key take aways I hope the interview imparted — and I limit it to people I have met in person, and typically who have a role in the management of the position — and I keep in mind that it can come across as “old school” to use email and send thank you notes in the first place, so if someone has already connected with me on social media, or via sms, I’ll use that medium instead of email (which is a 20th C thing).

What is it like to not be paid for your work?

Thanks for asking. I suspect it ranges from ‘not a problem’ to ‘horrible and with dire consequences’ but what we can say is that according to global data, it is a very common situation: Women, Burdened With Unpaid Labor, Bear Brunt of Global Inequality

When on a job interview, is it advisable for the interviewee to open salary negotiations before the employer does, and why?

Thanks for asking. I don’t find it’s useful to discuss salary in an interview. Few candidates do it and few interviewers are going to bring it up. I find the interview is much better served by figuring out “fit” — do I want this job? or do I want this employee? (depending on which side of the table I am sitting on).

Why do CEOs resign?

Thanks for asking. I find that most CEO resignations happen for the same kinds of reasons that people at other levels in the organization quit.

How do employers narrow down the few candidates they want to interview from the many resumes they receive?

Thanks for asking. There are many steps to the winnowing process, but one of the key pieces, once humans start looking at the details on a resume, is to seek out someone with a history of successfully solving the kinds of business problems a company is trying to solve with the open role in question. Note that in a rapidly evolving industry, this doesn’t mean the ideal candidate has solved EXACTLY the kinds of challenges that the hiring team needs solved. Rather, this means that the candidates whose resumes demonstrate they are likely to be able to make an impact in the role are the ones that typically move forward in the process.

This is not a pure process, of course. Professional and personal connections, biases (both conscious and unconscious), and a large dose of serendipity (sometimes called “luck” but as often as not one might call it “privilege”) can also play an outsized role.

I’m not prepared to succeed on a Jr. Software Dev. job so I’m thinking to suggest to the employer, on interview, to let me learn the technologies for 2 months without asking for salary. Will it be a good idea?

Thanks for asking. I see there is a consensus among the people answering this question that this is a sub optimal approach.

When I have been in this situation, I have adopted half of your approach: I have been frank about what I do and don’t know in terms of skills and experience. This has typically been a good thing. At that point, a potential employer will either acknowledge that everyone takes a while to “get up to speed” in a new role, and that most roles require constant learning throughout the life of a career, and seek to determine whether I have what it takes to be a constant learner……or, they will reveal to me their antiquated views about competency and learning, and decide not to hire me (which, in the long run, is likely a blessing, because if they don’t understand this basic aspect of how the workplace works, they likely have created a counterproductive professional environment where I would not thrive, anyway).

How do I answer the interview question, “What is your motivation for looking right now”?

Thanks for asking. I find the best answer to the question about why I am looking for a new role is to draw from the real reason I am looking for a new role. Note that I am not sharing EVERY aspect of my motivation, but focusing on those factors that will ALSO appeal to a potential employer (things like: the ability to make an impact, the ability to grow, etc). It goes without saying that there are also, inevitably, some additional, “selfish” reasons for the interest in moving (better pay, better boss, etc). But a focus on “I want a shorter commute” is less compelling than a focus on “Because I can solve some of your intractable business challenges.” so, like all interview questions, I prefer to be both honest and use this question as an opportunity to sell my self.

If you get a job offer from Facebook, Amazon and Google, which one would you choose?

Thanks for asking. Having had the opportunity to make this choice, I find the framing of this question to be problematic. It has far less to do with the company name and far more to do with the particular role and the people with whom one interfaces. In other words, I’d choose the offer where the work is most interesting, where the people are most engaging, and secondarily where the geographical location of the work fits best with how I want to construct the rest of my life.

Why should you hire for attitude, train for skill?

Thanks for asking. I hire for attitude rather than simply for skills because new skills can be learned -- in fact, will have to be learned, because the world is always changing -- but attitude can either foster that learning or undermine it.