Comment by dotBen | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dotBen | Hacker News Reader

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Um, yeah if you don't feel the need to take a referral bonus for yourself then why take it in the first place?

I've been a hiring manager in the past. A company uses referral bonuses to incentivize staff to bring in the top talent into the company.

If you are really not motivated by the referral bonus (eg your startup was aquired and you're not short of cash these days) then you shouldn't take it - the start up could use the valuable cash elsewhere. I guess burn isn't a big problem for Facebook, but then to your point in your comment, Facebook is still a big startup isn't it? (is it?)

I also think its poor to offer image on the interview questions/answers (yes, even if they are on a public site somewhere). If I was the hiring manager I would be upset by that as it skews my ability to interview all candidates equally (ie the ones who did see the interview questions and the ones that did not).

I don't think you are coming from a bad place or doing anything under-hand but I think it isn't the right and professional way of obtaining talent.

No offense but I'll let the hiring manager at facebook (not some guy on the 'net) decide whether I should get a referral bonus.

All I'm saying here is that anything I get will go back to the team/applicant.

I'm not sure how that's shady.

I'd take down the glass door link if I could to appease you. Personally, I think it's better that all photo team applicants see it rather than the few that find it through some cursory pre-interview research.

The interview questions link is the reason I upvoted this announcement; they interest me. And for what it's worth, I also find your reasoning for linking to them sensible.

No offense, but if you are going to mention splitting referral bonuses and the like on a public forum, people might make a comment about it - it's the nature of these public forum thingies.

Ditto seeing as we're here to discuss the practices of running startups, among other things

Anyway, I'm sure the realities of working for a BigCo will continue to sink in as time goes on (if you think Facebook is still a startup, keep drinking the koolaid). Congrats on the sale to Facebook, I hope the next few years on the earn out are good for you.

EDIT: I notice you added the comment about the glassdoor link... it's not about appeasing me, it's your team and your employer, do what you like. But I would comment that while the interview Q's are out there, if someone was going to walk into my interview office with them already in their head, I'd like to think it is because they were savvy enough to go find them on their own and not because my staff member pointed the candidate directly to them. Just saying.

dotBen,

Don't you think that people at Facebook are smart enough to figure out if the applicant really knows what he/she is talking about?

An applicant can read the questions from that link but if he/she doesn't understand these algorithms, etc., the interviewers can easily tell the BS.

As with drinking the Kool-Aid, what makes you a better judge than Sam? You seem jaded by your past experiences but that doesn't mean it happens to everybody.

dannyr,

So yes, I'm very sure my friends at Facebook can weed out those who know what they are talking about and those who don't. And yes, if you don't know how to do map the shortest distance on a cube or create a bubble sort method, etc then you are going to come up short regardless of what you have read on a cheat sheet online.

But then, the same logic reasons that it is therefore pointless to direct people to the interview questions before hand, doesn't it?

"As with drinking the Kool-Aid, what makes you a better judge than Sam?"

My koolaid reference was to Sam's perspective that Facebook is still a startup. I don't think it's a case of being 'a better judge' on that one - facebook has over 1000 employees, has professional management, makes acquisitions (like his company) and has a $1bn+ valuation. It's not a startup. (I think they do a great job of encouraging the staff to think it is still a startup)

I'm not jaded by any past, I'm not sure where that conclusion comes from. I do perhaps have, however, some more experience in hiring people (both for startups and for large companies) than Sam does... and maybe you are confusing 'thinking practically' for 'sounded jaded'.

I guess I might sound jaded from my overall snarky tone, but that's just how I am at 1:40am on a Thursday morning. :P

Ah, the eternal question of philosophy, rephrased.

If everyone at a large company think and act as if they are a startup, are they a startup?

I highly doubt that represents all the interview questions likely to be asked. Indeed it seems Facebook know they are out there.

Is splitting the referral bonus dodgy? Well if he hadn't mentioned it sods law says someone would come along and say "what about th referral bonus - you're just pitching to get some extra cash..." or something :) I just read it as him laying a potential issue to rest.

I think we're getting too bogged down in the details here. If a facebook hiring manager has a problem they can email me and I'll fix it.

Is it ok to go past 3 sentences?

Admittedly I went way over, but I thought it may be helpful to the other applicants to know.

The topic is very exciting and I needed to write more :(

Yes, but 3 is preferred.

I also think its poor to offer image on the interview questions/answers (yes, even if they are on a public site somewhere).

Google recruiters send people to Steve Yegg's stuff, which includes links to interview questions (including ones they actually use)

They also tell you to do TopCoder questions, which are also pretty close to the real thing.

Facebook also has their "Puzzles" page, which contains similar information: http://www.facebook.com/careers/#!/careers/puzzles.php

The truth is that with hard-core technical interview questions you can either do them or you can't. They aren't trick questions, just tests of what you can do.

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