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    Flunking my Anthropic interview again

    (taylor.town)
    369 points surprisetalk | 17 comments | 29 Aug 25 14:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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    kashunstva ◴[29 Aug 25 14:44 UTC] No.45064812[source]▶
    I have no idea to what extent Anthropic or other employers delve into prospective candidates’ blogs; but this strikes me as too much self-disclosure for one’s own good. We all have idiosyncrasies; but calling oneself weird on a now widely published blog article seems like it risks defeating the goal of making oneself an ideal candidate for many job opportunities. Look, many of my own eccentricities have been (net) valuable to be professionally and personally, but it was probably better they be revealed “organically” rather than through a public act of self-disclosure.
    replies(10): >>45064862 #>>45064865 #>>45064983 #>>45065002 #>>45065126 #>>45067111 #>>45068377 #>>45068654 #>>45068754 #>>45071285 #
    1. julianeon ◴[29 Aug 25 14:58 UTC] No.45065002[source]▶
    This is the age of social media. This person has hit the front page of HN twice now. That's a commercially valuable skill.

    At this point, having proved that can do something commercially valuable a couple times now, I think they should run with it. Start a YouTube channel. Keep racking up views. Then, eventually, do partnerships and sponsorships, in addition to collecting AdSense money.

    If you like to write or perform for other people, you can monetize that now. This person is good at it. They should continue.

    replies(5): >>45065021 #>>45065070 #>>45065564 #>>45069019 #>>45070014 #
    2. almostgotcaught ◴[29 Aug 25 14:59 UTC] No.45065021[source]▶
    > This is the age of social media. This person has hit the front page of HN twice now. That's a commercially valuable skill.

    In general yes, wrt HN it's not; literally in this second post he bemoans that the first one didn't pay off for him.

    replies(1): >>45065166 #
    3. dakiol ◴[29 Aug 25 15:03 UTC] No.45065070[source]▶
    You think too much of HN.
    replies(6): >>45065095 #>>45065099 #>>45068732 #>>45070638 #>>45071128 #>>45074198 #
    4. bryanrasmussen ◴[29 Aug 25 15:04 UTC] No.45065095[source]▶
    Surely many of the kinds of companies this guy is applying to think the same?
    5. N_Lens ◴[29 Aug 25 15:05 UTC] No.45065099[source]▶
    As do many employers.
    6. gk1 ◴[29 Aug 25 15:10 UTC] No.45065166[source]▶
    As someone who’s hired many dev advocates, I definitely value the ability to turn mundane topics into posts that hit the HN front page. If they can do this about something as dull as failing interviews, imagine what they’d do with an actually interesting technical topic.
    replies(1): >>45065227 #
    7. majormajor ◴[29 Aug 25 15:14 UTC] No.45065227{3}[source]▶
    Failing interviews is a favorite topic for HN, not a "dull" one; this is not the only person who's made the front page about it, and certainly won't be the last. HN's audience contains a large group that believes "tech interviews are stupid and broken" and this is right up their alley.

    I don't think it is a strong signal of an easy pivot to influencer-as-a-career.

    8. spacebacon ◴[29 Aug 25 15:43 UTC] No.45065564[source]▶
    Influence may be intentionally avoided by managers. Applicant should try the marketing team.
    replies(1): >>45067361 #
    9. raesene9 ◴[29 Aug 25 17:58 UTC] No.45067361[source]▶
    The job they were applying for was DevRel, literally one of the goals of many DevRel roles is getting traction on places like HN
    10. kelnos ◴[29 Aug 25 20:01 UTC] No.45068732[source]▶
    I expect many tech employers also think too much of HN, which is exactly the point being made here.
    11. x3n0ph3n3 ◴[29 Aug 25 20:28 UTC] No.45069019[source]▶
    I would actively avoid hiring someone with a major social media presence. Too risky.
    12. steveklabnik ◴[29 Aug 25 23:45 UTC] No.45070638[source]▶
    People think too much of it but also, somehow, far too little at the same time.
    replies(1): >>45071080 #
    13. mattgreenrocks ◴[30 Aug 25 01:12 UTC] No.45071080{3}[source]▶
    Agree. Tough crowd overall. And tougher comment section.
    replies(1): >>45072836 #
    14. tayo42 ◴[30 Aug 25 01:25 UTC] No.45071128[source]▶
    I had a post here sit at #1 once for a day, I had 200k views from it. I think an ad would have been $2k? Not to bad I think
    replies(1): >>45072166 #
    15. jdlshore ◴[30 Aug 25 05:46 UTC] No.45072166{3}[source]▶
    I’ve hit #1 multiple times. HN views are low-value and non-sticky, IME.
    replies(1): >>45072234 #
    16. tayo42 ◴[30 Aug 25 05:59 UTC] No.45072234{4}[source]▶
    Sure I don't think you'll build a following just here if that's what you mean, but there is an audience. If you have the skill and technical knowledge to have articles hit the front page you will get a decent amount of views. Which is what i think this comment chain is talking about
    17. EliRivers ◴[30 Aug 25 08:05 UTC] No.45072836{4}[source]▶
    Truth. There's a reason that people say to never read the comments section of HN or YouTube.