this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I agree with the content of this post, but it seems like pure complaining rather than programmer humour, so I downvoted it for not suiting the community.

Mods, what are you doing letting this on here?

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 26 points 6 days ago

What about us resonated with you?

Your offer to pay me.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I actually kinda agree with both here.

It sucks working with someone who is utterly disinterested in the work, if it's anything above rote work.
Asking the candidate what they found interesting about it is at least a basically fine idea. If they can't answer when you ask, that actually is kinda concerning.
Big difference between asking and expecting them to volunteer the information.

At the same time, if the people interviewing you can't even pretend to show basic conversational courtesy by asking some basic "what do you do for fun" style questions or anything that shows they're gonna be interested in the person they're looking to work with, that's a major concern.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 18 points 6 days ago (3 children)

I disagree because most people are applying for everything. So many people are putting in dozens of applications a day. "What resonated with you" is the fact that they're hiring at all. You can learn to love a job and find satisfaction in the work even if the company didn't "resonate" with you.

[–] Necroscope0@lemm.ee 13 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Right? What resonated? Well it mostly the need to not starve to death and have a roof over my head. What about you?

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

Sure. I wouldn't disqualify someone for being ambivalent towards what we're working on, but the person who seems interested is gonna be better to work with.

Likewise when looking for a place to work, if the tangibles are equivalent I'll prefer the place with better intangibles.

I'm not in HR or management, so I don't care about cost effectiveness or productivity beyond "not screwing me over". From that perspective, it's generally nicer to work with someone who finds it interesting than with someone who doesn't.

There's no point asking "why do you want to work here", because the answer is obviously a combination of money and benefits, and how food and healthcare keeps you from being dead.
I can't fault an interviewer who's clearly trying not to ask the obvious question and instead actually ask how the candidate feels about the work instead of disqualifying them for not volunteering the right answer.

It's not unreasonable for an employer to ask a candidate how they feel about the work anymore than it's unreasonable for the candidate to ask about the working environment.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Researchable before going there

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 4 points 6 days ago

So is my resume but they don't read it before the interview.

[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 234 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Comfort hunter is a very snobbish and entitled way to refer to someone offering their time and effort to you.

And wait, was the 2nd post 'liked' by the first poster?

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 56 points 1 week ago (2 children)

That means that the HR account thinks what the employee account wrote is bad, too. Both posts are bad extremes.

As an employee, if i find a prospective colleague who doesn’t ask about what they’re supposed to be doing at all, I’d be wary of them, too.

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 53 points 1 week ago (20 children)

To many people nowadays, the actual job itself doesn't matter, it's the fact that it's a job and it pays.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 64 points 1 week ago

Not even a new thing either. Barely any jobs are done because people want to do specific types of work, and those jobs tend to be severely underpaid (teaching, social services).

People didn't flock to factories in the 60s and 70s because they wanted to work in a factory, they wanted the pay and benefits. Same for office work today.

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[–] Ptsf@lemmy.world 46 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Let us not forget that there is not a single employer on the planet who would willingly hire and pay someone more for their time than that person's time is worth. Each employee of a company is making that company money. They deserve comfort because they are the company.

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[–] BrotherL0v3@lemmy.world 135 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Jesus Christ, yes, I am a comfort hunter. You think I get up at the ass crack of dawn every day for fun? You think I want to push buttons on a computer all day because I'm just weirdly into it?

No! I do this shit because I have to!

Fucking hell. I've already accepted that I have to make your company money if I want to live in a house. For the love of all that is good in this world, PLEASE do not make me pretend to like it. I'm already weirded out that you're so into it.

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[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 107 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I've never understood why the HR people always see "not asking questions about the company" or "not demonstrating knowledge about the company" as such a red flag.

People are looking for a job, not a cult to join.

[–] MysticKetchup@lemmy.world 62 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They want cultists though. Easier to exploit

[–] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 34 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Once I did an online interview process were they had a whole video and slideshow explaining about the company history and culture and the employees were saying about how it was a position for people who "truly believed in the mission of the company".

And then they had a quiz about it.
They truly want a cult. Fuck em.

[–] Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I worked at Asus as a software developer for a while, had ti do a whole ass course on the history of the company. With unskippable videos and a questionnaire after as well. Pretty sure that took the better part of a day.

I only worked on the internal systems that really don't have anything to do with the actual products Asus makes.

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[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Not to mention, they could already be familiar with the company.

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yeah... I'm not gonna be asking the stuff I already found answers to via an internet search.

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[–] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 61 points 1 week ago (1 children)

real nObOdY wAnTs To WoRk vibes...

also, if a candidate is having to ask what you're bringing to the table as an employer at their own job interview because you couldn't be up-front enough about it to post it on the hiring page, then that's already enough of a red flag that i already closed the tab

[–] bus_factor@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago (4 children)

There are more things you could ask about even if the job description is good, though.

As a software engineer I like to ask questions about the team dynamic. I'm not interested in working with a bunch of bros, so having some diversity in the team is good.

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[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 59 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Let's stop mincing words here.

You want me because I have a particular set of skills that you think will be helpful to you in your pursuit of profit.

I want your job because I can leverage the skills I have for money and benefits that will provide food, and shelter.

Your main concerns are profits.

My main concerns are survival.

Employment is where these things meet in the middle. Let's not pretend that we're here because we're friends. We are not family. Fuck you, pay me.

[–] CatDogL0ver@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, many companies don't care about PR anymore. In the past, some would try to appear "we are family" to retain employees. Now it is everyone for themselves.

some would try to appear “we are family” to retain employees

Nope. Rule of acquisition 111. They claim that everyone is part of a happy family because family is easiest to exploit.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 20 points 1 week ago

Short version. My boss pays me enough so I don't quit, and I work hard enough so he doesn't fire me.

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 42 points 1 week ago (1 children)

HOW DARE YOU ASK FOR COMFORT IN YOUR ONLY ONE LIFE???!!

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[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You can buy loyalty. Give someone a high paying 3-year contract and they'll probably work to the end of it. But of course HR doesn't want to hear that.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Shocked Pikachu

People will work FOR MONEY!??!

  • every HR team ever.
[–] UpperBroccoli@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Ours tried to explain to project leaders that employees are not mostly interested in their salary, but in praise. That went over well.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 days ago

As someone who works for a living: praise is nice, but pay is required.

... Fuck you, pay me.

[–] Buelldozer@lemmy.today 23 points 1 week ago (5 children)

If HR isn't asking candidates about themselves as a person, or is only asking generic "Tell me about yourself" kinds of questions, then **they are doing it wrong. **

On the other side if a candidate doesn't have any questions about their future work environment, not just the role they applied for, then they too are doing it wrong. A candidate should care about whether they would fit into an environment / culture.

At its core employment is a relationship and both sides should treat it that way.

[–] Sc00ter@lemm.ee 24 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Not in HR, but am involved in the hiring process. We are not allowed to ask personal questions. Cant talk about family or personal background. If i ask a question about someones family and they tell me they have 5 kids, and they dont get the job because we found a better candidate, they have a clear and obvious path to file a discrimination case.

"I didnt get hired because they knew i had 5 kids and they assumed I wouldn't be able to dedicate time to the company yada yada."

" i told them that my religion was xyz and they knew my religious holidays dont align with their holiday schedule and they didnt hire me because they didnt want to make new policy to allow me my time and give me my protected right to religion"

Its just easier to not

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[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

It's either a business relation on both sides or it's a personal relation on both sides.

I was in Tech in Europe through the transition from when employees were people and the company was loyal to them and expected loyalty to the company in return (the age of lifetime employment), to the world we live in now were employees are "human resources", and for a great part of that period there was this thing were most employers expected employees to stay with the company whilst the company needed them and be dedicated to the company, whilst in return they treated employees as a business relationship with (in Tech) some manipulative "fake friendship" stuff thrown in (the ultimate examples: company paid pizza dinner when people stay working on a project till late, or the yearly company party, rather than, you know, paying people better or sizing the team to fit the work that needs to be done rather than relying on unpaid overwork) - still today we see this kind of shit very obviously and very purposefully done in places like Google.

Of course the "humour" part here is that plenty of managerial and HR people in companies still expect that employees are loyal to the company even all the while they treat them as disposable cogs who it's fine to exploit without consideration for their feelings or welfare - or going back to the first paragraph of this post: they relate to employees as a business relationship whilst expecting the employees related to the company as a personal relationship (often a "second family").

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[–] RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 20 points 1 week ago

Those all are questions about the company???

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 20 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I care about what work I do. I tend to ask about the project at the end of the technical round.
The HR is not going to hear about that.

I am not interested in the company's history, their mission/vision and other propaganda.
All I need to know about the company is, if they will actually pay me on time for the work I have done and that they are not going-under and defaulting on payments.


And since I do care about the work that I do, it matters to me, what will become of the project after the company gets the worth out of it.
And that is where all big-names fail miserably.

You are selling a smartphone/ laptop/ a cloud connected camera/ any product that uses multiple components with their own use?
At the end of support period, you are to openly distribute the documentation for all components.
That way, a camera out of an old smartphone/laptop won't require reverse engineering to be reused with a Pi or sth.
A monitor screen out of a laptop can be used as another monitor, without having to buy another controller from a shady site (yeah, I call AliExpress, a shady site) and the existing eDP controller can be reused, without requiring an Oscilloscope.
When your web-service goes down, the user can make their own interfacer and use the camera on their personal cloud.

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[–] QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The part about asking what about the company resonates with you is a good interview question provided you hire for the long term. If you hire for a specific project what loyalty are you expecting?

[–] SaltSong@startrek.website 3 points 6 days ago

My loyalty is for sale.

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[–] Zexks@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

He forgot the red flag emoji.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

So can we just be honest and agree to coexist in a state of mutually despising each other?

HR: I'm sorry, that's not our policy.

[–] Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 11 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Once I started burning companies the way they've burned me for years, employment got a lot better.

Fuck me? Nah, fuck you.

you won't get a good referral!

bitch, they won't call you anyway. I gave them my boss's personal cell number(my cousin).

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 4 points 6 days ago

I've been asked for a referral twice in my life. Both times the person the referral was for still worked for me, so I got them to write it and just sent it on.

If somebody wants more money than we pay I won't stand in their way. I also don't care if you get a good employee or not. Shit, I'd write a complete dumb-ass a glowing referral if you're a rival company.

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