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A prime example of the horrors of american corporate culture.
thank-you-note after an interview may seem trivial - it is not. let's analyze
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thank-you-note after an interview may seem trivial - it is not. let's analyze
Thread >>
The interview thank you note (ITYN) is a practice still taught in business schools - as such it serves as a "secret handshake" of the club, yet another way in which corporates aim to hire ppl who "fit in" (in other words, conform)
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ITYN establishes a clear power structure: you are thanking the interviewer for this great opportunity, so perhaps you too will be fortunate enough to work for the glorious and almighty corporation - yes we spent a fortune headhunting you, but lets make sure know your place, ok?
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the ITYN is also a good example of how corps are run by politics: officially you are measured on X but unofficially you failed to suck up to the right ppl so no job for you. or if you did get it, no bonus or no promotion. a shame you didn't bring a gift for Jeff's birthday...
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ITYN is also culturally ignorant and biased - perhaps in corp america tracking down your interviewer email and sending ITYN seems legit, but in other cultures might be considered weird, extremely rude or borderline creepy even.
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The "evidence" mentioned in the article are another fine example for how decisions are made: gut feelings backed by anecdotes and based on profound misunderstanding of bias and statistics. obvious case of survivor bias and confirmation bias but completely ignored.
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Instead, the claim is backed up by titles and badges of seniority: "10 years experience". I fail to see how 10 years of hiring wrong makes a faulty argument any stronger. but in corp, managers know best and the process is always right.
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and underlying it all, the smug lets-pet-ourself-on-the-back mindset ignoring any non-corp reality. assuming baseline corp process is already much better than anything out there and that talent naturally flows to corp, not away
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ofc you only focus on who you *did* hire and not on opportunities lost - amazing ppl you could have hired but didn't because your process isn't good enough. this directly leads to complete lack of interest in minorities, foreigners, etc.
