Ethics when hiring

Ethics are hard to test for.

But watch for any whiff of less than stellar ethics”

“in any candidate’s background or references.

And avoid, avoid, avoid.

Unethical people are unethical by nature, and the odds of a metaphorical jailhouse conversion are quite low.

Priests, rabbis, and ministers should give people a second chance on ethics — not hiring managers at startups.

‘Nuff said.

One way to test for an aspect of ethics — honesty — is to test for how someone reacts when they don’t know something.

Pick a topic you know intimately and ask the candidate increasingly esoteric questions until they don’t know the answer.

They’ll either say they don’t know, or they’ll try to bullshit you.

Guess what. If they bullshit you during the hiring process, they’ll bullshit you once they’re onboard.

A candidate who is confident in his own capabilities and ethical — the kind you want — will say “I don’t know” because they know that the rest of the interview will demonstrate their knowledge, and they know that you won’t react well to being bullshitted — because they wouldn’t react well either.”

Excerpt From: Marc Andreessen. “The Pmarca Blog Archives.”