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Discussion on: Have you ever seen anyone "fake" their way into a software development position?

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Joe Mainwaring • Edited

Yes.

Reflecting on my last decade in engineering, 1-2% of hires in my orgs have been fakers. I'm using this term somewhat broadly - to me a faker is anyone who is quickly offboarded upon joining a team. It's possible that some of these situations may not be true faking (ex: Got a better job offer after accepting ours) but when you ghost a company (most common behavior) - you can only speculate.

Some examples of what I've seen:

  • Ghosting within days or weeks of joining
  • A stream of absence excuses shortly after joining
  • Ambitious individuals who are simply not ready for that role (engineering lead)