I found myself nodding in agreement with the dating part, but then not nodding so much at the job part.
At least in the programming jobs market, I feel like getting jobs that require 8⁄10 skills, but you only have 5⁄10 skills, is a great way to level yourself up to the 8⁄10 level. In my experience, you level up at a rate that outweighs the firing risk. However, it’s hard to know how unique or not my experience with this is.
That makes sense. I think I didn’t do a good job of expressing how I really feel. I think in most situations what I said here is probably the case:
Then again, a lot of times you just need to send impressive signals in order to get the job, but then once you get it, the job isn’t actually that hard and you can manage it. Or maybe you are in above your head, but you can solve that problem by working a little harder for a few months, ramp up on your skillset, and then you’ll be fine.
And that the risk of getting fired is usually quite low. However, I also sense that a lot of people are… too good at suffering. Something Paul Graham said in How to Do What You Love comes to mind:
Don’t decide too soon. Kids who know early what they want to do seem impressive, as if they got the answer to some math question before the other kids. They have an answer, certainly, but odds are it’s wrong.
A friend of mine who is a quite successful doctor complains constantly about her job. When people applying to medical school ask her for advice, she wants to shake them and yell “Don’t do it!” (But she never does.) How did she get into this fix? In high school she already wanted to be a doctor. And she is so ambitious and determined that she overcame every obstacle along the way—including, unfortunately, not liking it.
Now she has a life chosen for her by a high-school kid.
I think something sorta similar is true with jobs more broadly. Many people can afford to be picky about the things they want in a job, which honest signaling would help with, but instead they default to trying to “win” during the interview by impressing, and making decisions based on prestige and money.
Hm, leaning towards honest signaling as a heuristic (in life) would help with that problem. At the expense of other things though. Does that make it worth it on balance? My impression is yes, but it’s hard to say.
I found myself nodding in agreement with the dating part, but then not nodding so much at the job part.
At least in the programming jobs market, I feel like getting jobs that require 8⁄10 skills, but you only have 5⁄10 skills, is a great way to level yourself up to the 8⁄10 level. In my experience, you level up at a rate that outweighs the firing risk. However, it’s hard to know how unique or not my experience with this is.
That makes sense. I think I didn’t do a good job of expressing how I really feel. I think in most situations what I said here is probably the case:
And that the risk of getting fired is usually quite low. However, I also sense that a lot of people are… too good at suffering. Something Paul Graham said in How to Do What You Love comes to mind:
I think something sorta similar is true with jobs more broadly. Many people can afford to be picky about the things they want in a job, which honest signaling would help with, but instead they default to trying to “win” during the interview by impressing, and making decisions based on prestige and money.
Hm, leaning towards honest signaling as a heuristic (in life) would help with that problem. At the expense of other things though. Does that make it worth it on balance? My impression is yes, but it’s hard to say.