On the flip side, while I can’t imagine anything bad coming out of it (it would have to be the most ridiculously inefficient scam in the history of ever), it would still make me somewhat uncomfortable to send a personal resumé and piece of writing to a completely unknown person or organisation.
An anonymous job listing triggers an entire category of red flags that a reasonable person would do well to have.
Direct answer: not personally, and (might be relevant) only in a non-US country. Indirect answer: recruitment agencies do not keep potential employers anonymous.
Indirect answer: recruitment agencies do not keep potential employers anonymous.
They do with their initial adverts (to prevent interested candidates from applying directly to the company and cutting them out of the deal). Obviously once you actually make contact with a potential employer you find out who they are. I imagine the same applies here.
Lesswrong is not a recruitment agency. Posting a job ad here is more akin to spreading word to a broad social network.
Anonymous impersonal job ads here are fairly close to spam. A post mentioning a job by an associated organisation or known individual would be far less so.
Reacting to this specific instance rather than to general principles, I think the advertised job is awesome, and I appreciate it being posted here, as it had a non-negligible chance of making my life more awesome.
I have no strong opinion on the appropriateness of the post. I was merely disagreeing with the claim that “An anonymous job listing triggers an entire category of red flags that a reasonable person would do well to have.”
On the flip side, while I can’t imagine anything bad coming out of it (it would have to be the most ridiculously inefficient scam in the history of ever), it would still make me somewhat uncomfortable to send a personal resumé and piece of writing to a completely unknown person or organisation.
An anonymous job listing triggers an entire category of red flags that a reasonable person would do well to have.
Have you never used a recruitment agency?
Direct answer: not personally, and (might be relevant) only in a non-US country. Indirect answer: recruitment agencies do not keep potential employers anonymous.
They do with their initial adverts (to prevent interested candidates from applying directly to the company and cutting them out of the deal). Obviously once you actually make contact with a potential employer you find out who they are. I imagine the same applies here.
Lesswrong is not a recruitment agency. Posting a job ad here is more akin to spreading word to a broad social network.
Anonymous impersonal job ads here are fairly close to spam. A post mentioning a job by an associated organisation or known individual would be far less so.
Reacting to this specific instance rather than to general principles, I think the advertised job is awesome, and I appreciate it being posted here, as it had a non-negligible chance of making my life more awesome.
Finally, I was already afraid I’m the only one to see it that way.
Though I will admit when I first read that I thought P(Elizer is messing with us) > P(Awesome job opening here).
I have no strong opinion on the appropriateness of the post. I was merely disagreeing with the claim that “An anonymous job listing triggers an entire category of red flags that a reasonable person would do well to have.”
Nor do I come to think of it. I was reacting to the idea that lesswrong is free advertising for a job agency. That would be inappropriate.
True. This doesn’t seem like it would be a concern of SIAI/Eliezer, however.
It’s entirely possible that there is a finders fee. That’s standard practice in my industry.
Using the readership to make money does not make this post less like spam.