Feuerfest

Photo by Veronika Valdova: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cemetery-of-fallen-soldiers-and-veterans-930711/

This is a Latin saying commonly translated to "Speak no ill of the dead." And I somewhat agree with that, however, due to a recent event in Germany I realized that I apply this behaviour in a more contextualized way.

But what happened? Ursula Haverbeck died. She was one of Germany's most known holocaust deniers. Despite being born in 1928 and therefore must having experienced - or at least heard of - the horrors first-hand. She must have seen people vanishing at night. Burning shops from "unwanted people" etc.

Yet she denied the holocaust publicly several times - which is a crime punishable by law in Germany. And to prison she went. I think between 3 to 5 times. For a sentence of, in total, 4 years.

Now she is dead at the age of 96.

And of course there are many jokes about her dead, people being generally happy that this mean-spirited woman is gone, etc. and so on. Just the Internet being ... well, The Internet.

Personally I smiled about some remarks or jokes but saw a line crossed when people were proposing to do illegal things to her grave. That's definitely against too many of my personal viewpoints. No matter if you believe in (a/any) god at all, our of which faith you are, a graveyard is sacred ground. A place where the living can meet the dead on a highly personal level. To ease the sorrow of a lost one. Completely disconnected from any religious dogmas or viewpoints - no matter if you share the same faith as the deceased person or not.
Religious arguments aside: Desecrating just one grave affects all people who have a connection to this graveyard. Totally not acceptable.

However there are many people who post comments with "Speak no ill of the dead." in order to ask people to stop making fun of her. And the common reply is: "There is nothing wrong in telling the truth about a dead person."

And I second this. We do not speak well of many people from the history of mankind either. Of course Hitler & Stalin immediately come to mind.
Well, certain people do, of course. But most people will be very determined in what they think of such people.

So, yes. Say anything about a dead person. As long as it is true. But keep in mind to whom you are speaking.

And this is what I realized. When I am at a funeral I won't go to the griefing partner/family-member/whomever and tell this person: "Ah, well you know.. I never really like X anyway." No, you won't. Common courtesy. Not the time nor the place to play games or live your personal vendetta. And if you can't bring yourself to not say anything like this: Be a nice human being and don't show up at all. Sometimes staying away from a funeral you have been invited to already says more than enough.

Maybe you would state that you will still miss this person - despite giving you hard times every now and then. Again focusing on the good. And this should be fine. As usually the bereaved know the character of the deceased very well for themselves.

For me, the saying therefore reads as: "Speak no lie of the dead and mind who you are talking to."

If we can collectively agree on this, than the Internet will be a better place.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki: https://www.pexels.com/photo/professional-man-interviewing-an-applicant-5668863/

I recently read a comment on the /r/linuxadmin subreddit from someone who has developed and commercially runs a tool that helps job applicants in real-time, parallel to their interview. This tool doesn't just transcribe spoken words, which is fine by me. It can also solve coding problems and actively suggest what a candidate should say next to "ace the interview". It can even analyse the video feed to solve coding problems written down on a whiteboard.

This is precisely why I value meeting an applicant in person. Inviting them for a trial day of typical problems and conversations with potential future colleagues. It gives them a clear idea of what it's like to work for the company.

I understand that people can be in dire situations where they really need a job. Still, I do tend to have more sympathy for a person who is open and honest about their knowledge gaps.
However, I also disagree with seeing them as negative per se. Instead, it's a huge bonus when someone is able to say, "I don't know." Especially in such a delicate situation like a job interview.

If a candidate says, "I don't know." I will reply, "Perfect! Then let's iterate together on how you would proceed. Like you've just encountered a new problem at work without further knowledge."
I gain a great deal of insight into a person from their answers to such questions.

At a previous employer, I was interviewing a candidate. This applicant regularly said, "I don't know." This was to be expected. My colleague and I intentionally asked follow-up questions on the answered questions, constantly diving deeper into technical details. We didn't just want to check on the basics. We wanted to know if he understood the concepts and how he plans his work. Company-specific and technical knowledge is something we can teach. Changing how an adult person thinks and approaches problems? This is something we cannot do.

After working in our team for two years, he told us the following: "Right after the interview, I'd called my wife. I told her, "Well, it looks I'm not going to get the job. It feels like I couldn't answer anything." can you imagine how surprised I was when I was invited for a trial day?"

We then explained to him why we interview the way we do, and he added, "In most companies, I was only asked basic questions. And more often than not, there was not one person from the technical department. Not even from the team they were hiring for."

The upshot is that companies need to get their recruitment processes right and not just tick boxes.
If you do the latter, you'll get solutions like those described above.

And I don't think that's a good development for anybody.

I have also learnt to redesign my interviews. I don't want candidates to leave the interview feeling devastated or like they're not good enough. They may not be a good fit for the company and we may have to turn them down for various reasons, but that doesn't mean they're bad at what they do. There are just too many variables that need to come together in order to hire someone.