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Ask HN: I'm a total jerk, would you hire me?

by archivist1 on 1/20/20, 5:17 PM with 15 comments

Here's my portfolio: https://github.com/crislin2046/portfolio

You can see how arrogant and up myself I am.

But I've also clashed with all previous bosses I've had, so clearly, the problem is not them, it's me.

What should I do? Give up? Kill myself (kidding, totally. Jerks never self-harm).

I don't want to give up who I am, but I am the problem. I thought I'd have made my own successful business by now so I wouldn't have to face the situation of being an unemployable, awful jerk, but here I am.

Tell me HN, what do I do?

  • by DanBC on 1/20/20, 5:30 PM

    It depends what you mean by jerk. But no, I probably wouldn't hire someone who is a jerk unless there was no other option and we'd put in place a bunch of controls

    There are two main problems with people who think they're brilliant jerks.

    i) They're jerks

    ii) They're rarely as brilliant as they think they are.

    People have this weird misconception that their work stands alone, independent of them or anyone else, and so it doesn't matter if they're a jerk so long as the work is good. This is wrong. When you're a jerk you lower the quality of other people's work.

    For example, a jerk doctor is less safe than a non-jerk doctor. https://www.civilitysaveslives.com/academic-papers-1 And https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=civility+patient+safe...

    > Tell me HN, what do I do?

    Work out why you're a jerk; work out why you think it's acceptable to be a jerk; work out how to fix it; then fix it.

  • by meiraleal on 1/22/20, 7:30 PM

    Where does your impression of been a jerk come from? You could not find it in your portfolio much less in this (humbly) post.

    Now about the question, without talking about yourself, we see jerks been hired all the time, and not fired, because:

    1. they are brilliant and the tradeoff is worth it 2. they are protected by someone

    the first one is acceptable (as a boss and as a colleague) if it doesn't trespass some limits. The second is always awful.

  • by sandwhichmole on 1/21/20, 4:26 AM

    Given two individuals of identical competence, one a jerk and one not, I contend that the non-jerk is the superior individual. Therefore, by being a jerk, you are being an inferior version of yourself.

  • by netman21 on 1/20/20, 5:50 PM

    The first person I ever fired was a jerk to customers on the phone. He was truly brilliant. We are friends now and he is super successful as a consultant doing mostly data stuff. You will eventually find a place that fits who you are. That might be a cell, but what evs.

  • by mtmail on 1/20/20, 5:22 PM

    Seek profession help if you don't like your own behavior and would like to change it.

  • by arthurcolle on 1/20/20, 5:29 PM

    The links don't link to the original repos. Tried clicking on bepis and it didn't go to the repo.

  • by onreact on 1/20/20, 5:30 PM

    When you're too smart, unique, megalomaniac to get a job you probably need to work for yourself.

    Entrepreneurship is also the better option compared to wage-slavery. Self-employment is somewhere in the middle.

    Try working for yourself and when you succeed headhunters will flock to you anyway.

  • by deanmoriarty on 1/20/20, 11:36 PM

    Can you give a few examples of what you mean by jerk, and how exactly did you clash with your ex bosses?

  • by archivist1 on 1/21/20, 7:12 AM