Does this guy not understand that 99% of calls from unknown numbers are spam? If he picks the person who always answers, he's gonna be disappointed when they're spending more time answering spam calls than doing intern work.
this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2025
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Since hiring Bob the amount of phishing has gone up. Bro clicks on everything
No he really doesn't. He has little people to handle the phone for him.
How many spam calls are y'all getting? I get maybe 2-3 per year and that's only if you count telemarketers from phone companies, who I deliberately answer because that's the only way to get cheap phone service in this fucked up economic system.
I literally cannot remember the last time I got an actual spam call from some robot call center pushing a scam.
I don’t know how you achieved this magic, but I’m envious. Just checked and I had seven spam calls yesterday and nine the day before. iOS finally adding call screening has legit changed my life
Might be a local difference since I'm in Finland. There was a period a few years ago where robot spam calls from foreign numbers were pretty common (as in, maybe one every couple of months), but the phone companies implemented some new system to block those and they haven't really been a problem since.
Oh…. Yeah I’m in the US and we’re not about anything that would actually help people
They don’t show up as foreign numbers in the US, just random US numbers. I don’t answer any numbers I don’t recognize anymore.
One of the biggest fails in phone service was the ability to spoof caller ID. Spammers will use prefixes from known cell phone blocks or the same prefix you’re on to make it look more legitimate. The carriers should have also included source number checking too as they shouldn’t be getting an external call from a number that they own.
This is one of the ways I identify spam calls. My cell phone number is from a long way away from where I live now. As far as I know I have no remaining associations with any businesses in the area - certainly none that wouldn't have cause to leave a voicemail - and I know the numbers of my friends and family in the area.
Therefore, if I get a call from an unknown number in that area code and they don't leave a voicemail, they were nearly certainly spam callers. Often even if they do leave a voicemail.
A little while ago I got a call from a number in that area code and they did leave a voicemail, but I haven't been able to figure out what the point was. For the purposes of this anecdote, let's pretend my name is John Smith. The voicemail consisted of the following:
"[Long silence] John? [Another long pause] John ... [One more long pause] Smmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiitthhhhh .... [Final long pause, then disconnect]"
They haven't called back, so I have no idea what they wanted. For the two times saying my first name, I figured they were just a recruiter who thought I had picked up, rather than my voicemail; but the way they stretched out my last name (and said nothing further) was honestly creepy as hell.
We had three categories of spam calls here here: spoofed numbers that appeared local (usually originating from outside the EU), numbers from other EU countries and numbers from third countries.
I believe they fixed spam calls from the spoofed numbers by some kind of technical improvement, the out-of-the-EU calls with blacklists, and the calls from inside the EU (and adjacent countries) by doing a few high profile police raids at the illegal call centers that were doing it and clamping down on the companies that provided service to them. https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/operation-pandora-shuts-down-12-phone-fraud-call-centres
For me, it’s a weekly occurrence. I loathe it, but for practical and personal reasons I have to pick up all calls. Lately, there are calls where you hear, oddly loudly, a keyboard clicking away. Spam call 100%
The most obvious issue with this is that most people aren't (or at least shouldn't be) always available for calls on their personal phones at random times during normal office hours. If you do it this way, you're pretty much pre-selecting for people who don't currently have a job and aren't in school/college.
I won't play phone tag with you
Plays phone tag with you
I appreciated this too! “I’ll play phone tag with you, but only a little bit”
I love posts like this because they’re almost always from out-of-touch dickheads that I would never want to work for anyway. I don’t want to get laid off when you run your company into the ground, asshole.
I don’t know many millennials or younger who answer their cell phone. Most just let it roll to voice mail. If you want to talk to these folks why not just text them.
I mean, when I was hunting for intern level work. I was in classes during normal work hours and worked for the school after. I didn't have the time to take a random call. Don't even have to be millennial to miss his call and without a voice mail I assume it was a wrong number or something. This CEO is just showing how useless CEOs are.
Do people even still set up voice mail these days? I had it turned off for years, I don't want to listen to anyone's voice mail.
I am a millennial and to be honest, I don't really know how voice mail works or I deactivated it years ago. I don't like calling very much, but if I get called I am sure it is something official and I usually answer it. Of course not if it is an international number. I very much prefer E-Mail, but I don't think every millennial doesn't phone. I don't want to generalize for a whole group though, so it might be I am an exemption.
As a millennial I avoid calling whenever I can, but I don't hesitate to pick up if someone calls me.
He had a pretty reasonable response to the backlash, at least.
Honestly more people in high positions need a vibe check every now and then. Rich and powerful people become so insulated and surrounded by yes-men they think their ideas are infallible. As negative as social media is, one of the nice things is it levels the playing field a bit and gets that brutal feedback straight to them.
(Granted the truly narcissistic and arrogant will just brush it off, but for some, it’ll cause them to reflect)
I do think that any time you hire an intern, the only thing you can judge them on is vibes.
I used to be in charge of an intern program, and the thing is that you can't really select based on experience or anything, because they don't really have that. Instead, you end up asking a bunch of personality questions and trying to get a feel for if they'd be a good fit on your team.
Now, do I think "answers the phone" is a good test of that? Probably not. But then again, we used to ask people if they'd rather be a blade of grass or a doorknob, just to see what they'd say.
I guess my point is, if this was for a "real job," I'd be a little more judgy, but for an internship, I've selected people based on wilder things than "did they answer the phone."
Kinda cool that he would call directly. That’s pretty human compared to the usual robot and virtual assistant driven cattle calls. But it’s a bit too old school. he really should just leave a message. Or respond to the email to setup a call.
Because gone are the days that people build their lives around random phone calls. Most of the time, it’s considered rude to even take a call without escaping to some isolated location, especially if others could hear your phone ringing first. And of course if the number is unknown it’s most likely spam.
He either needs a time machine or needs to learn how phone calls work in the 21st century.
Why isn't that guy retired ?
How much more power and wealth does he think he is gonna need before he grabs some fucking pine on the bench and enjoys a lemonade ?
Old people have decided to ruin the world then die laughing leaving the rest of us the mess. What a weak generation of people they have been. Vainglory, greedy, and weak.
Can you imagine working for this guy?
Dude will have a multiple volume encyclopedia of things in his brain which he assumes you will know, even when he hasn't communicated them to you.
The man has a point about interviewing for an intern based on personality, instead of experience or company bootlicking.
But the rest comes straight out of the looney bin.
I don't think this is that bad.
A bit unorthodox, and old school, but unorthodox interviews aren't bad and neither are phone interviews.
The problem is that he didn't provide a number for people to add to their safe-callers list, so that they know it isn't spam when he calls.
Also, depending on the position, he needs to make sure that the call is not going to be in the middle of important meetings. He presumably doesn't want to hire people who take calls in the middle of client negotiations
I downvoted you because I think it is "that bad" but then you made some good points at the end so I removed my downvote.
Ok Grandpa, let's get you into retirement.
Why not leave a voicemail? "Please leave your message, name and number and I'll call you back" has been the standard for as long as I know.
He couldn't figure out how to 19 years ago and has just been pretending it's some sort of compatibility test ever since.
Leave a message, asshole!
If you don't leave a voicemail, I didn't want to talk to you anyway.
What is NDs?
Neuro-Divergent
Do any of you honestly believe it’s unfair to call someone who applied for the job over email? They left their contact information didn’t they? If 6 people want a job and only 1 answers their dam phone…lol, lmao even
I hate answering the phone as much as anyone else but I always answer the random numbers when I’m actually expecting a call from work or a doctor.
LinkedIn is a fucking joke but anyone genuinely outraged by this is being absurd
In actually professional interview settings, phone calls are scheduled in advance via email. Additionally, while it is ok but kind of weird for the person to call unscheduled, it is
- Weird and unprofessional to not leave a voicemail
- Completely out of touch to expect people to answer unknown numbers when they're not expecting some weirdo to call without scheduling when the norm is to schedule
- Completely out of touch to assume they have nothing going on and can even answer the phone the 2 random points in time you decide to call
Scheduling a phone call is fine. Leaving a message is fine. Doing neither and getting upset that the candidate may have simply not been available when you called is not.
My only gripe is not leaving a voicemail. Canadidates are not receptionists, so making assumptions of people based on not answering two random calls through the day is not really a good way to recruit talent.
I'm not that old but I'll answer every call when I can, I'll call back if you leave your number to my VM, I make it a point to follow up if you reach out,. However I might be on the train, driving, in the shower and can't answer. Or, I could be having real life fun or doing real life work where I don't have to constantly be monitoring my phone or looking at LinkedIn HR-AI slop.
not even a job, an internship