Support NeoGAF

[Mister_Bubbles]

'Talent Acquisition Department'

Lol.

What a tool.

 

[Kuraudo]

Happy Friday!

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Its fake cause anyone with half a brain wouldn't reject such an offer.

There are plenty of reasons someone qualified would reject such an offer. They may prefer working in a different work environment, or find a different place more interesting. I know plenty of software engineers who are awesome at what they specialize in that have skipped offers from certain companies before because they would rather be at a particular place with a particular work culture like Pixar, Google, etc. even if they were out of work at the time. Particularly in a region full of tech companies, if you're really good you'll be able to find an opening somewhere, especially if you have contacts.

So yes, corporate culture is a definite factor in many people's decisions on where to work.

 

[Clott]

All of the big companies that exchange important information usually have disclosure statements at the bottom of their emails to legally protect themselves and the information...I say bullshit!

 

[XiaNaphryz]

'Talent Acquisition Department'

Lol.

What a tool.

The term used is actually pretty close, so that part at least may be accurate:

http://playstationatgdc.eventnewscenter.com/contents/details/682-scea-human-resources

 

[jorma]

i searched sarah macrae sony and google cache gave me a hit on a linkedin profile

 

[XiaNaphryz]

i searched sarah macrae sony and google cache gave me a hit on a linkedin profile

Odd, I don't see her at all in Linkedin, at least one connected with Sony. And I have a bunch of contacts at both Sony and various HR departments at other game companies so I expected some sort of hit given how most recruiters use Linkedin.

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

The term used is actually pretty close, so that part at least may be accurate:

http://playstationatgdc.eventnewscenter.com/contents/details/682-scea-human-resources

Wow... what a cheesy name for a department

 

[surly]

Its fake cause anyone with half a brain wouldn't reject such an offer.

Perhaps he has a full brain. Perhaps he earns a decent salary already. Maybe he has some principles and decided to stand by them. Maybe it's all of the above.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Wow... what a cheesy name for a department

Variants of the name are actually pretty common if you look around enough, i.e. Studio Talent Recruitment, etc.

 

[shinobi602]

"top hacker" lol

Did some research, Koushik is very well known and has a reputation, apparently.

 

[shinobi602]

Its fake cause anyone with half a brain wouldn't reject such an offer.

Except, the guy already has and has had great jobs. Info about hacker mentioned in article below.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/koushik-dutta/5/517/3a5

Koushik Dutta
Chief Executive Officer and Founder at ClockworkMod, LLC
Greater Seattle Area Computer Software

Past Jobs
Sr. Software Engineer at Kiha Software
Consultant at Koushik Dutta
Software Engineer at Enterprise Mobile
Software Engineer at Infospace
Software Engineer at Avanade
Software Engineer at Microsoft

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Except, the guy already has and has had great jobs. Info about hacker mentioned in article below.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/koushik-dutta/5/517/3a5

Neat, he's three degrees away from me. Looks like he has at least 7 recommendations posted from various co-workers and managers.

 

[twofold]

So, the guy runs his own company that is turning over half a million a year and people call him dumb for turning down a job at Sony?

This thread makes no sense.

 

[Clott]

My name is commander Sony and you are my favorite hacker on the Internet.

 

[cuyahoga]

All of the big companies that exchange important information usually have disclosure statements at the bottom of their emails to legally protect themselves and the information...I say bullshit!

Yeah, this is odd, but it seems to check out. Strange that she introduces herself as being from "Sony PlayStation" rather than SCEA, but maybe she's trying to communicate specifically to the guy.

 

[hauton]

Did anyone else notice that his contact email is koushikdutta@hotmail.com... and that's a Gmail screenshot?

Also: odd to censor the first part of the email address, but leave the full name of the recruiter and the "Sarah_McRae" at the top of the Reply.

If this guy is a "top hacker" he really is bad at hiding personal information.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Did anyone else notice that his contact email is koushikdutta@hotmail.com... and that's a Gmail screenshot?

Could be auto-forwarded perhaps? Nothing on his Linkedin, but I likely wouldn't see his contact info there without being a direct contact.

Also, why would a hacker necessarily have to stay incognito? You can see a bunch of hacking related blurbs on his personal blog: http://www.koushikdutta.com/

 

[hauton]

Could be auto-forwarded perhaps? Nothing on his Linkedin, but I likely wouldn't see his contact info there without being a direct contact.

Also, why would a hacker necessarily have to stay incognito? You can see a bunch of hacking related blurbs on his personal blog: http://www.koushikdutta.com/

It's direct from his blog.

And I'm not talking about hiding his own contact info. I'm saying that he half-assed censoring the recruiter's information. Either he's bad at it or he intentionally leaked her name and email address. Dumb if the former, classy move if the latter.

 

[voltron]

What a tool.

If this is legit then why not take the job for a couple years... save a bunch of coin... get some experience and expand your resume... THEN listen to your conscious and quit in a huff (while telling the Internet all about it of course).

 

[Kozak]

There are plenty of reasons someone qualified would reject such an offer. They may prefer working in a different work environment, or find a different place more interesting. I know plenty of software engineers who are awesome at what they specialize in that have skipped offers from certain companies before because they would rather be at a particular place with a particular work culture like Pixar, Google, etc. even if they were out of work at the time. Particularly in a region full of tech companies, if you're really good you'll be able to find an opening somewhere, especially if you have contacts.

So yes, corporate culture is a definite factor in many people's decisions on where to work.

Except this guy is a hacker/blogger. I'd bet a million dollars that his current job isn't as good or exciting as working for Sony... and when you're approached by Sony first, you bet your sweet ass that this job is gonna be good for you.

 

[PumpkinPie]

Maybe it was just a trick? Isn't that how Valve caught that one guy, by offering him a pretend job?

 

[Visualante]

Wow... what a cheesy name for a department

Is it any worse than calling yourself a head hunter and openly admitting you poach staff and graduates from other projects?

 

[perfectchaos007]

If I were to guess....

He already had a job he was not willing to leave, got offered the job at Sony, and knew he wasn't going to take whatever they offered.

And because of this, he decided to share his opinion on an issue he feels strongly about in the letter.


On the other hand, if a job at Sony was well suited for him and he only declined it because of this social issue, then that was stupid

 

[jorma]

Odd, I don't see her at all in Linkedin, at least one connected with Sony. And I have a bunch of contacts at both Sony and various HR departments at other game companies so I expected some sort of hit given how most recruiters use Linkedin.

Yeah, google cache gave me this link
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...cd=2&hl=sv&ct=clnk&gl=se&source=www.google.se

leading to this link:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sarah-mcrae/2/88a/6b3

but i need a login to see the actual profile

also:

Lauren Morris is now Recruiting Coordinator at Sony Computer Entertainment America
5 days ago

Seems that whoever coordinated the recruiting has been replaced.

If I were to guess....

He already had a job he was not willing to leave, got offered the job at Sony, and knew he wasn't going to take whatever they offered.

And because of this, he decided to share his opinion on an issue he feels strongly about in the letter.

Yeah, a very plausible scenario i think.

 

[DXPett1]

Despite how much I love ClockworkMod Recovery and all things CWM I lost some respect for Koushik. Not only am I against GeoHots attitude (seems really immature) but I doubt a offer like the above (legitimate or not) don't often come around and seems iirational to ignore it for some moral high ground (on the internet of all things).

 

[GodfatherX]

Despite how much I love ClockworkMod Recovery and all things CWM I lost some respect for Koushik. Not only am I against GeoHots attitude (seems really immature) but I doubt a offer like the above (legitimate or not) don't often come around and seems iirational to ignore it for some moral high ground (on the internet of all things).

you lost respect for someone because they turned down a job because it contradicts what they feel is ethical?

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Hi I am a Sony Playstation 3 and I'd like you to play my game.

Sincerely Yours,

Sony Playstation 3.

 

[LaserBuddha]

Hi I am a Sony Playstation 3 and I'd like you to play my game.

Sincerely Yours,

Sony Playstation 3.

I think this is a forgery.

Spoiler

PS3 HAS NO GAEMS

 

[itxaka]

So, the guy runs his own company that is turning over half a million a year and people call him dumb for turning down a job at Sony?

This thread makes no sense.

bu bu bu bu the hackerz they are hurting Sony Computer Entertainment©, they are are inherently bad and I don't like them so we should mock them even if they have ethical standards unless companies!

 

[PetriP-TNT]

I think this is a forgery.

Spoiler

PS3 HAS NO GAEMS

I sad a game

 

[BGBW]

She works for "Sony Playstation", eh? Good for her.

Guess that means she has

Spoiler

NO JOB

 

[kamorra]

So, the guy runs his own company that is turning over half a million a year and people call him dumb for turning down a job at Sony?

This thread makes no sense.

Everything went downhill since we lost Dragona.

 

[LM4sure]

Its fake cause anyone with half a brain wouldn't reject such an offer.

lol, right....

I believe this is real.

 

[Kozak]

So, the guy runs his own company that is turning over half a million a year and people call him dumb for turning down a job at Sony?

This thread makes no sense.

Well I obviously did not know this.

 

[Sn4ke_911]

Valve Tried to Trick Half Life 2 Hacker Into Fake Job Interview

 

[MarshMellow96]

Haha, tit for T.A.T.

 

[bathala]

Holy shit, koush. Did a lot things on Android dev side of things.

 

[EricHasNoPull]

People are allowed to turn down jobs and job offers for moral reasons.

Morals are by their nature, subjective affairs.

It doesn't require applause by some here, or your scorn.

But perhaps consider that few people will turn down a job offer for any moral reason.

Yes, I understand his "moral" Choices/decisions, That's why I'm laughing at them.

I also expect someone to laugh at me when I use this opportunity to admit that I've never and will never buy "Big Turk" candy bars due to my boycot towards anything that economically supports the current Turkish government. (True Story) laugh all you want. It's a free country, I did!

 

[nickcv]

I enjoy Sting's solo albums more too.

i actually lol'd when i read this XD

 

[Tacitus_]

To everyone saying he's going to regret doing this, from the man himself (on reddit):

To clear up any confusion, I was not offered a job, just an interview, which I declined out of principle.

For those saying "I'm going to regret being principled", etc. Probably not. Android App sales have been more than good to me. Good, enterprising, devs should never find themselves short of opportunities.

 

[Wolves Evolve]

I don't think I follow.

Nevertheless, its hilarious to see people claiming that he's crazy for turning down a job at Sony. Sony! I remember ten years ago, in the era of Fatbabies, when most gamers were more informed than they are now about the internal workings of companies and knew roughly what its like to work in these places.

Sad to see the endless parade of young flesh thinking that working in the games industry is TEH AWESUM.

 

[staticneuron]

I don't think I follow.

Nevertheless, its hilarious to see people claiming that he's crazy for turning down a job at Sony. Sony! I remember ten years ago, in the era of Fatbabies, when most gamers were more informed than they are now about the internal workings of companies and knew roughly what its like to work in these places.

Sad to see the endless parade of young flesh thinking that working in the games industry is TEH AWESUM.

It is not that he is crazy. It is that he turned down the offer in such a manner. Chances are they didn't want his talents permanently but for a project.

But this doesn't mean I think it is real anyways. " I work for Sony PlayStation" simply sounds like someone is making stuff up here.

 

[Soule]

real or not this thread makes me sad for people hating on someone for having principles and assuming he isn't doing well or couldn't do well without having gone for the interview.

 

[Jinfash]

Old or not, fake or not, that was a pretty solid and professional reply.

 

[test_account]

If he has much experience, then i guess he wont have any problems getting work at different places, so i guess that he wont be in any money problems. And as Tacitus_ mentioned above, he (Koushik Dutta) confirmed that this was "only" for an interview and not a direct job offer. But if he dont want to do this interview or work for Sony (or any other specific company for that matter) due to his principles, i think that it is good that he does what he feels most comfortable with.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

What a tool.

If this is legit then why not take the job for a couple years... save a bunch of coin... get some experience and expand your resume...

Looking at his Linkedin profile, he has plenty of experience and a good resume already. And likely "a bunch of coin" by now as well.

 

[borghe]

if fake - that's sad.

if true - even sadder.

really, /thread right here

real or not this thread makes me sad for people hating on someone for having principles and assuming he isn't doing well or couldn't do well without having gone for the interview.

not so much as hating on him.. more just a facepalm. IF he were friends with geohotz, if there were SOME INTEREST in there for him... I could maybe see some sort of "principles".

but above all, the thing most geohotz fanboys miss in all of this is that sony IS not only within their legal right on this, but according to federal copyright law and the needing to defend your intellectual property, is almost REQUIRED to go after him for infringement just to protect their work under the law. geohotz infringed on their copyrights and they are going after him to protect those copyrights. I fail to see where "principles" come into play there. "I'm not going to work for a company who defends its intellectual properties". Pretty weak ass principle to have (if this is even true).

 

[Chrange]

So, the guy runs his own company that is turning over half a million a year and people call him dumb for turning down a job at Sony?

This thread makes no sense.

But he could work for Sony, duh.

 

[HisshouBuraiKen]

Just think, if he took up the job who would be America's next top hacker?

Hi Thnikkaman,

My company would very much like to have some. Can you please come here at your earliest possible convenience? Feel free to tell us kids to shut up.