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Comment by umeshunni | Hacker News Reader

Uh. I hope this was for a non-technical role. Otherwise, it sounds like a bad idea and best and a torturous thing that filters out a lot of non-native, non-extroverted people.

But then again, that's probably why the environment seems 'fun'

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Being able to communicate empathetically with your coworkers is a core competency for technical workers too. There's a difference between an introvert and an asshole.

Asking people to tell their "life story" in a job interview seems like a sign of boundary issues, not empathy. An empathetic person would realize that people come to job interviews expecting to talk about their professional experience, so it isn't the appropriate environment to ask such an invasive question.

You choose what to talk about and what to share. It's open ended to give you the ability to share as much as you're comfortable with. You can tell the story of your career, no need to get any more personal unless you want to.

You've interviewed at places that didn't require you to talk about yourself?

Just because Shopify might name it something specific, doesn't mean it's all that unique. Some companies hold this potion entirely on a first/second phone call, others might having an initial section of the interview dedicated to talking about yourself and your experience.

Not sure how this weeds out non-native or non-extroverted people, both of whom are very capable of talking about their experiences. It would be great if you wouldn't infantilize them.

This is a strawman. Nobody is saying that people should not have to talk about themselves in job interviews. What people are saying is that "tell me your life story" comes off as creepy and invasive in a professional context where the parties don't know one another.

Huh? I'm an introvert and I can communicate and actually like interacting with people. But I'll need time for myself to re-charge afterwards. But everyone needs to re-charge somehow.

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