Being from the midwest, doing interviews in silicon valley was like stepping into Charlie's Chocolate Factory at a few places in LA and SF. It made me smile to see people using their freedom to do whatever they wanted, but I really felt like -I- was being judged: you know for not wearing skinning jeans, feeling comfortable in my (literal) boots, being clean shaven, dressed in a long sleeve, and of course I have a soft spoken midwestern accent. You can't fake sincerity, and despite knocking the coding interviews out of the park, I felt like some (not all) of the interviewers were threatened by me somehow and mocked me gently with "well you did a really good job despite..." like they were talking to a three year old.
Really left a sour taste in my mouth how it seems the region preaches equality and acceptance, but that's only equality and acceptance of the non-traditional.
TL;DR: It's easy to say "We have a great culture" at your job if you hire hipsters homogeneously. The company I want to work for is color blind: we grow to appreciate each other. People of all walks, western, eastern, european, russian, christian, cat worshipper, whatever, just respect each other believe something different and learn how to communicate across these boundaries.
I thought the common stereotype is that most 'hipsters' are from the midwest? Go to any gentrifying neighborhood on the east or west coast and a common refrain is 'go back to Ohio!'.
That's so funny- I've been living on the west coast for around 6 years now, and I originally hail from Ohio (but mostly Colorado).
But, I'm decidedly not a hipster; no flannel, no beard, no skinny jeans, no boots, the sides of my head aren't shaved. I always had the impression that the hipsters were native to the west coast and it's always felt like I'm encroaching on their territory.
Do you think it could partially be in your head and that all of LA/SF don't actually have a problem with a person with your background? This is not to say it's your fault, but to say that you could have more influence over these situations.
Most of the time people will pick up on someone's anxiety, lack of comfort or confidence, and start feeling uncomfortable in response. It's not really a personal thing, but it's hard for anyone to feel at ease in such situations.
Take two different people who have anxiety due to superficial differences, that wouldn't matter if they knew each other better, and that anxiety will likely magnify unless one person can break out of that mindset.
Definitely not just him. I've seen this behavior play out at companies I've worked at from hiring employees. They code it like, "he didn't seem very passionate or enthusiastic." I take a look at the candidate and they're not dressed super trendily and their hair is kinda plain. But I read their code and it's just as good as any good candidate's. It's bullshit and I recommend anyone who's not seeing it check their "culture fit" criteria.
Being from the midwest, doing interviews in silicon valley was like stepping into Charlie's Chocolate Factory at a few places in LA and SF. It made me smile to see people using their freedom to do whatever they wanted, but I really felt like -I- was being judged: you know for not wearing skinning jeans, feeling comfortable in my (literal) boots, being clean shaven, dressed in a long sleeve, and of course I have a soft spoken midwestern accent. You can't fake sincerity, and despite knocking the coding interviews out of the park, I felt like some (not all) of the interviewers were threatened by me somehow and mocked me gently with "well you did a really good job despite..." like they were talking to a three year old.
Really left a sour taste in my mouth how it seems the region preaches equality and acceptance, but that's only equality and acceptance of the non-traditional.
TL;DR: It's easy to say "We have a great culture" at your job if you hire hipsters homogeneously. The company I want to work for is color blind: we grow to appreciate each other. People of all walks, western, eastern, european, russian, christian, cat worshipper, whatever, just respect each other believe something different and learn how to communicate across these boundaries.