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Peter Cowan · · 4 min read

Soham-proof your hiring

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In focus


Hello reader,

Are interviews really the best way to determine if someone is the right fit for a job?

Lots of folks – myself included – clam up under the pressure of this sterile, high-stakes social ritual that doesn’t quite resemble any real-world conversation. They might be excellent at the job, but they wilt under the bright lights of the Zoom screen.

Then there are people who could charm a wall into giving them a job, whether they can actually do it or not. Soham Parekh falls into this category.

In case you missed it, the software engineer recently went viral after being exposed for remote working for several Silicon Valley-based companies simultaneously, including Y Combinator-backed startups.

The memes were certainly funny, but they also exposed something deeper: how broken and easily gamed many remote hiring processes still are.

Today’s Big Story provides some tips on how to do remote hiring better. Spoiler alert: It’s not about the interview.

In an age of AI-assisted assessments and fancy vetting tools, it turns out that one of the most reliable ways to avoid a Soham is still… knowing someone who knows someone.

Peter Cowan, engagement editor


The Big Story

Want to avoid the next Soham? Fix your remote hiring process


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TIA Writer

Peter Cowan

Engagement editor at Tech in Asia, based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Reach me via email at peter.cowan@techinasia[dot]com