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Daniel Greco's avatar

I've got a meta question about advice like this. Given that hiring/admissions are generally zero sum, what's the point of giving it? To the extent that someone benefits by reading it (eg, they avoid a faux pas that would have cost them an offer), somebody else loses out just as much (the person who would've gotten the offer).

Maybe you feel a personal connection to your readers; you'd rather your readers get offers than the people they're competing against. That strikes me as pretty natural, and probably the best way to understand the common practice of offering advice on the internet about how to win zero sum competitions. But I'm not sure, and would be curious for your take.

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Malcolm MacPherson's avatar

I think Paul’s advice is very transferrable to every day situations! If one is interested in someone and asks questions and knows somethings about them or their subject matter or inquires into such information the conversation will probably evolve into something memorable. People laugh at me because I usually go to a place a day or two before to check out the environment before my meeting or interview. It’s like boots on the ground. It’s self directed orientation. I was once researching Loblaw‘s as a company and I wondered about their turnover rate of employees? So I did a site visit. I went to the meals to go counter and placed a small order. I asked the clerk how long people stay to work at Loblaw‘s on average and what the turnover rate was like? The clerk answered I don’t know, “I just started today”! I smiled and thanked them for their service…. As Professor Nick Epley of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business would advocate - practice doing cold calls!

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