"Tech Hiring In 2000s Was Crazy": Man Shares How He Got Friend Hired At Dell

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A techie's humorous anecdote about how he landed his friend a job at Dell in the early 2000s has sparked a wave of nostalgia and disbelief online. Jack Forge, a user on X (formerly Twitter), shared the story of how he simply told his manager that his friend was "cool and liked to party." To his astonishment, the manager asked him to share his friend's resume, and within three days, his friend was hired and sitting at a desk.

"Tech hiring in the 2000s was crazy. I once got a friend hired at Dell by telling my manager that he was cool and liked to party. My manager asked me to bring in a CV, and we got him on board. The guy was hired and at a desk within 3 days," he posted.

The post quickly went viral, amassing over 3 lakh views and prompting a flurry of responses from users who shared their experiences with the hiring process in the early 2000s.

Many commented on how drastically the job market has changed since then, with one user noting that current hiring practices often involve multiple rounds of interviews, cover letters, and assessments. Others shared their own stories of landing jobs through unconventional means, such as showing up for an interview and being the only candidate present.

"I was hired in 1999 because I owned a black T-shirt, LOL. It wasn't so easy, but I had built a website in 1998, which made me some sort of web expert," one user wrote.

"I remember putting my resume on MonsterBoard in 2000 after having been in the Dominican Republic for over a year. I submitted it, closed up, and walked downstairs to have tea with my girlfriend and my mom, and the phone rang. I was invited for an interview at Endemol (the biggest media company in Holland at that time) and was hired on the spot, LMFAO. I worked there for 5 years doing all kinds of awesome stuff. Good times," another stated.

 "Just from the last week, I passed 5 stages of interviews, including 2 soft skills verifications and 3 technical assessments (questions, live coding on HackerRank, system design). I was denied. Even a consultant told me he was surprised because he hadn't had anyone pass all these stages recently. It looked to him like the company I was applying to had just found someone else on their own," a third individual wrote.

https://www.ndtv.com/jobs/tech-hiring-in-2000s-...

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Benevolent Benevolent
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Now tell a real story that you know. I will go now,

One of my friend had a telecon scheduled it on 7AM in the morning around 2005. Fresh graduates at that time hunting for a job in Bengaluru. On the scheduled day when the phone rang the guy was in toilet, his room mate picked up the phone and said the same in sleepy voice. The interviewer wanted a small chitchat to pass the time meanwhile and asked the room mate about his qualifications, the interviewer felt he is indeed a match to some job. With a brief interview of 10-15 minitues he passed the telecon, the guy didn't even know whether it was a dream or real in that sleepy mood and in a day they had one more small round of interview , ta-da he got the job. Of course my friend too got .


If my memory serves correctly its Cypress Semiconductors

Analyst Analyst
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1999 with half empty stomach reached a metro, lived with 1000 rs a month, worked in sw company free, earned good will, learned and sharpened skills, did one forest department project in vb5.0 and tried outside to get 7.5k job a month. While leaving this company, they gave me 1.5k as token of my labor work , that was promised every month otherwise,  to me. Used to  getup at 4.30am change 3 buses and to reach office by 7am ( 9 am office but reach early to learn more on free computer and free software at office), but  always find it locked as the office boy was not yet arrived. He used to come around 7.20am, scold me in his typical style sweep and clean office, yet earn 3000rs every month. After that he used to go for breakfast, whilst i open my curd rice box. 

yeah! My effort did not go waste, now earned, but saw this office boy in a good restaurant as waiter, recognized and called me sir which i could not believe. Thats all due to SW.

---By anonymous..

Analyst Analyst
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1999 with half empty stomach reached a metro, lived with 1000 rs a month, worked in sw company free, earned good will, learned and sharpened skills, did one forest department project in vb5.0 and tried outside to get 7.5k job a month. While leaving this company, they gave me 1.5k as token of my labor work , that was promised every month otherwise,  to me. Used to  getup at 4.30am change 3 buses and to reach office by 7am ( 9 am office but reach early to learn more on free computer and free software at office), but  always find it locked as the office boy was not yet arrived. He used to come around 7.20am, scold me in his typical style sweep and clean office, yet earn 3000rs every month. After that he used to go for breakfast, whilst i open my curd rice box. 

yeah! My effort did not go waste, now earned, but saw this office boy in a good restaurant as waiter, recognized and called me sir which i could not believe. Thats all due to SW.

---By anonymous..

Review Expert Review Expert
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And today we have people fresh out of college complaining that a 9-5 job does not leave them with "me" time...
Even in the 9-5, subtract the time they spent in the washroom answering nature's calls or grooming themselves, breakfasts / tea-coffee breaks twice a day, an hour long lunch, going for a walk after lunch, flipping their thumbs through Insta and double tapping at stuff even without reading / seeing it properly while at their desks, WhatsApp chats / video calls, old fashioned voice calls to/from friends and family, browsing shopping sites or simply catching up with their favourite blogs, listening to music while working and, of course, socializing with coworkers. After all that, I wonder if they are even "working" for half of their 9-5 job.
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Benevolent Benevolent
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Now tell a real story that you know. I will go now,

One of my friend had a telecon scheduled it on 7AM in the morning around 2005. Fresh graduates at that time hunting for a job in Bengaluru. On the scheduled day when the phone rang the guy was in toilet, his room mate picked up the phone and said the same in sleepy voice. The interviewer wanted a small chitchat to pass the time meanwhile and asked the room mate about his qualifications, the interviewer felt he is indeed a match to some job. With a brief interview of 10-15 minitues he passed the telecon, the guy didn't even know whether it was a dream or real in that sleepy mood and in a day they had one more small round of interview , ta-da he got the job. Of course my friend too got .


If my memory serves correctly its Cypress Semiconductors

Benevolent Benevolent
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Now delivery boys get hired same way. 

Deal Lieutenant Deal Lieutenant
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They are removed for stealing goods and Mobile and again gets onboard in a day as mamager says we don't have trustworthy delivery guys. So we have to hire old cheaters.
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Deal Subedar Deal Subedar
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Idhr to not experienced bol k reject kr dete hai , no question related disciplines, also need experience in particular field 😞

Benevolent Benevolent
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Reply Karo jab aap job doge tabhi toh experience hoga.

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Analyst Analyst
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1999 with half empty stomach reached a metro, lived with 1000 rs a month, worked in sw company free, earned good will, learned and sharpened skills, did one forest department project in vb5.0 and tried outside to get 7.5k job a month. While leaving this company, they gave me 1.5k as token of my labor work , that was promised every month otherwise,  to me. Used to  getup at 4.30am change 3 buses and to reach office by 7am ( 9 am office but reach early to learn more on free computer and free software at office), but  always find it locked as the office boy was not yet arrived. He used to come around 7.20am, scold me in his typical style sweep and clean office, yet earn 3000rs every month. After that he used to go for breakfast, whilst i open my curd rice box. 

yeah! My effort did not go waste, now earned, but saw this office boy in a good restaurant as waiter, recognized and called me sir which i could not believe. Thats all due to SW.

---By anonymous..

Review Expert Review Expert
Link Copied
And today we have people fresh out of college complaining that a 9-5 job does not leave them with "me" time...
Even in the 9-5, subtract the time they spent in the washroom answering nature's calls or grooming themselves, breakfasts / tea-coffee breaks twice a day, an hour long lunch, going for a walk after lunch, flipping their thumbs through Insta and double tapping at stuff even without reading / seeing it properly while at their desks, WhatsApp chats / video calls, old fashioned voice calls to/from friends and family, browsing shopping sites or simply catching up with their favourite blogs, listening to music while working and, of course, socializing with coworkers. After all that, I wonder if they are even "working" for half of their 9-5 job.
Investor Guru Investor Guru
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Whenever competition is less fierce, the recruitment process is quite simple. 🙂

Deal Cadet Deal Cadet
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During the Y2K boom, anyone and everyone got a job. 

Even those who could not get any jobs in their field(e.g. electrical or having done a BA/BSc) managed to goto USA and are now citizens there.

Review Expert Review Expert
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That's true. People freshly out of college and just placed in IT companies were flying to the US sometimes as early as 3 months! It also wasn't a matter of luck. If you said "Yes" to the opportunity you invariably landed up in US. No lottery, no rejections are interviews.
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