My clients have seen big changes the last couple of weeks, but all for the good thankfully. The “Fred” update was a biggie and it looks like some websites that have massive ads with little quality content got hit hard. I saw one post where their traffic plummeted 95% and they are virtually invisible in search now……it is times like these I am thrilled I only do white-hat work….sometimes I scratch my head and am tempted when I see competitors outrank me with crappy sites with no backlinks…but I have hope their day will come! 🙂

I’ve also ended interviews as a candidate on the phone myself. They asked a question that I didn’t’ have the answer to and I told them that I didn’t know. The next 2 questions were in that same direction, with them knowing that I’d already said I wasn’t particularly fluent in that area but they kept on. At that point I said, “Let’s just stop here. We both know that I’m not doing well answering your questions and to be honest, that you’re restating the same topic after being told that already I don’t know probably means we wouldn’t be a good fit.” Too many people forget that it’s a two-way street and they seems shocked that anyone would actually end their interview.

When I was at Facebook, 2013–2016, the rumor I heard was the opposite.

It was my understanding that Google practically had a policy of counter-offering anyone who got an offer from Facebook, and that seeking an offer from Facebook was a strategy Googlers used to up their compensation.

Ironically, Facebook had the opposite policy: If you get an offer from elsewhere, it was Facebook’s policy not to counter-offer. Facebook’s view is that if they start counter-offering, they will get into a compensation arms race. And besides, if you really want to go work somewhere else, then maybe you should. There are lots of people who would love to work at Facebook; they don’t need to try to convince you to stay if you want to leave. And if you’re just bluffing, well good on them for not falling for it.