Ben Horowitz Quotes

If I'm interviewing someone I need to know everything about them - I do these massive spider diagrams. Everything under different categories, and certain questions in other categories.

Sure, it's fun to chat with people with interesting backgrounds who seem to have a passion for your company. But a job interview is not a friendly chat. You need to determine whether candidates, can they really do the job. So ask them to prove it.

An employer would be a complete fool to let an image like college partying influence their hiring decisions.

I admit I do have some drawbacks and limitations as a candidate. Although I am a professional comedian, some of my critics maintain that this is not enough. I cannot deny that I stand before you untested and inexperienced - I only spent two years in television, never as a romantic lead or a song and dance man.

In many companies, the person who talks the best usually gets the job. I got snowed by a few of those people over the years. I still think communication is important, but I don't think there's always a correlation between being a great communicator and other virtues that make for a great leader.

We've done a lot of research on the characteristics of our teachers who are the most successful. The most predictive trait is still past demonstrated achievement, and all selection research basically points to that.

'Tell me about yourself.' When interviewers ask this, they don't want to hear about everything that has happened in your life; the interviewer's objective is to see how you respond to this vague yet personal question.

When I interview somebody, I look at their resume to see what they've done, who they've worked with, and how many times. If they've gotten repeat work. Those are the kinds of actors I want to hire.

Usually companies hire me, and they know full well who I am, and that's one of the reasons they want to hire me.

It was very unusual, because normally the producer requests the test to determine whether they want to hire someone or not. Olivia was concerned about playing a seventeen year old.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have worked with so many great collaborators in my lifetime.

I could run for Congress. Why not? Good heavens, if Ronald Reagan can be president, I ought to make a great secretary of the treasury.

I was not a great bartender, but I did OK. I wasn't great at being efficient behind the bar, but I was pretty great at talking to people. I was a pretty good waiter. It was painstaking to get me to care about the clientele of some of these places I was working at.

You want to do your job well so that people in the future say, 'OK, he's not bad, let's hire him.'

I have great respect for Jaypee Greens as a company that has produced a truly world class, 24-carat, championship golf course. I am happy to be associated with a company with such outstanding qualities.

We need a great president.

I have invested at least 20 years in business and my own reputation. I'm excited to come into public service, because I think I have something to offer and to contribute. In no way will I put myself in a position of undoing what's taken 20 years to build.

(Commenting on the qualifications of Daniel A. Manion for a Federal judgeship:) His academic distinction and scholarship are similar to my own, and I wouldn't put me on the bench.

You must have a rationale for your candidacy.

You come here recommended by one of the most respected members of the U. S. Senate, a friend of mine. But other than that fact, I do not know why you should be the head of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention rather than any one of 215 million other Americans, except maybe they are not as old as you.... Why you? What is there about you that qualifies you to head up this department instead of Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith or Mr. Anybody? [Regnery was confirmed.]

A long resume does not equate to good judgment.

The issue is not the length of your resume but the strength of your vision.

I wasn't the best UI programmer, but I know to use the interface and that stuff. It's definitely given me a leg up in terms of being able to talk to the people in the games industry.

Employers are looking for individuals who can tell a story about what they bring to a particular company, and people with an understanding of that have a much better chance of getting to where they want to go.

In my experience and observation, senior appointments are rarely based entirely on merit.