A manager was talking about a former software tester, Aaron, who was regarded by many as a waste of time. He struggled to learn simple things, and you often had to explain concepts to him multiple times.
Many times I sat with him, and essentially did his work for him. I heard similar complaints from other colleagues.
The confession the manager made was: that Aaron actually failed the interview process. It was just that his friend Richard had recommended him, and when Richard realised that Aaron wasn’t going to be offered the job, Richard threatened to resign. So to appease him, Aaron was hired.
The thing is, Richard ended up leaving the company less than half a year later, whereas Aaron remained for years. Eventually, his manager lost patience with him, and Aaron initially moved teams and line manager.
His new manager wasn’t so patient, and issued him with a Performance Improvement Plan. Aaron’s position was finally untenable, so he finally resigned. No idea why we didn’t act earlier, but he should never have been employed in the first place.
Stranger Coding Tings 