November 14, 2025
CVs keep hiding GOATs
Hiring the Joker
From Taco Bell draft pick to office GOAT — why “just try harder” lit up the comments
TLDR: The piece says companies miss superstars like Nikola Jokić and suggests working harder and using trials. Commenters clap back: hiring lacks clear feedback, confidence fools teams (Dunning–Krueger), and even LinkedIn crashed the thread—evidence the process is messy, funny, and badly in need of a fix.
The essay uses Nikola Jokić — the NBA MVP nicknamed “The Joker” — as the poster child for how scouts (and bosses) miss superstars, then says the fix is to try 10x harder and run work trials. Cue the comment section chaos. One user opened with a drive‑by “LinkedIn, how did you end up here?” while another delivered a mood-setting reality check: people are bad at things with no quick feedback, so hiring stays broken. Fans loved the Taco Bell draft-night detail and dunked on overconfident gatekeepers, with a Dunning–Krueger shout-out for good measure. Meanwhile, a self-styled “Mr. Wolf” (a Pulp Fiction fixer) lamented how real fixers struggle to market themselves, unless you’re a Guido van Rossum–level legend. The hottest friction? The article’s “just try harder” advice became a meme, with one commenter “saving you a click” and pointing to the obviousness of the take. Others argued you need experts in the room, passion that shows in details, and actual work trials — not swagger. For context, Jokić was the 41st pick, Tom Brady was 199th, and the crowd’s verdict is clear: hiring is a blindfolded sport, and overconfidence keeps teams benching their MVPs.
Key Points
- •Nikola Jokic was drafted 41st overall in the 2014 NBA draft and later became a multi-MVP and NBA champion leading major statistical categories.
- •NBA scouts initially doubted Jokic’s athleticism and ceiling, highlighting how evaluations can miss elite potential.
- •Tom Brady was drafted 199th in the 2000 NFL draft and became the most successful quarterback, reinforcing the unpredictability of talent selection.
- •Approximately 50% of NFL first-round picks are considered busts, indicating high error rates despite substantial scouting and data use.
- •The article argues companies often underinvest in hiring rigor and recommends significantly increasing effort, verifying who did the work, and using work trials.