Interview Boss

215: You Can’t Hack Your Way Into a New Job: Correlation Does NOT Equal Causation!

7 snips
Feb 18, 2026
They tackle why people obsess over single causes for job-search wins and why that thinking misleads. They share funny examples of spurious links and explain the cognitive biases that fuel those stories. They caution against chasing one weird trick and highlight the value of steady, broad preparation. A reassuring take that hiring is cumulative, not magic.
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INSIGHT

Correlation ≠ Causation

  • Correlation does not equal causation and our brains love neat stories to explain complex outcomes.
  • External variables or coincidence often explain apparent links, so pause before assuming cause from correlation.
ANECDOTE

Ice Cream And Drowning Example

  • Emma uses the ice cream-and-drowning correlation to show misleading links.
  • The real driver (summer beach attendance) explains both trends, not ice cream causing drownings.
ANECDOTE

Shoe Size And Headache Stories

  • Emma and Sarah joke about larger feet correlating with better reading, then explain age as the hidden variable.
  • They also invent a shoes-on/headache example to show post hoc misattribution.
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