DEV Community

Cover image for Shattered or How to bomb interviews as a senior developer

Shattered or How to bomb interviews as a senior developer

Jenn on March 06, 2020

Yesterday I interviewed for a senior developer position at a large corporation. I was confident, in charge, and ready to rock. Thirty minutes in...
Collapse
 
mshappe profile image
Michael Scott Shappe

What the...I mean..I just...

WHY ARE PEOPLE?!

Collapse
 
geekgalgroks profile image
Jenn

I know.

I wasted my good glitter eyeshadow on that interview.

Collapse
 
xanderyzwich profile image
Corey McCarty

I second that

Collapse
 
ky1e_s profile image
Kyle Stephens

Such experiences suck, but they happen unfortunately. Don't blame yourself. Interviewing is just as much about assessing the company as it is the company assessing you.

You dodged a bullet. You wouldn't want to work for such a company.

Bigger and better things will come your way :)

Collapse
 
theodesp profile image
Theofanis Despoudis

I’m curious to see the job description

Collapse
 
geekgalgroks profile image
Jenn

Here it is in all its glory:

Need to Have React.JS (Mean Stack).

SENIOR (10+ YRS OF EXPERIENCE)
β€’ Develop and test code to deliver functionality that meets the overall business strategy and objectives
β€’ Build the work needed to implement features from the product backlog
β€’ Size user stories
β€’ Unit test code, create automated test scripts, and execute all other testing-related tasks
β€’ Test deliverables against a user story's acceptance tests
β€’ Execute necessary project documentation
β€’ Work closely with other team to ensure that features meet business needs
β€’ Follow industry-standard agile software design methodology for development and documentation
β€’ Work with infrastructure, security, and other partners
β€’ 3-5 years in an engineering role
β€’ 1-3 years participating in agile development
β€’ Scrum certification, a plus
β€’ Experience with test-driven development and software test automation
β€’ Deep experience working in an agile environment (e.g. user stories, iterative development, etc.)

Collapse
 
tadman profile image
Scott Tadman

I'm trying really hard to decode what they meant. Maybe this?

M: Oracle DB
E: Java EE
A: React
N: Tomcat

Thread Thread
 
geekgalgroks profile image
Jenn

The JORT stack? πŸ˜‚

Collapse
 
moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

I think they left out the opening description. If you imagine it saying, "senior software engineer wanted for Java role)" first then none of the rest of it is particularly off.

I bet they were a little too close to it and not used to writing job specs.

Hopefully they learn something.

Collapse
 
theodesp profile image
Theofanis Despoudis • Edited

There is no mention of Java. Wtf. 10 years of exp for only a senior role? If they pay you 100€ per hour then fine but in that level that’s the minimum. Tbh the job description is all over the place and so do they.

Thread Thread
 
moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

Some good people have a lot more than ten years experience and are regular or senior developers. It's not like there's a common agreement about what terms mean across the industry :)

Collapse
 
jordonr profile image
Jordon Replogle • Edited

I had an interview with Facebook, and they asked me the simple question of what port is associated with DNS... and I said 63 instead of 53.

Another interview, I flipped what a == and === did. I've been developing for years, have written production code in multiple languages... and my mind still freezes sometimes when I'm put on the spot.

Collapse
 
akolybelnikov profile image
Andrey Kolybelnikov

I'm so happy to read this ... No, don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about you having those moments, I'm happy I'm NOT ALONE with them.

Thanks for confirming I'm not a special case of developer dumb. I feel hope and will continue ... to bomb interviews.

I know this s**t!!! It's "just a part of how I code".

I also sometimes doubt that interviewers are 1. knowledgeable and professional people, 2. simply good humans or 3. even know themselves what they're looking for.

Collapse
 
steelwolf180 profile image
Max Ong Zong Bao

Next time don't work with a external recruiter. Work with a internal one that is directly from the company's HR department.

I will usually ignore recruiters because of their way in placing candidates from misinformation to down right waste of time in useless phone calls.

Collapse
 
geekgalgroks profile image
Jenn

That is what I normally do, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Collapse
 
steelwolf180 profile image
Max Ong Zong Bao

Yeah well, I would just chuck it as life lessons then.

Collapse
 
alxtrnr profile image
Alex Turner

I'd offer you a post for telling a great story and choosing great gifs to go with it. Top job. You da bomb!

Collapse
 
moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

You didn't bomb anything. You got ushered into the wrong screen and only figured out their mistake when you were 20 minutes into The Phantom Menace.

This is annoying but don't let it get you down!

Collapse
 
zoltanhalasz profile image
Zoltan Halasz

This is just a mistake of the recruiter. It happened to me in the past when I used to work as a management accountant. They invited me to an interview for a job which was not matching my CV which they already had.

Collapse
 
bendman profile image
Ben Duncan

So they wanted a Java engineer but they quizzed you on Javascript? They need to get their stuff together!

Collapse
 
geekgalgroks profile image
Jenn

When I asked what they wanted because I prepped for obviously the wrong thing, they seemed appalled at what I did prep for. Apparently reviewing Agile was wrong and foolish because "You are just assigned a task and do the thing."

Bombing was the best case scenario out of that entire interview.