Most of you have most likely gone through a lot of interviews to build your career path, so have an advantage to compare some interviews over the others.
There are no failed interviews, only the ones we can learn something from. Some of them probably stick out due to being awkward, funny, extremely simple/hard or maybe some that went surprisingly well.
The main focus in this discussion is not on whether you got the offer or not, but why it's still so vivid in your memory?
I though it would be an interesting topic, so could you please tell us how it went?
Top comments (18)
@madza 's post topics always make his fans deep-dive into their consciousness and make the sleeping cognitive reactivated.
@madza you owed me 10
unicorns
.Hahah, this is too good to be true ππJust made my day π
I always believed that key to productivity is to be consciousness, as by default the human mind is lazy and don't like to process tasks. β¨π§ββοΈ
You did that
consciousness trick
to us. We love that and become smarter and thirst for more of your unbelievable new posts. Is thatpostgasm
?Hahah, stop it ππ Lots of more talented writers here π
I wish I would have technical knowledge like you, looking at the projects you've done π π₯π₯
I am not the hero in this post, you are!
All the DEV community is awesome! β¨β¨
When it comes to discussions like these, I always try to credit people who create the real additional value of the post in the comments π₯π₯
Without you all the posts would be just title and description of my initial thoughts on the topic π Thanks for the input! πβ€
I got my first job at a consulting company, I was interviewed by a commercial who understood nothing about programming, he only cared that I had a master degree, so no technical question at all, but he did tell me I had to learn to dress better. In retrospect I think I should not have accepted a job at a company that sorts out candidates this way :)
I hope you're not still working there
That could be even crazier to work on a company like that afterward.. π No one to ask anything coding related and no understanding of the development process for those who work there π
What do you mean you have coding questions? You studied programming already, right?
Sure thing you can code on your own and purely independently π tho it's always nice to have a team around in case you come across a problem that is not your direct expertise π sometimes it's just easier to ask π
Who would look after your child when youβre at work?
This interview happened not too long after my maternity leave. I told the interviewer that the reason for a few months gap in my resume was due to my maternity leave. I was busy looking after a new born. He then raised his eyebrows and asked, βWho would look after your child when youβre at work?β I replied, βOh my daughter goes to a daycare and she loves it.β My reply was immediately followed by another question, βWhat if we need you to come in to the office after hours if something goes wrong. As a manager, youβre expected to be on-call 24/7 for the codebases your team owns because we havenβt set up a proper on-call roster.β
I think I didnβt provide a satisfactory answer to that question because after that, the interview didnβt go very well and it was cut short. It was supposed to be an hour interview but I was out of the interview room after half an hour. I also didnβt get the job. Looking back, I consider myself lucky.
I won't forget this interview because it reminds me that inequality still exists in 21st century. Sad but true.
Agree with all π― Plus I would probably reply something in the lines of 'obviously we are wasting each others time' and kindly leave π
All the best for your daughter, btw π·π
Mine was interviewing for a startup. It was in a converted warehouse with shiny concrete floors. 20 haphazardly arranged desks, wires everywhere. Young guns were everywhere glued to computer screens typing like crazy. There were no offices so I was asked to interview in the foyer which had a small table. Chairs had to be brought out to seat everyone. I had my laptop which had work I would demo. But I couldn't log in. Later finding one of the keys weren't working. Strike 1. So I danced by jumping to the nearby whiteboard and stared diagramming Architectural patterns. The hiring manager interrupting with frequent minute corrections. Strike 2.
Still dancing but thinking this guy isn't a leader he's a critic. Strike 3. Things went foggy after that for me.
The last thing I remember was that the HR person was asking for feedback. It was then that I zeroed in on the critic, telling the HR person I'd never be able to work for him. She wanted to know why, I told her and left. She was shocked.
Props for speaking up and being honest π
That was probably eye-opening for them too, as they became aware as that attitude will most likely never found a candidate willing to work for them π
After I had my first child I interviewed at a local company because I wanted to reduce my commute time.
First thing I learned is that they were planning to move soon, to the same town I was currently working in. So much for cutting commute time. That wasn't their fault but I really wished they had mentioned it in the ad.
At the time I worked mainly in C++. The project manager who interviewed me asked me a technical question, which I answered with C++ terms. That's not what he wanted. He told me that what I had just described was called "polymorphism" and launched into a lecture about the concept. He just assumed that I didn't know what I was talking about. That was grating.
The icing on the cake was when it was mentioned that employees had to leave the site at lunch time to prevent industrial espionage (the software I was supposed to write was to run on proprietary hardware).
I have no idea what is standard in the hardware industry, but I came out of there thinking "Why would I want to work for a company that assumes I'm a thief?"
It was around 5-6 years ago. I found it terrific. Interviewer kept asking question by taking a look at his PC. I gave answers but he just wanted to hear whatever was on his screen. I mean how could anyone tell exactly the sentence if the question is about write a fibonacci method in js
This was when I was looking prior to graduation. My desire was to make money, and I wasn't particularly skilled at smelling BS from job postings.
A large, national (maybe even international) company was opening a new tech office downtown. I put my resume in during the school career fair, and they call me up to do an initial in-person interview. A few people from the main office flew in and were just going to work through as many applicants as they could that day. So I put on my one suit and get my boyfriend to take time off to drive me downtown for this interview.
It was awful. As I said, I gave my resume to the recruiter rather than putting it in for a specific role. It ends up, that's because they were doing 1 interview for at least 8 roles within the new office. Anywhere from DBA to software dev to non-technical business stuffs... I really have no clue since it's not like they could speak to what the job would be like when it was actually several possible jobs. Each person on the panel would decide if they wanted to continue the process with you for their branch of job functionality, so there were no specifics. The interview was just fluff where they can't ask anything pointed about me and I can't ask anything pointed about them. Apparently, each branch was management track though, so they wanted college grads? I just wanted to eat and know what I'm doing, but at no point could they prove that was ever a possibility.
Boyfriend and I just kind of spent the rest of the day being tourists downtown before heading back to campus since we paid for parking. A couple of months later, I got an email saying they had gone through 3 rounds of picking people that I was skipped for, so did I want to be still in consideration for the next round? I bowed out.
While it wasn't offensive or anything, I needed a job so badly and was in a hole of despair and it was just a terrible crushing experience that made everything feel more hopeless.