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Admin
When I go to an interview I like to bring my favorite 40 and "pour a little out" in the office I'm interviewing at, ya know, to show love for my previous job that's about to be dead and gone.
Admin
Huh? I thought that's what the "exit interview" was for.
Admin
My project manager had a pretty good interview story. A month or two before I got hired, they started using a test to give to prospective employees. It was a hard test, but it was a "low on trivia, high on concept" test over .NET development and OO concepts. The hard questions didn't necessarily have a correct answer, but were mainly to see how someone would approach a problem.
The first time they used the test, they handed it to the interviewee and put him in a semi-private room. Not five minutes later, he came out of the room, handed the test to my PM, claimed that he was no longer interested in the position, and left. My PM was sold on the usage of tests because he didn't have to spend the next hour figuring out that the guy was worthless.
Admin
I think the worst thing Ive ever done during an interview (well technically it was right after) was as follows:
((Side note: IMLP was their co-op program designed to glean managers from Comp E./Comp S. students))
Interviewer: So what do you think of our IMLP program?
Me: The what program?
*Interviewer explains IMLP program*
Me: Oh, I hadn't really looked into what it stood for. I thought this was just a regular programming job.
....yea...uuhh....I still got the job. Although after working there a quarter I was no longer sure if that was a good thing.
Admin
The question is: do you think it was the worst thing you've ever done because you told the truth about your lack of preparedness or is it the worst thing because of your lack of preparedness?
Admin
My first full-time job used a test. One applicant took the test, failed, then later re-applied claiming "experience with (language in question)". Turned out his "experience" consisted of taking the test the first time.
Admin
About that Sit down! story:
While I certainly won't say that erasing the blackboard is a smart thing to do without asking, I'm kinda amazed that such a relatively small incident gets the interviewer so upset.
If I were doing an interview and the interviewee got so enthousiastic about a former project, I'd think of it as a major plus. If he'd, in his enthousiasm, start erasing the blackboard, I'd just tell him right away to hold it, but ask him to talk about it nonetheless.
I think one of the best things to see in an interviewee - apart maybe from knowledge - is enthousiasm for the job or former jobs. So sending him away from such a small mistake is imho a bit strange to say the least.
Admin
Okay, those interviewees are all pretty dumb, make no mistake, but I can't help but think that the CTO and President mentioned are also the classic executive stuffed shirts who are more interested in finding yes-men than the most qualified. A guy gets excited about a past project, and this is a bad thing? Come on. And if someone used that "Beavis and Butthead" line on me, well, sure I'd be ticked, but I sure wouldn't walk out of the room in a huff. And then send the secretary back to do the dirty work?! Please! That CTO takes himself way too seriously.
Admin
Hmm, for the Sit Down! story it sounds from where I'm reading that the manager type turned down a competant person (the previous project had gone really well apparently) who was extremely passionate about what they do. Without more details it sounds more like a pointy-haired boss story where the boss is more interested in image than substance.
For the handshake one yeah they guy did something dumb but it was hardly offensive like the Beavis&Butthead guy was. If the handshake was the only reason he was rejected then again I'd side with the interviewee.
Admin
I was being interviewed for a senior development position at a small, but possibly up-and-coming company. I interviewed with their "Director of Engineering" (who as it turned out, didn't have an engineering degree, but a marketing degree.) This turned me off a bit. Then I interviewed with the President, who was quite distracted while talking to me, what with all the email and phone calls that he had to read/take. While he was describing the incredibly long work hours, and how they make sure that they buy employees dinner (but only during the week; on Saturdays, people can leave by 5), I decided it wasn't the place for me. I told him this, and walked out. He couldn't believe it! There was no way I could work there, not for a non-technical engineering lead, nor a president who was proud of the long hours he made his employees worked. I like to think that I actually did them a favor by short-circuiting the interview process.
Admin
I don't know...the Sit Down! story may have had another aspect. Did the guy keep talking because he was asked to explain, or would he not shut up?
I was doign a phone interview for QA engineering position and we, of course, asked him to talk about previous experience. And...he wouldn't shut up! Generally, the rule is to give a (maximum!) 2-3 minute answer to "tell me about a previous project" type questions, look for some sort of ok to continue, if ok rinse, lather, repeat. Nooo...this guy kept talking...and talking...and talking...and talking! When we attempted to interrupt several times he talked right over the top of us and kept going. I can't recall just how abrupt I had to be to get him to stop, but it was significant.
There is enthusiasm, and there is cluelessness.
Admin
The first two stories were obvious stupidity. The whiteboard mistake was unfortunate, but I would have called the guy very hirable. The handshake thing is stupidity... but on the part of the interviewer. A weird handshake disqualified someone from a technical job? You're out of your mind, you priss.
Admin
Well, as everybody knows, high profile computer geeks do have a lack of social skills and a strange sense of humor, Therefore I don't think dropping this "Beavis and Butthead" guy was inherently a good idea.
Admin
@Anonymous Coward: To play the devil's advocate, does that mean you're looking for a job where you can just barely skate by on an 8-hour workday? I'd like to see the place that hires a person who puts THAT on their resume.
And as for non-technical engineering leads, we have plenty of those at my job. That's what happens when you heavily focus on a dying programming language and refuse to adapt to the newer technologies. If they had any real skill, they wouldn't be a manager. They'd be doing REAL work.
The President of the company was distracted with emails and phone calls? Imagine that. Typically the higher up a person is on the management chain, the more their job revolves around social interaction and less about actual widget production. He was probably making the choice of communicating with potential/existing paying clients rather than dealing with an interviewee. If it were me, I'd pick the guy who's paying the bills.
Sorry dude, this is the way of the world. At least that place would buy you dinner for staying late.
Admin
I interviewed one guy for a Java developer position who came with a stack of faded pieces of paper in his hand.
As I started asking him technical questions, he'd get this 'searching memory banks' look in his eye and then shuffle through his papers to show me some text or code that was related to my question. He didn't really answer the questions.
The best thing was that he told on of my co-workers that he wanted to get the 1.3 JDK but just couldn't afford it at that time.
Admin
I guess it depends on whether this guy was going to be in a dark office coding all day or sometimes out meeting and shaking hands with clients.
Admin
I would have thrown him out the window. The guy is obviously an arrogant ass and I wouldn't want to subject my employees to someone like him regardless of his skill.
Admin
Honestly, all the pomp in the described companies makes me think none of them are worth working for. They come off as pretentious look-the-look places rather than places where real accomplishment is recognized.
Admin
I interviewed for a C# developer position, when .NET release version itself was barely a year old. I had about 6 months worth of .NET work experience on my resume. First, I had a technical phone-screen with 2 developers; obviously I did well, since they invited me to their office for a personal interview. After about 2 hours interviewing with practically everyone on their team, I was directed to the office of a “big suit”, his title was Director of Product Development (not a technical person what so ever). That interview lasted maybe 5 min. After not hearing from them for a month, a recruiter called me with the feedback he got from them.
It turns out I don’t have enough “.NET experience”, while.NET framework was released less than a year ago. It’s obvious that a big suit didn’t OK me for whatever reason, even though I passed their technical screen. Probably his buddy or relative with more .NET experience got the job. [:^)]
Admin
Manni, You can take your unlimited hour work weeks if you want. You'll end up a burnt out mess at the end of them with nothing to offer others or yourself, and a free dinner won't make up for that. And if the President of the company can't devote himself to an interview he should have delegated. Either there's not enough staff or he couldn't give a shit about his employees. Would you really want to work under either circumstance?
Admin
I interviewed at what turned out to be a sweatshop a couple years ago. The interview consisted of the hiring manager and three Sr. Engineers. All the while they were talking about "how much code they crank out." Guessing that this manager rode these monkeys for 60-70 hrs/week, I knew I didn't want the job. Once one of his cheerleaders finished talking, the manager stated "So, I hope you like to work a lot of hours." to which I replied "I hope you like to pay a lot of money."
Admin
The "B&B" and "Sit Down!" interviews sound like the product of disfunctional workplaces, not bad interview candidates. They're probably places I'd turn down, even if offered a job there. Too uptight, nah'mean?
Admin
Any one of these candidates would have had "director-level management" written all over them at my old company.
Admin
@Manni: The thing is, the interview process is two-way. If an interviewee behaved like that, he wouldn't get hired, so an interviewer behaving like that isn't right either. Anything else just means the whole process is one-way. Will things be that one-way when I start working there? If so, I don't want to work there.
I still value my sanity!
Admin
Classic! :D What did he say then? Did ya get the job? :p
Admin
I agree completely. I don't care how much you get paid, if you are working 70+ hours a week, you don't have a life. Your family would never see you, you'd never do anything with that money but spend it on bills, and your code will be crap. I think when people start working more than 50 hours a week, they start producing shit code and it ends up taking even more time to fix your mistakes.
Admin
They all laughed. I guess they thought I was joking. (Why would I joke about that?!) They wanted me to come in for another interview but I declined.
Admin
I get the impression that the WTF is supposed to be directed at the candidates, but the only people I'm saying WTF?? to when I read them is the interviewers and other staff at the companies. All I can say is that these stories make me incredibly grateful to be working for an incredibly company that values substance over appearance and doesn't think you're an idiot just because you don't precisely follow the unwritten protocols of the suit-and-tie world.
Admin
I was interviewing for a C/C++ position and as part of the interview I asked candidates to write 'strrev'.
One young guy stuggled with this for about half an hour, 3 sides of paper, but he could not do it.
To try and save the situation he offered to write a C++ meta-template program that would display the current date and
informed me that he was activly contributing to GCC.
God help GCC.
Another guy asked me why we had not written our entire product in Python (remeber this is a C++ position).
Another guy got really angry when I told him we didn't use XP.
Admin
The whiteboard guy, maybe. But the other two were clearly out of line. Wearing a suit to an interview is a sign of respect to the people who are going to employ you. You're supposed to look and behave professionally when you attend an interview as a professional. Would you really want Leisure Suit Larry to come code for you?
Admin
While I agree the whiteboard guy story probably was kinda harsh, I definitely wouldn't hire some jackass who showed up in disco attire. I'm not saying you have to wear a suit and tie to an interview, but you need to show that you're trying to impress your interviewers in some way.
If you know what you're talking about it'll carry a lot more weight than what you're wearing, but some things just can't be overlooked.
Admin
I've read and re-read the SIT DOWN! Story 7 times now. 5 times earlier today and twice this evening and I still don't "get it". Why was the guy so pissed off? Because he erased a whiteboard with asking? Because he spoke coherently and enthusiastically about a previous project he felt had gone well?
In this situation, the interviewers sound like arseholes and the guy should count himself lucky he didn't get the job.
Admin
No kidding. What sort of sadistic jerk puts an interviewee into a conference room with a whiteboard they're not allowed to write on? If I'm coming into an interview, I'm writing on the whiteboard. Period. I'm there to stuff a huge amount of information transfer into a very short time period. If you can't be considerate enough to provide basic tools for that exchange, then that says some pretty awful things about the work environment there.
Plus, if you leave a meeting room with the only copy important data still on the board, then tough cookies. It was your responsibility to make a record of the information, and you've been derelict in your duties. Not my problem. Writing 'Save' in the corner and then leaving it for a week merely declares your disdain for the rest of your coworkers. Perhaps you'd be happier working someplace else, so we don't have to deal with you anymore?
As for the state of animation, people get nervous in interviews. Sometimes this makes them tense, sometimes it makes them excited. At least you can be certain that the overenthusiastic ones that they aren't the Toxic Coworker.
And as for the 'handshake' incident, way to confess to violating about three EEO laws there, bucko.
Admin
Are their laws saying you can't discriminate against unorthodox handshakers? I didn't realize that was a protected class.
Admin
Yeah, I do two "back-of-the-hand slaps" BEFORE I do the "fake-joint-smoke." Am I a good candidate? Where am I going wrong?
Admin
If he can't find the time to give his interviewees the basic respect of actually paying attention to the interview, he a) shouldn't be the one doing the interviewing, and b) isn't going to find very qualified employees, because the only people who'll put up with that kind of crap must be desperate for work.
Admin
There is pen and paper. I bring some.
It is common courtesy to ask first before erasing something.
You just caused a problem then. I hope you do not tout your problem-solving skills.
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
Admin
Wow, that's the kind of situation where I'd ask if there was a better time for me to come back. If I wanted to work there.
I was doing a telephone interview from my cube just last week when a cow-orker came into my cube and started looking at some old pictures I have. I turned briefly and angrily hissed "I'm doing a phone interview!" at her. She happily announced "That's OK, I won't talk to you" and continued leaning over me to look at the pictures!
I was majorly pissed. I snatched the photo she was looking at (it was held to the cube bookshelf by a magnet) and flung it violently from my cube. I was so flustered by the rudeness of the interruption that even after apologizing to the candidate, I still found it hard to concentrate for about the next five minutes. And afterward, she was mad at me! Now, a 20-something kid, I'd understand the total lack of manners and common sense. But a 50-year-old woman? WTF?
I haven't even bothered to go looking for the picture yet.
Admin
I think he's got a point. The only way to make sure something stays on a white board is to write it in permanant marker. I wouldn't recommed doing that.
Admin
Dude, sorry but that makes you seem like a total psycho.
Admin
Best interview ever:
me: I see from your resume that you took a digital signal processing course in college. Can you tell me a bit about it?
interviewee: Well it was this ... uh ... class I took.
me: Well can you explain what you were expected to do in that class?
interviewee: uh ... process ... digital ... signals?
My interview partner and I muted the phone just a scant second before busting into furious laughter.
Admin
I don't get why people in this industry seem to think that working insane overtime is in the least reasonable. The CEO could've at least shown the good sense to be embarassed about the fact everybody was working such insane hours.
I have a life. I like that I have a life. Ultimately, it makes me better at what I do. I'm not giving up my life for any job. It's just not worth it. I'm not a slave, and I won't act like one.
As for the combination of non-technical 'director of engineering', and CEO proud of forcing ridiculous overtime on his employees, I say that that job deserved to be dropped faster than a hot potato. I've seen small companies. That combination goes nowhere and isn't worth any amount of money to put up with. If everybody would quit that company so they folded, they'd likely be doing the economy a favor by allowing the investment money to be directed into something that might actually be a net positive.
Admin
I would like to throw my 0010 cents in on the topic of hours at work. Myself, I would not like to work 60+ hours, although I could do it every once in a while. I am a 40 hour guy, and I know this hurts my career overall. I'm willing to make the trade-off and I have made decisions fully aware of the consequences. I've told others (go-getters) this, and they think I'm a fool. But these guys don't have families, not many friends, and their apartments are basically cubicles anyway. (They don't own their own home; maybe at retirement.) I envy the money they make, but I made my decision being aware what I was missing.
That being said, there do seem to be a few that "have it all," but maybe it just seems that way.
Admin
What's the problem? He asnwered your question. WTF?
Admin
I'm with dubwai on this one. You sound like you went psycho on someone doing something that shouldn't disturb you from a phone interview. If they were chatting with you and what not, then I'd understand being a little pissed, but still throwing crap is never a professional thing to do.
Admin
The Sit Down guy is a jackass. Yeah, I agree it's rude not to ask if it's ok to erase stuff on the board before using it, but come on... If the stuff on the board is that important, don't bring a candidate in there. Also, if this guy is the president or whatever, doesn't he know his company probably has a policy about letting outsiders know about sensitive internal "documentation" (i mean the whiteboard)? What a dumbass....
Admin
If this test is given before an actual interview I would have walked out before even looking at the test. Unless I'm certain that the job is worth the time investment I'm not going to waste my time. If that makes me "worthless" then so be it.
Admin
Maybe I am. I was completely focused on trying to concentrate on a staticky long distance call to a non-native-English speaker, and she was physically leaning on me to see this picture, after I had told her I was interviewing someone.
I'm typically the model of politeness, but I have absolutely zero patience for that kind of rudeness. Something in me just snapped and I unfortunately responded with as much rudeness as I was given.
Admin
I know that this advice is completely unasked for, but might I humbly suggest an alternate course of action next time? I would suggest that you calmly reply "I'm sorry, but I find even the presence of people in my cubicle to be a distraction when I'm trying to talk on the phone. I'd be happy to show them to you later.". If she didn't get the hint then, showing some blatant irritation and anger might be appropriate. Otherwise, someone else pointed out, you just look like a psycho.
I have a former co-worker who would've taken a similar action to yours. Or he would've just sat and stewed and done the interview badly and been really upset and angry all day about it and complained bitterly and maybe even left early because he was too angry to work. He's actually a very nice guy, but people tended to be afraid of him and treat him as if he might snap and mow down the building with automatic machine gun fire at any moment.
Admin
We're talking about a test that shouldn't take more than 15 or 20 minutes. If you feel that's not worth your time, then I definitely wouldn't want you as an employee anyways.