• Bob (unregistered) in reply to th30519

    Not odd. His building uses steam for heat. Yours uses hot air blown thru air ducts.

  • Slashdot hater, but Slashdot READER (unregistered)

    WHY do I get the feeling that more and more of these "stories" are just that? MADE UP stories?

    Come on...this is ridiculous.

    What happened to the good ol' days when things that were submitted ACTUALLY HAPPENED???

  • Slashdot hater, but Slashdot READER (unregistered)

    WHY do I get the feeling that more and more of these "stories" are just that? MADE UP stories?

    Come on...this is ridiculous.

    What happened to the good ol' days when things that were submitted ACTUALLY HAPPENED???

  • (cs) in reply to Nether
    Nether:
    I think some people are overestimating the level of control a diabetic can potentially have over their bloodsugar with current technology.
    I don't know much about it, never having had a diabetic in my family and only one among my friends. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I meant no harm by my comments.
  • IT (unregistered) in reply to Slashdot hater, but Slashdot READER
    Slashdot hater:
    WHY do I get the feeling that more and more of these "stories" are just that? MADE UP stories?

    Come on...this is ridiculous.

    What happened to the good ol' days when things that were submitted ACTUALLY HAPPENED???

    You can say that again.

  • IT (unregistered) in reply to Slashdot hater, but Slashdot READER
    Slashdot hater:
    WHY do I get the feeling that more and more of these "stories" are just that? MADE UP stories?

    Come on...this is ridiculous.

    What happened to the good ol' days when things that were submitted ACTUALLY HAPPENED???

    You can say that again.

  • PublicLurker (unregistered) in reply to You didn't see me right?
    You didn't see me right?:
    sugarfree:
    Oh, and when you're low on sugar, your brain doesn't get enough energy, and basically it's the same feeling as if you're really drunk, so talking with your mouth open is very tame (people have been known to take their clothes off or run around screaming...)

    Now that's an interview I'd like to see.

    Even if it's the guy with the gold chains?

  • (cs) in reply to Slashdot hater, but Slashdot READER
    Slashdot hater:
    WHY do I get the feeling that more and more of these "stories" are just that? MADE UP stories?

    Come on...this is ridiculous.

    What happened to the good ol' days when things that were submitted ACTUALLY HAPPENED???

    Those days are past.

    These days, we're more into the post-modern thing, where we just make up anything we feel like and call it "art."

    In the future, we're thinking of going back to things that actually happened, just to confuse people. That way, it won't just be "art:" it'll also avoid law-suits and the need to anonymize.

    I'm thinking of you, MegaGlobalCorp.

  • Ron Jeremy (unregistered) in reply to PublicLurker
    PublicLurker:
    You didn't see me right?:
    sugarfree:
    (people have been known to take their clothes off or run around screaming...)

    Now that's an interview I'd like to see.

    Even if it's the guy with the gold chains?

    You talkin' 'bout me?

  • Superman (unregistered)

    The last applicant's strange behaviors can be easily explained citizens. He was, in fact, Electro-man. Any movement he makes generates enormous amounts of static electricity. So much so, that he's unable to touch a mortal human being without killing them. As it is, he must always wear a grounding strap to keep from destroying anything he touches. Sadly, this lack of human contact has left him emotionally crippled and prone to hysterical outbursts of sobbing.

  • (cs) in reply to Adam
    Adam:
    Jake Grey:
    This wouldn't happen to be a British civil service organisation, would it? That would actually explain quite a lot...

    I think the phrase "I just need health benefits" limits it to countries that don't have any kind of sensible healthcare provisions.

    It certainly doesn't limit it to countries that don't have any kind of sensible job applicants, does it?

  • eryn (unregistered) in reply to taylonr
    taylonr:
    Kuba:
    greywar:
    So I went to this interview, only problem was that my tabletpc was zapping the heck out of me, and I needed it to show some of my code if they asked for some examples, theres this really cool thing with virtual walls in a 3D environment that I was particularly proud of...anyways I digress. I slipped on a disposable grounding strap to keep from getting the daylights zapped out of me.

    One problem-I put it on the wrong hand. I reached in to grab the PC with the other hand, and it proceeded to zap the daylights out of me. And it was BAD, it hurt so much I teared up. I literally sat there being electrocuted for about 5 minutes before something on the pc finally shorted. These insensitive jerks just watched me nearly get electrocuted. I left, no way I wanted to work there.

    You're just dumb. It wasn't static electricity that hurt you. Static dissipative straps can be worn essentially on any extremity. They become a trip hazard when you wear them on your legs (duh, dude), but apart from that they work just fine.

    As for your predicament -- your tablet PC itself was not a generator of static electricity. Most likely the backlight inverter was somehow shorting to the case somewhere, somehow. Or the mains power supply had bad leakage.

    Is it just me, or did the story sound vaguely familiar? Almost as if I had just read it before coming in to the forums. I wonder where, oh where, could I have JUST read a similar story, but from a slightly different perspective?

    10 out 10 for creativity...and a 'WOOOSH' to the second poster unless i'm seriously missing the sarcasm tags. :)

  • Richard C Haven (unregistered) in reply to Alan
    Alan:
    He sat down at the conference table, and produced a disposable grounding wrist strap from his briefcase. He attached it to a nearby wall outlet, then burst into tears

    I really wasnt expecting the last word to be "tears".

    I was leaning towards "flames" myself <s>

  • wave_man (unregistered) in reply to The real wtf fool
    The real wtf fool:
    Alan:
    I had the same thing - apparently it was between me and some other guy. At the second interview they asked the usual "Why are you leaving your current job?". I went with "Wanting to move on, find new challenges". the other guy went with a huge rant about how everyone at his work was an arsehole.

    So you avoided the question with the standard cliche and he told the truth. And they gave you the job? Get out of there as soon as you can...

    Sorry to say, being able to play politics in the most basic sense is a job-related skill for anyone to cultivate. I rarely like to be around people who feel compelled to tell the "truth", as they would choose to pontificate it, at all times. Thank god for politics.

    wave_man

  • Dennis C. Fait (unregistered)

    And meanwhile well-qualifed and brilliant me sits at home unemployed.

  • dun (unregistered) in reply to greywar

    Are you stupid?

  • Richard C Haven (unregistered) in reply to sugarfree
    sugarfree:
    just to point out - the first lady was probably a diabetic, and so REALLY did need the sugar.

    I'm diabetic, and it's so annoying when people don't realise that when you say you need sugar, you mean you could quite easily die if you don't get some. While a sandwich isn't the best way to do it, there's still some carbohydrates there.

    Oh, and when you're low on sugar, your brain doesn't get enough energy, and basically it's the same feeling as if you're really drunk, so talking with your mouth open is very tame (people have been known to take their clothes off or run around screaming...)

    The only way Type II's go hypoglycemic is over-shooting (too much insulin). I just don't shoot up or eat before I will be unable to adjust my blood sugar for a period.

    Type I's are more problematic, as it is a completely different disease.

    Cheers

  • eryn (unregistered) in reply to Jeff Bell
    Jeff Bell:
    The diabetes issue is part of the lawsuit against Google by their former director of operation, Brian Reid.

    He has type II diabetes, and needs to eat at regular intervals. This was a problem when there were long meetings.

    He was fired 9 days before the IPO, losing out on options worth 10M.

    good wiki read

  • Netztier (unregistered) in reply to Nether
    Nether:
    By the way, severe hypoglycemia does not feel like being drunk. It's more like having your throat cut, all the blood drained out of you, and then being plunged into a sub-freezing torrential river and drowning.

    You forgot to add: the nagging feeling that you just can't shoo away impression that when you turn your head, there's a 7 foot guy in a black hooded cloak with a scythe behind you, grinning at you from a lipless mouth.

    I'll never forget my first hypoglycaemia. It really felt like life energy being sucked from me. Fast.

  • (cs) in reply to Netztier
    Netztier:
    Nether:
    By the way, severe hypoglycemia does not feel like being drunk. It's more like having your throat cut, all the blood drained out of you, and then being plunged into a sub-freezing torrential river and drowning.

    You forgot to add: the nagging feeling that you just can't shoo away impression that when you turn your head, there's a 7 foot guy in a black hooded cloak with a scythe behind you, grinning at you from a lipless mouth.

    I'll never forget my first hypoglycaemia. It really felt like life energy being sucked from me. Fast.

    Any other pointless and off-topic comments from diabetics?

    Anyone care to know how my next-door neighbour, when I was a kid (and fell in love with her five-year-old daughter, Helen, who never had children just in case they had genetic diabetes), died?

    I'll give you a clue. It wasn't pleasant.

    It did involve going blind, kidney failure, and one or two amputations, followed by septicemia.

    It didn't involve a tuna sandwich, though.

    People who come up with this sort of stuff in interviews are pathetic assholes and deserve all they get.

    Addendum (2008-05-20 18:09): Well, why not?

    in memoriam: Jean Tatum. Much loved.

    Addendum (2008-05-20 18:24): (That one's for Helen ... and me)

  • RH (unregistered)

    I visualize the grounding man being Tim Calhoun.

    http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/ummmliz/images/forte/calhoun.jpg

  • Welcome to Clinton Nationalized Health Care (unregistered)

    After my brushes with government workers, I totally believe this WTF.

  • Kuba (unregistered) in reply to Netztier
    Netztier:
    Nether:
    By the way, severe hypoglycemia does not feel like being drunk. It's more like having your throat cut, all the blood drained out of you, and then being plunged into a sub-freezing torrential river and drowning.

    You forgot to add: the nagging feeling that you just can't shoo away impression that when you turn your head, there's a 7 foot guy in a black hooded cloak with a scythe behind you, grinning at you from a lipless mouth.

    I'll never forget my first hypoglycaemia. It really felt like life energy being sucked from me. Fast.

    Hypoglycaemia, my ass. Ever heard of dementors?

  • RockSteadyEdd (unregistered) in reply to Dennis C. Fait
    Dennis C. Fait:
    And meanwhile well-qualifed and brilliant me sits at home unemployed.
    Well, you're just not brillant enough!
  • (cs) in reply to real_aardvark
    real_aardvark:
    I'll give you a clue. It wasn't pleasant.

    It did involve going blind, kidney failure, and one or two amputations, followed by septicemia.

    These are caused by uncontrolled high blood sugar. So sad.

  • Balony (unregistered)

    How did the coke-sniffing guy get past your verrrry structured screening process??? Sounds really like BS to me. I hope there is a probation process for new guys there.

    Maybe the process is the real WTF.

  • (cs) in reply to Slashdot hater, but Slashdot READER
    Slashdot hater:
    WHY do I get the feeling that more and more of these "stories" are just that? MADE UP stories?

    Come on...this is ridiculous.

    What happened to the good ol' days when things that were submitted ACTUALLY HAPPENED???

    Some of these stories do seem ridiculous. But, considering the millions of job interviews that are conducted every year, it seems reasonable that there will be a small handful that will be really wierd.

  • Founder (unregistered) in reply to cpp

    "Lord of the Rings" took place in a year. "Silmarillion" took place over tens of thousands of years.

  • Nick (unregistered) in reply to dmann
    dmann:
    One person couldn't write the simplest of SQL queries even though it was on their resume. "Other people on the project did that part". So why is SQL on your resume?!?
    Maybe it's like the military's campaign ribbons, everyone gets one, no matter how minor your participation.
  • loki (unregistered) in reply to Zagyg
    Zagyg:
    yo:
    i call shenanigans on this article, no way that last half ever happened.

    Inclined to agree. Getting 1 or maybe 2 oddballs in a batch of 8 candidates is to be expected, getting 4 total nutjobs in a batch of 4 candidates is stretching it slightly past believable for me. And yes, I do interview for IT positions and have for about 6 years.

    Obviously you do not do interviews for "state positions" - the only unbelievable part is that all of the applicants spoke English - I did (off and on) interviews for "state positions" for 12 years, and none of the above applicants are extraordinary ...

  • zzp (unregistered)

    I have to post a COMMENT on this website ?!

  • Captain Kibble (unregistered) in reply to Founder

    '"Silmarillion" took place over tens of thousands of years.'

    It just feels that way when you read it.

  • Ric (unregistered)

    Should've hired an applicant who doesn't speak your language at all, so that s/he can handle the angry customer calls calmly.

  • Alan (unregistered) in reply to Nick
    dmann:
    One person couldn't write the simplest of SQL queries even though it was on their resume. "Other people on the project did that part". So why is SQL on your resume?!?

    I once gave a graduate an interview becuase thier CV mentioned in length a complex web-project they seemed quite proud of.

    When asked about any aspect of the project the above answer was given every time.

  • Matthew (unregistered) in reply to Matt
    Matt:
    Adam:

    I think the phrase "I just need health benefits" limits it to countries that don't have any kind of sensible healthcare provisions.

    Which is why he said Britain, as it doesn't have sensible healthcare. (I'll gladly use my own money if I don't have to wait a year for needed surgery.)

    Which you can do in Britain as well, if you're one of the very few that does have to wait for a year. Private healthcare is still allowed, you know. However, if you have no money or insurance you still get the treatment.

    And you wouldn't get any additional health benefits in the British civil service.

  • matt (unregistered) in reply to Superman
    Superman:
    The last applicant's strange behaviors can be easily explained citizens. He was, in fact, Electro-man. Any movement he makes generates enormous amounts of static electricity. So much so, that he's unable to touch a mortal human being without killing them. As it is, he must always wear a grounding strap to keep from destroying anything he touches. Sadly, this lack of human contact has left him emotionally crippled and prone to hysterical outbursts of sobbing.
    Hehehehe. 10/10
  • (cs) in reply to yo
    yo:
    i call shenanigans on this article, no way that last half ever happened.

    I'm with you on this one. I need a security video or some affidavits or something.

  • (cs) in reply to m0ffx
    m0ffx:
    Leo:
    Because Elbereth knows
    Did you _have_ to included a Tolkein reference?

    Yes he did. Just be glad you don't have to work on code libraries written by Morgoth.

  • Greg (unregistered) in reply to IT
    IT:
    The eating-the-sandwich lady and the dirty clothes guy shouldn't surprise anyone who has worked in IT for more than five minutes...

    The others seem like a bit of a stretch. Perhaps they were exaggerated for humorous purposes but were exaggerated a bit too much...

    Perhaps you need to get out more an get experience with a broader sweep of humanity. The last place I worked had an applicant bomb out real fast when he was given a form to fill out. No trouble with the form, y'understand. It was that he drew back it horror murmuring, "That's a blue pen."

  • (cs) in reply to Pete
    Pete:
    My certainty level about WTF pieces being made up goes up all the time.

    And yet you still read them, and waste our time with nonsense posts.

  • (cs) in reply to Edward Royce
    Edward Royce:
    You shouldn't talk about Barach Obama like that.

    FTFY.

  • (cs)
    Our final candidate was well groomed, well dressed in a nice suit, and carried a briefcase. He sat down at the conference table, and produced a disposable grounding wrist strap from his briefcase. He attached it to a nearby wall outlet, then burst into tears without a word. A few times, he almost regained his composure, but ultimately ended up fleeing from the conference room without ever saying a single word.
    Shawn G?
  • (cs) in reply to anotherProgrammer
    anotherProgrammer:
    Some diabetics don't have that kind of pinpoint control on their blood sugar levels.

    Sorry, but I don't buy that. I know several diabetics, and none of them lacks the control over the disease enough to have trouble figuring out: "Hey, I have an interview in an hour, and it should take about an hour too. So I'll need to make sure I eat something beforehand so I don't have blood sugar trouble during the interview."

    Having some common sense doesn't mean you have "pinpoint control". It means you can use your brain for more than a separator between your ears.

  • (cs) in reply to Slashdot hater, but Slashdot READER
    Slashdot hater:
    WHY do I get the feeling that more and more of these "stories" are just that? MADE UP stories?

    Come on...this is ridiculous.

    What happened to the good ol' days when things that were submitted ACTUALLY HAPPENED???

    What happened to the good ol' days when idiots didn't post whiney crap? Or when "Slashdot READER"s stayed on Slashdot instead of wasting our time here? Or when people who didn't like the content of a website didn't stay to read it and post BS, but instead used a little intelligence and just DIDN'T COME HERE?

  • George (unregistered)

    Sadly, the real WTF is that most best/brightest don't apply to state or non-profit agencies. Making $$ isn't really compatible with that, though you've got as good a chance of making a difference to thousands of people who care about it as you would working at a huge ISV.

  • Anonymous (unregistered)

    Um, what company is this? Remind me to stay away from this place. Sounds like management are a bunch of idiots if they can't even filter people correctly during the resume review and I hope you guys are using a phone screen process first to ask those "technical questions". There's no reason for an overly formal process. Just sit the developer down, have them code something simple. Then meet them ask some questions and if you are good with technology you should be able to weed out good people without an 8 hour frigging interview process. Otherwise you guys need to reevaluate your hiring skills and read some IT blogs on how to hire people.

    Sounds like a mom and pop shop to me here.

  • me (unregistered)

    It's not "Novell 3" it's NetWare 3.x.

  • Jay (unregistered) in reply to wave_man
    The real wtf fool:
    Alan:
    I had the same thing - apparently it was between me and some other guy. At the second interview they asked the usual "Why are you leaving your current job?". I went with "Wanting to move on, find new challenges". the other guy went with a huge rant about how everyone at his work was an arsehole.

    So you avoided the question with the standard cliche and he told the truth. And they gave you the job? Get out of there as soon as you can...

    Yes, it's crazy, but there are many standard interview questions to which the "right" answer and the "honest" answer are two completely different things.

    I once came across a list of "questions that women ask men to which men routinely give the wrong answer". Examples included, "Do you think she's prettier than I am?" The article explained that the correct answer is, "Of course not baby, you're much prettier than she is." Incorrect answers include, "You're pretty in a different way," and "Yes -- but you're more intelligent."

    Same sort of thing goes for interview questions.

  • (cs)

    I really don't want to leave a comment, I just want the accolades.

  • (cs) in reply to KenW
    KenW:
    What happened to the good ol' days when idiots didn't post whiney crap? Or when "Slashdot READER"s stayed on Slashdot instead of wasting our time here? Or when people who didn't like the content of a website didn't stay to read it and post BS, but instead used a little intelligence and just DIDN'T COME HERE?
    Ummm.

    I don't remember those days.

    I do remember when we didn't have idiots calling themselves "KenW" posting drivel, however.

    (I'd like to say that I remember the days when we didn't have idiots calling themselves "real_aardvark" posting drivel, but, obviously, that would be a logical impossibility.)

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