Interview Nightmares 13

[BJCooperIT]

I once worked for a software vendor (read: sweat shop) that I will call XYZ. Years later I interviewed for a position at one of their clients in a different state. This client had bitter feelings regarding their contract with XYZ. I was asked several questions by a panel of three hostile people who wanted to know how XYZ functioned internally and why they did not get the service to which they felt entitled.

Had I known how strained the relationship between these companies was, I would never have applied for the position. I had never even worked on their contract and was now between a rock and a hard place. If I defended XYZ, then I knew I was sunk. If I complained about XYZ, then I would not appear to have been a dedicated employee. I told the tale of dedicated developers who did their best in an environment where deadlines and contracts were in the hands of sales people. I did not get the job. Afterwards I had the distinct impression that I had only been interviewed so they could play their cat-and-mouse game with me as some sort of revenge.

Anyone else had an interview or interview question from hell? Hopefully by sharing we can avoid making the same mistakes.

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000

 

[jrbarnett]

KenCunningham and Sashanan,

I never mention medical conditions in my CV or application forms unless it is specifically requested.
The problem with not declaring them is that if I were to deliberately hide these facts, then start working, if my employer were to find out they could fire me for lying on the application form, which has been signed as being "accurate and complete." or something similar.

My trouble is I have a list of medical conditions as long as your arm, as well as problems caused by medical problems/surgery I had many years ago which still affect me to this day, and unless there is some major breakthrough, will be with me until the day I die. I could list them, but you would probably need a friendly neurosurgeon to understand them all.

While many people who I only got to know after the problems say that they can't see any problems with me, I am only too aware of these, compared to people of a similar age group to myself, who haven't.
Looking back on it, I think what happened to me was illegal under UK disability discrimination legislation, but there is nothing I can do as it happened two years ago now.

John

 

[tgr430]

Hi,

Does anybody know what happens after you get a job offer from a company by telephone and you accept? Do they have to send you a letter or a package in the mail telling you the details?

I've checked other sites but can't find any info. Thank you in advance.

Terry.

 

[fredericofonseca]

This was better on a new thread!!!

Depends on the company.

Some just send you the contract to sign, some send a package, some just say "show up on date X".

This is something you will need to ask your new employer.
If you are unemployed, doesn't cause you much damage if you don't have the paperwork, but if you need to handle your notice DO NOT resign without the signed contract. Even a fax is valid, as long as it is signed by the company.




Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

 

[p27br]

I had the following experience :

I applied for a position inside my company, passed all the tests (an entire day of IQ and personality tests), but I wasn't warned personally that I didn't get the job, instead I learnt it by reading an email that the management sent to all employees communicating that the position had been filled and presenting the new employee.
How's that ?

 

[fredericofonseca]

That is common practice in many places.
Only management level positions will normally be advised of a NO.

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

 

[DoubleD]

I have a friend who was asked in his interview, "How did you prepare for this interview?". His response, "I took a shower this morning." Manager had to fight to convince the directors he was the right applicant, they hired him and he's been excellent for the company.

(lespaul) Can programmers actually pass a personality test?

I didn't know programmers had personalities. I thought all responses to outside stimulus were based on If-Then-Else, Case statements, or Error handling. hehehe


Pain is stress leaving the body.

DoubleD

 

[BJCooperIT]

Hey! We programmers have personalities... they just are a bit warped according to conventional standards.

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Systems Project Analyst/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle/Windows

 

[ecobb]

Actually, I think we're normal...everyone else is a little "off"...



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[fredericofonseca]

DoubleD

Off course we have personalities. And we are perfectly normal until we meet with one of those bloody users!!

Then we hide it so they don't feel too overwhelmed with it!!

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

 

[chiph]

The problem with being an INTP is that when other people are wrong, they're really wrong.

Chip H.

____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[SQLSister]

P27br
{quote]I applied for a position inside my company, passed all the tests (an entire day of IQ and personality tests), but I wasn't warned personally that I didn't get the job, instead I learnt it by reading an email that the management sent to all employees communicating that the position had been filled and presenting the new employee.
How's that ?{/quote]

I didn't get a promotion I had applied for one time and I was on a business trip at the time they made the announcement. My boss called me and told me this way. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is they promoted George." He was soooo very lucky I didn't hang up on him.


Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[SGTRawlins]

I have an interesting story of irony that blessed my career path in recent weeks.

I have been doing some self-employed contract work for small companies to earn some extra cash. I developed a project schedule for a network infrastructure implementation, submitted it to the prospect client along with some other tenders.

Went for a meeting about a week later with the client, and the conversation went a little something like this.

Employer: We are not interested in using your consultancy service for the implementation of our network...........we want to employ you full time!

Interesting, were they ever intending to use a one off consultancy job or was this a form of interview!?

Anyhow, a couple of weeks later I went for an interview to discuss my role within the company, salary and benefits etc. I stated several times during the interview that their system was very unstable and if they did not hire someone to improve it urgently then if the system failed or god forbid they have a fire they would be sailing up sh** creek.

They made me a poliminary offer that was sub standard, I declined the offer and suggested more money. The MD said he would discuss the issue on his return from holiday.

Just days after he leaves I have a phone call from the manager...their system is down, no one can support it...this downtime lasted days and they have since been running 24/7 to catch up on production, ironic huh!

To make things worse only days after this event their other office burns to the ground! a case for the X-Files I believe! I expect a phone call from the MD offering more money!.........or a call from the police to arrest me on suspicion of arson in the near future!

Cheers, Rob

 

[p27br]

sqlsister :

what am i complaining about !

 

[jtb]

Some things are better left unstated... but I want to chat about my last several interviews. Please note that I took vacation days for all of these. All except Company C are either much, much smaller or entirely out of business--so it must have actually been the Grace of God that I had these experiences.

Company A called me in for an interview, the first guy (HR) was impressed, introduced me to the second guy who had worked for my then current employer but in a "competing" group, told me I "wasn't technical enough" and told me his life story before telling me I wouldn't get the job and introducing me to the third guy who interrupted the interview twice with calls to his cell phone before I thanked him for my time and excused myself. I called the HR guy myself to relay the message (these guys had quite a few folks who were pretty well stuck on themselves and no cube walls).

Company B flew me out from Dallas to Kirkland (Seattle area), in spite of my infrastructure support background, interviewer finally told me the position was for an application development project manager... hmmm... would I be willing to leave my employer for the same pay and move to a state with a higher cost of living? I thanked them for the opportunity (these folks were great but apparently not good at screening applicants).

Company C spent all day interviewing me for a nearly identical position: 1st guy was sharp but new to the company... asked all the standard questions... Second guy had been with the company 25 years and asked a few more thought-provoking questions... Third guy was a former manager of mine who had written me up for a bonus--just chatted about the old days and asked me if I'd take a pay cut to come work with this larger competitor of my employer... *sigh* None of the managers I interviewed had the slightest doubt that the job was perfect for me; but they reported back to the recruiter that I was "not technical enough".

Company D had me fill out an application in one building, then send me unescorted to another building across the street... windy day... must have been a test... the guys upstairs who interviewed me didn't have a job description or a clear idea of what the role would be... just that it wouldn't be what I had applied for...

Company E's technical phone interview consisted of asking me about LIM and related terms... I tried to tell them that supporting desktops that old was more expensive than buying new ones and upgrading applications... but apparently a knowledge of TCO wasn't considered useful...

Company F called me up at 10PM after I'd gone to sleep for the evening and jumped into configuration management details...

Company G invited me in and the one who was to interview me forgot and went home early, not telling anyone else. They tried to make up for it by interviewing me anyway; but it was clear the only person who had a clue was not there... including me... (these guys did have beer on tap in the break room)

Now, to be sure, there are probablydefinitely some "other side" stories in my past... but the above annecdotes should serve to remind us that not getting hired can be A Very Good Thing^[®], too... ;-)


JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 

[Terpsfan]

After reading the above post, I'm not sure what is worse, a root canal or an interview.

 

[SQLSister]

I put in for a job last February that I didn't get interviewed for (An analytical position, not programming). The company called me up yesterday and wanted to interview me for a differnt position. It was a programming position. Now mind you I haven't appied for this position and know nothing about it. I ask for some details and she reads me the job description but doesn't mention anything about what programming languages they use. She doesn't know and is clearly surprised that I would need to know that to determine if I am interested in the position. I got the feeling she thought that if you had programmer in your title you were qualified for any programming position.

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[Terpsfan]

I can remember having interviews at a few tech agencies that were real zingers.

One time I asked if this was a multi-user application and the interviewer asked "uh, what's a multi-user application?". Even if I had zero computer knowledge, I could at least connect the dots and realize "multi" and "user" means "many users".

In another I asked what programming language(s) would be used to develop a certain application. The interviewer said "SQL!". I said, "no, I mean what LANGUAGE is this being developed in?". He seemed a bit pissed off and asserted "It's being developed in SQL!"

These tech agencies should at least have someone with technical knowledge to conduct these interviews. How can they send someone on a job with confidence otherwise?

 

[jrbarnett]

Well, it looks as if being sent to inappropriate interviews is not just a habit of UK recruitment consultants judging by the responses here.

I was sent for a Powerbuilder developer job at which the client requested 3 years experience, I had 6 months and was nowhere near good enough for their needs.
I can also remember explaining to one recruitment agent the fact that there were different versions of the Sybase database engine, and that their specification didn't explain which was used, and thus whether I was appropriate for the role or not.
I could go on, but better not.

John

 

[chiph]

The next phone screen you take may not even be being run by the company itself:

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/04/phone_center/

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[cyclegeek]

Haha - almost forgot about this story (how could I).

A couple classmates at the Chubb Institute had the following experience.

The Chubb Institute acts as a recruiter/placement firm for graduates and as such sends students on interviews to client firms. The better you do in class, the better chance Chubb hooks you up with a good place. The number one guy in my class was sent to interview with a web development firm - that developed material to be used on gay porn sites. When the truth of the matter was revealed during the interview, my classmate ended the interview. Undaunted, Chubb sent another classmate to the same firm. The second guy was a bit more desperate for a job and accepted the position. He was fired two weeks later for using his breaks to talk to job recruiters on his cell phone.

Cheers,
cyclegeek