I found from my own experience both on the hiring side and the candidate side, that there isn't always such a good correlation between getting answers right and being hired or not. Sometimes you get everything right and still don't get the job. On the other hand, sometimes someone might fail miserably and still get the job. It's not like school, where everything is objective.
Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
21–30 of 30 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#22Tell me about a time you put your own self-interest ahead of your employer's.
Right now as I am interviewing instead of working overtime for free.
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#23"Tell us a story about how you took down production." A reasonable question. But if you really need to reject the candidate (for instance, if you're attempting to resist, or provide cover for resisting, someone brought in e.g. by the bad kind of nepotism), no matter how much they talk about how it led them to build systems to prevent similar disasters, as an interviewer you can selectively choose to focus on the mind…
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Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#24Regardless of how they answer? Like a trick question? Sounds sinister. Why would you want this I wonder?
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#25A long while ago I was in an interview where the interviewer retold a story about a white (yes, skin color was relevant) adventuring motorcyclist in Africa. Anyways, he was driving by himself in southern Africa in Namibia or so. Then outside a village the motorcycle broke down and he got into a horrible accident that broke his leg.
The villagers came and saw that he was wounded. So they started to take pieces of his packing, of his motorcycle and even his expensive wrist watch. He laid there in pain outside the village for several hours as none of the natives helped him. Until another white motorcyclist came and helped him up on his bike and drove him to a hospital. The end.
To this date I have nfc why he told me this story or why he thought it was relevant in a developer interview. Fairly sure it was an elaborate test though with only bad answers possible.
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#26A very long time ago, for a job not in the software industry, I had to take one of those multiple-choice exams they use to screen employees. There were probably 100 questions. One of the questions was something like "Have you ever been dishonest?". I probably dishonestly answered that question (with a no) and was thus probably red-flagged by the "Machine" and never proceeded in the interview process.
This sentence is a lie.
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#27A long while ago I was in an interview where the interviewer retold a story about a white (yes, skin color was relevant) adventuring motorcyclist in Africa. Anyways, he was driving by himself in southern Africa in Namibia or so. Then outside a village the motorcycle broke down and he got into a horrible accident that broke his leg. The villagers came and saw that he was wounded. So they started to take pieces of his…
Most weird interview anecdote ever
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#28"Have you ever used company computer to search for information unrelated to your job?"
Yes => We cannot hire you
No => Liar! We cannot hire you.
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I figure you wanted to defend your take regardless, but the quotes indicated to me that the parent was posing as the company that wanted to reject the candidate no matter what the answer was. :)
And I was roleplaying as myself, rejecting the company.
That was nicely done and I agree - I'd rather be unemployed than work for a company that would think through something like that! Great job. :)
Re: Ask HN: What are job interview questions that can be used to reject regardless
#30The double bind :) You've got to love a good double bind.
An interviewer doesn't really have to ask you anything. They can just decide on the basis of what you didn't say instead.
"When asked about his JS experience, he mentioned Y without mentioning X."
A more interesting question would be, can you think of a double bind that allows the interviewer to take either side without looking like a hypocrite over multiple interviews?