Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The worst job interview I ever had

oliverio.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 589 posts

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#91

Post by stared »

sdenton4 wrote: post #27

I fail to recall the exact wording of the discussion topics, but they were, in fact, non-technical — covering such lovely topics as the hardest day of my life, my biggest life challenges, and other similar “trauma-baiting” questions. Ha, I don't think anyone who asks these questions expects that you'll respond in a fully unfiltered way... These kinds of questions are part and parcel of non-tech interview processes. Y…

If they ask questions but expect fake, censored or cherry-picked answers, it says a lot about their culture.

Pro tip (for life, not only interviewing): never ask a question you don’t want to hear answer to.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#92

Post by codemog »

donatj wrote: post #81

I've been working as a dev for over twenty years now and have had my fair share of interviews. The very worst I ever had was about six months ago. I'd had a fantastic initial interview, it seemed like a perfect fit and interesting tech. Overlapped a lot with some work I'd been doing recently. They made it sound like my experience was a great match and they were exited for me to move forward. I was the most excited I'…

Seems like you dodged a bullet. Hard to hear when you’re looking for a job, but not every job is a good opportunity.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#93

Post by Kholin »

I've met the same type interview recently, but not on the phone, it's a online web forms. I just write those not that important and positive memories, because I don't trust them from the start. Also, on the next step of the form, there's a statement shows they will use AI to analyze my personality. I feel uncomfortable and told them I don't like their way of interview and just end it.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#94

Post by jimt1234 »

One thing I've done in the past when interviewing candidates is to create a hypothetical situation where the candidate doesn't know how to proceed, like some difficult technical issue. I'd also tell the candidate that their manager and peers are all unavailable. Then, I'd ask how they'd go about trying to resolve the issue and proceed. Honestly, I was never looking for the correct resolution. Rather, I was just looking that the candidate had some basic process for troubleshooting and figuring stuff out on their own. If someone said, "I'd search Stack Overflow until I found the solution.", that was usually good enough. However, all too often, candidates just couldn't understand what was being asked, like they independent troubleshooting was an unrealistic skillset. I'd say, "Just walk me through how you'd approach solving this issue." Some candidates would fully melt down, saying, "I don't know. I can't proceed."

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#95

Post by efortis »

A hiring manager asked me a question like those. I said: "sorry I'm not prepared, I don't remember from the top of my head." Right before that interview I was a solo founder. He said something like: "ok, so you just focus on the work?" "Yes." I got the job.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#96

Post by freehorse »

sdenton4 wrote: post #27

I fail to recall the exact wording of the discussion topics, but they were, in fact, non-technical — covering such lovely topics as the hardest day of my life, my biggest life challenges, and other similar “trauma-baiting” questions. Ha, I don't think anyone who asks these questions expects that you'll respond in a fully unfiltered way... These kinds of questions are part and parcel of non-tech interview processes. Y…

But why ask about "the hardest day in your life" instead eg "the hardest day at work"?

Personally asking this kind of personal questions sounds very weird. You can evaluate soft skills and culture fit by asking more relevant, professional questions. Except if the reason to ask this kind of more personal questions was sth else.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#98

Post by toast0 »

elzbardico wrote: post #75
eximius wrote: post #59

Earlier this year I was told I failed an interview because when asked why I wanted to join a company, my answer "could apply to other companies in the same stage of life." They apparently required me to be _uniquely_ interested in their company. There were other oddities about their interview process. Some interviewers just want to feel special.

Assume that every singlemotherfucking breathing human you find in your life wants or at least likes to feel special, and that any company that asks you that question wants you to massage their ego a little bit. Don't think much about it, just believe what I am telling you. It is going to save you a lot of grief.

That question may be a little bit praise seeking (especially in other contexts), but it's also a way to ask if you did any research on the company, or do you just spray and pray.

If you took time to do a little research and validate that you fit more than 'i need a pay check and you have paychecks' that's valuable for the company. Your judgement may be poor, but you self screened, so that's an extra screening.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#99

Post by [deleted] »

stared wrote: post #91
sdenton4 wrote: post #27

I fail to recall the exact wording of the discussion topics, but they were, in fact, non-technical — covering such lovely topics as the hardest day of my life, my biggest life challenges, and other similar “trauma-baiting” questions. Ha, I don't think anyone who asks these questions expects that you'll respond in a fully unfiltered way... These kinds of questions are part and parcel of non-tech interview processes. Y…

If they ask questions but expect fake, censored or cherry-picked answers, it says a lot about their culture. Pro tip (for life, not only interviewing): never ask a question you don’t want to hear answer to.

[deleted]

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#100

Post by TylerE »

freehorse wrote: post #96
sdenton4 wrote: post #27

I fail to recall the exact wording of the discussion topics, but they were, in fact, non-technical — covering such lovely topics as the hardest day of my life, my biggest life challenges, and other similar “trauma-baiting” questions. Ha, I don't think anyone who asks these questions expects that you'll respond in a fully unfiltered way... These kinds of questions are part and parcel of non-tech interview processes. Y…

But why ask about "the hardest day in your life" instead eg "the hardest day at work"? Personally asking this kind of personal questions sounds very weird. You can evaluate soft skills and culture fit by asking more relevant, professional questions. Except if the reason to ask this kind of more personal questions was sth else.

The cynic in me says because they want to select candidates whose work IS their life.
Post reply on HN