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

221–230 of 589 posts

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#221

Post by AJRF »

gobdovan wrote: post #173

I always wanted to tell the story of my weirdest interview. It's bad in a different way from OP's. This was for a "Machine Learning Engineer" contractor position. - Hi, I'm gobdovan. How are you? says I. The interviewer doesn't bite: - How many prompting techniques do you know? (ok?..) After a couple confused seconds, I respond with 2-3 techniques and ask if I should explain them, but the interview engine is already…

Why doesn't stuff like this happen to me, i'd have so much fun with a guy like this >:)

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#222

Post by pan69 »

anyfoo wrote: post #149
pan69 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just a formality and a friendly chat That was not the case in this scenario. I was told I would be offered the role if I came out favorable with the CEO (did he like me or not? did I jump when the said "jump"?). To me this meant that the CEO doesn't trust the people he hires. He clearly didn't trust the hiring manager's jugement and/or respected their position. The CEO delegated a task and responsibility but then f…

You know better, as you have all the information and we merely have a shadow of it, but that in itself still sounds like “standard boilerplate” to me. I remember from my friends who worked at Google at the time, that everyone’s always been told that “every new hire’s contract lands on Larry Page’s desk, he has to sign off on it”, and you can probably bet your bottom dollar that Larry Page didn’t spend a lot of time o…

I wouldn't work at Google either.

If you can't trust the people you have hired to hire people then you shouldn't have hired them.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#223

Post by GJim »

bitbasher wrote: post #103

My worst interview was at Uber (their security team). The screening and technical interviews on site were all fine and dandy. At the end of the onsite interviews I spoke with the director in charge of the team. I asked some general questions like, "What's the team's work-life balance like?" He chuckled and said something like they work 60+ hour works. I looked at him and said flatly, "Yeah, I'm not doing that." The H…

Ummmmm

Interviews are a two-way thing. Don't forget that.

Frankly, far from being your worst interview, this was one of your most successful ones.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#224

Post by knorker »

Scandiravian wrote: post #197
MattRogish wrote: post #90

This… was a mistake on both you and the interviewer. All interview questions - unless it’s impossible to twist your answer to fit this - is scoped to “… at work”. Nobody who asks “tell me about yourself” is asking you to talk about how you met your partner, how many cats you have, or that experience you had, that one time, at band camp. It would be redundant and awkward to literally say “… at work” at the end of ever…

I think this is a very cultural thing. When I interview candidates at my current job, we are interested in hearing about their life outside of work, since we want to know how we can best collaborate If they have to pick up their kids in the afternoon, then it's probably better that they work closer with the other parents than of they're late risers who prefer coming to the office at 10

An employer making career-affecting decisions for their employees based on whether they have kids or not sounds like a great way to get sued.

That said, I have been asked if I had kids, in an interview. Later in my career, when I was trained to perform interviews, I was explicitly told to NEEEEEVER ask that. And if the candidate volunteers it, to basically pretend you didn't hear it.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#225

Post by calcifer »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #167
victorbojica wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was also part of this sort of interview once. They specifically asked personal questions - parents stuff, relationship, etc. Definitely not work related. It was indeed a very strange and exhausting experience. I could've definetly refused to answer some of the questions or drop out of the interview altogether, but not sure why I haven't. So yeah, this type of interview exists so I highly doubt the interviewer inter…

> They specifically asked personal questions - parents stuff, relationship, etc. In the US any employer who asks you about personal relationships during an interview is opening themselves up to an illegal discrimination lawsuit.

Which protected characteristic does "personal relationships" fall under? It's vague enough to mean almost anything you want it to be, and I struggle to imagine any sort of successful prosecution.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#226

Post by lawgimenez »

I also had a remote interview for an Australian agency company. I went to their website and it was all Australian folks, name, photos, etc. Their website also has a video of them working inside the office, having a meeting.

When I joined the call it was just a couple of Indian persons, with the video resolution of one fella so low, it was hard to make up his face. The other one was a female which did not turned on her camera for reasons she mentioned something she was sick and don't like turning it on.

I had lots of remote interview, but this one is just borderline creepy.

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#227

Post by cobertos »

sevenseacat wrote: post #194

Heh, I once interviewed at a place that asked me to sit the Oxford Capacity Analysis test as part of the process. (The Scientology personality test, for those unaware.) I politely declined, which seemed to confuse the interviewer, but he moved right along. I still got the job lol

What was the job like? That's quite the thing to move past and then still get the job on

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#228

Post by babafun »

gobdovan wrote: post #173

I always wanted to tell the story of my weirdest interview. It's bad in a different way from OP's. This was for a "Machine Learning Engineer" contractor position. - Hi, I'm gobdovan. How are you? says I. The interviewer doesn't bite: - How many prompting techniques do you know? (ok?..) After a couple confused seconds, I respond with 2-3 techniques and ask if I should explain them, but the interview engine is already…

You have to respect this guy's patience tho

Re: The worst job interview I ever had

#229

Post by nephihaha »

booleandilemma wrote: post #16

I was asked what my hobbies are during an interview once and it made me believe they were just looking for a personality hire or a pretty face.

This is quite common. Hobbies may suggest to them an attention to detail, working well in a team (sport) or leadership abilities.
Post reply on HN