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The worst job interview I ever had
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Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#302I've had quite a few too: * The most recent one: I was doing an "AI assisted coding interview". The problem itself was simple. I gathered clear specs, I explained what I planned to do. I was supposed to use AI so I wrote down the main function signatures I expected (the API boundary) and wrote in the prompt what I wanted Claude to do. I wrote no code myself other than editing the output. When I got rejected, I was to…
Regarding the first you posted, it sounds very much like a "feature" sweatshop. Meaning that they have some product with customers, and will implement absolutely every single request they get from customers - and really just want prompt engineers that will ship out updates as quick as possible.
IME, there's been a rise of those for the past 1-2 years. They not only embrace AI/slop coding, it is a core part of their business model.
Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
There’s a reason interviewers in the US won’t (or shouldn’t) even ask if the candidate has a spouse. If they ask something about that specifically, and the answer indicates some kind of protected status (a man says “my husband” or reveal which place of worship they got married in) and they then decline the candidate, the candidate could make the claim they were denied because they’re gay or practice whatever religion or something else.
Asking personal questions could be seen as a way to elicit information about a protected status and thus give a rejected candidate ammunition for a claim, whether warranted or not.
It’s best to just keep questions focused on the workplace.
Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#304I 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…
I've had an interview like this in the past. At the time, I chalked it up to a power trip and the indignant behavior that comes along with it, as it is especially embedded in the culture of the country that I'm based out of. Having said that, talking to a relative, I found out that this style of "interviewing" is often done when they already have someone for the position, but need to show (for compliance reasons, or…
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Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, OP just unwinded himself, no filter. You can be truthful and open with friends and family, close people to you. You absolutely shouldn't when talking with strangers.
Then strangers shouldn't fucking ask questions that could have answers that make them uncomfortable. Just a thought.
This is what makes this a potentially (mostly) great interview. If the candidate can’t/doesn’t understand the dynamic of the interview and hates it, they opt out of the process.
Probably only thing I would’ve done differently would have been to limit first call to 30 minutes to save me time when someone is obviously a bad fit.
Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#306Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#307[flagged]
Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#308I was excited, it was a game company, and I'd wanted to get back into games - or more specifically, game engines - for a few years. The tech of this particular company was interesting, an in-house engine developed by wunderkind, of course, and they'd invited me for an interview because I had done a fair bit of low-level work, which would be handy for their rough edges. Apparently. Half way through the interview, I ha…
I had a similar thing where they were going through my code from a takehome.
It was with an architect and a lead developer and the architect was really rubbing me up the wrong way. Stupid nitpicks that were all style preferences. Not at all talking about the actual code. I start pushing back and he starts getting a bit combative, which sets me off a bit too as these were the days jobs were plentiful.
At some point he offhandedly mentioned I didn't need a particular line of code in the startup config. So I say, "Yes, that's required, it initializes the routing". He quips back, "No, that line's not necessary at all, you don't need it". The lead dev is looking completely exasperated at the architect at this point.
I paused, started a screen share. Went to the line. Commented it out. Ran the program and it fell over.
I then said, "I'm not interested in working with you, thanks for your time, bye"
Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#309I 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…
> "What does this tell you?" Why didn't you answer, that it tells you that his camera is unfocused? I don't understand how people tolerate this for so long, I'd start trolling the guy after his third question. If he wants to be rude, then I'd retaliate and make sure I have a laugh while he is wasting his time.
Hard to claim the moral high ground if you do eye for an eye. Always be nicer than the other side.
Even for practical reasons. If they think you are a prick, the blast radius can be substantially wider than this specific interview. And for what? The lulz?
I'm not saying to accept rude behavior, but one can leave such situations without being rude back or making a scene.
Re: The worst job interview I ever had
#310I 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…
" but the interview engine is already running at full speed:" I dont know if this is a recent thing, but I had a similar thing where an interviewer was racing forward, and would only accept the answers he had in mind. In Python, he asked me how to search for substring. I was thinking but he started hurrying me. So I said regex and started writing a regex. "No, there is an inbuilt method" I couldnt remember the method…
I like such interviews. They tell me it's not a place I want to work at without wasting much time finding out.