Blowing Up a Pointless Job Interview

Nemo the Magnificent writes "Ever been asked a question in a job interview that's just so abysmally stupid, you're tempted to give in to the snark and blow the whole thing up? Here are suggested interview-ending answers to 16 of the stupidest questions candidates actually got asked in interviews at tech companies in 2013, according to employment site Glassdoor. Oil to pour on the burning bridges."

Comments

Here's the sad part

[bigsexyjoe]

When you are young, desperate, and eager to please, they ask you all the stupid questions. Their apparent motive is just to fuck with you and assert dominance.

When you are older and have a resume, they don't bother with the stupid questions. They just ask you about code and projects.

Re:Here's the sad part

[tftp]

In other words, the number of stupid questions is inversely proportional to your perceived value to the company. An experienced employee can easily walk away if he does not like your questions - and what then will you tell your boss who is desperate to fill that Project Lead position? Especially if the boss was also present at the interview? Good Project Leads are hard to find. You won't even talk to a good Code Monkey every day.

Re:Here's the sad part

[houstonbofh]

Just remember, too much experience is bad. After you have 10 years experience you'll be too old to be employable. Anywhere. Ever.

I keep hearing that, and yet I keep working... Hmmm... And not only do I have 10 years experience, I have it three times!

Re:Here's the sad part

[lgw]

Just remember, too much experience is bad. After you have 10 years experience you'll be too old to be employable. Anywhere. Ever.

Only if you've been deeply irresponsible in your own job skills. One thing I learned early that that expertise in any technology stack will only last 5 years or so before it's worthless. Sometimes you have to move on, even to a lower-paying job, just to freshen your skills (as I recently did). Sometimes you have to directly focus on improving your non-technical skills in a real way. But you only become unemployable when you stop learning new professional skills.

20-mumble years of experience and still going here. Going back through my email, I was contacted 12 times last quarter by recruiters who seemed credible in having senior positions to fill, and a couple who didn't. I've certainly met and interviewed people who have made themselves unhirable by focusing too narrowly for too long, but as long as you remember that each specific technology that you're expert in will be meaningless in 5 years (and that salary doesn't go up when you're older like it does when you're younger), you won't have this problem.

Unprofessional all around

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're that certain you do not wish the job, don't make peoples day any more difficult by being a dickhat. Just politely end the interview saying you are no longer interested in the position.

That kind of response sends the message loud and clear that it was their interview that drove you away and may push them to explain why they were asking such shitty questions. If nothing else it avoids creating an instant adversarial position where your indignation is written off as "you being a dickhat" not that there might be something wrong with their interview process.

We're adults, grow the hell up and stop assuming anyone gives a crap if you act like a smartypants.

Re:Unprofessional all around

[Anonymous Coward]

Just politely end the interview saying you are no longer interested in the position.

It's important to remember that a job interview should be a 2 way street. You need to be clear (and it may not hurt to make it clear) that you are assessing them as much as the other way round. Telling someone they failed should always be done politely and with tact.

Re:Unprofessional all around

[Penguinisto]

This, right here.

In tech circles, your name gets passed around a lot farther than you think. Even if you turn down that job, the fact that you were a dickhat will pass around - eventually to the jobs you do want. IF you don't fit into the culture, you won't fit into the job.

This is doubly true in medium and smaller tech markets (like here in PDX, for instance). We've been trying to hire sysadmins here with experience, and we've been able to weed out at least a couple of resumes so far based just on (bad) reputation.

While I and my cohorts don't know everyone in the biz here, we do know who we really want, and who we don't want.

How often do you get stressed

[Anonymous Coward]

My response was never, stress gets no work done, I budget for it after the issue resolution.

My response did not change inspite of the question being asked 3 more times, the interviewer got stressed and ended the interview. Interviews are crappy, if the manager does not know what the deliverable is

Be Careful

[Trip6]

You want to be snarky? Go ahead - enjoy it and feel good about yourself. But remember that the professional world in which you play is a VERY small one, and word gets around.

Return it to the Interviewer!

[Irate Engineer]

Remember that a job interview is a 2-way transaction - you should be checking out the company and staff as carefully as they are checking you out. Put them on the ropes, ask them questions that make *them* uncomfortable, see how they handle it. "How has the company stock been doing?" Whatever the answer (Good/Poor), ask "Why?". Maintain eye contact and look for shifty glances. Keep your bullshit detector on high sensitivity. "What things does your competitor do better than your organization, and what is your plan to change them?"

It's one thing to be new to the profession and just want to steer your way to a first job. But later, after you've worked through a couple crappy companies, you'll see that it is important to be on the offensive during the interviews. Walk in like a boss and probe their weaknesses. Any organization worth their salt should be impressed at your command of the situation. And if they really were looking for a meek wallflower that would spout the most PC response - do you really want to work there? And if the responses from the interviewer are stilted and confused, do you really want them as a co-worker?

Re: Return it to the Interviewer!

[Todd Knarr]

Consider my response to that: "Oh, I already know how it's doing. I did my research on your company. I want to know if you know how your own company's stock's doing, and how your view of it matches up with the analysts' take on your company.". If the interviewer's willing to BS me about the company's performance and how it's handling itself, what else are they BSing me on? And if they honestly don't realize how their company's performing, I have to wonder whether there's some fundamental dysfunction that I may not want any part of.