(Inspired by the Hardest interview question you've ever been hit with thread)
I was interviewing for an auto manufacturer (rhymes with Honda) back when I was a Network Administrator/Cable Jockey (1999). I submitted my resume through Monster.com and received a phone call about 2 months later. I had practically forgotten I submitted my resume in the first place. The HR lady and I talked for a little bit while I detailed my experience, why I was leaving my current job, etc. Then she said they'd like to schedule the interview for 6:30am. Yes, 6:30am. Being the eager, accommodating individual that I am (was), I cheerfully obliged. Even though they were 45 minutes in the opposite direction of my job, I didn't like making waves.
I took half the day off and showed up on time and ready to interview for the position of Network Administrator. NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR.
Write that down.
First I interview with the HR rep from the phone call. She's nice, it goes well, and we click (no secksing, sorry). Then she leaves and after waiting for about 30 minutes, she comes back with two or three (don't remember exactly) fat, crusty, life-hating bastards who stroll in and sit at the opposite end of the table from me (about 10 feet away). So I'm at one end, they're at the other. Ms. HR is sitting in a corner as if to take the meeting's minutes.
Let the inquisition begin.
I go over my resume, touching on key points of experience when appropriate, etc. Absolutely unimpressed and making no effort to hide it, they start asking me about programming.
Huh? Me no code. Me plug stuff in.
I'm getting questions about C, C++, Visual Basic, you name it. It was obvious I had no idea what they were talking about, and I must have told them 50 times that I had absolutely ZERO programming experience.
They seemed to take delight in just beating me up with all these questions they knew I couldn't answer.
Finally, I ran out of patience and the will to be polite and cordial (seeing as how they walked into the room without these qualities).
"Guys, I'm not a programmer. I have never written a line of code. Ever. It sounds to me like you're looking for a software developer, but my experience is with maintaining networks and resources."
The crusty fsck in the middle shoots back with something along the lines of, "Well we need both."
He was so smug and ASSHOLE about it. I sat there for a few seconds, looked down at my notes, glanced at them real quick, and then stood up and said "well... thank you for absolutely wasting ALL OF OUR TIME. Take care."
And I walked out.
As I'm leaving, the lady from HR is apologizing profusely. She was obviously embarrassed by their behavior. We left on a fine note, but those guys were absolute cocksuckers. They knew 5 seconds into the interview - BEFORE the interview had they bothered to read my resume - that I wasn't the guy they were looking for. If they had any brains, they knew the guy they were looking for probably didn't even exist... at least not for the salary they were willing to pay (official position title was Jr. Network Administrator, salary was $35,000/year).
Cliffs
- A bunch of jackasses wasted a sh1t ton of my time.
I was interviewing for an auto manufacturer (rhymes with Honda) back when I was a Network Administrator/Cable Jockey (1999). I submitted my resume through Monster.com and received a phone call about 2 months later. I had practically forgotten I submitted my resume in the first place. The HR lady and I talked for a little bit while I detailed my experience, why I was leaving my current job, etc. Then she said they'd like to schedule the interview for 6:30am. Yes, 6:30am. Being the eager, accommodating individual that I am (was), I cheerfully obliged. Even though they were 45 minutes in the opposite direction of my job, I didn't like making waves.
I took half the day off and showed up on time and ready to interview for the position of Network Administrator. NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR.
Write that down.
First I interview with the HR rep from the phone call. She's nice, it goes well, and we click (no secksing, sorry). Then she leaves and after waiting for about 30 minutes, she comes back with two or three (don't remember exactly) fat, crusty, life-hating bastards who stroll in and sit at the opposite end of the table from me (about 10 feet away). So I'm at one end, they're at the other. Ms. HR is sitting in a corner as if to take the meeting's minutes.
Let the inquisition begin.
I go over my resume, touching on key points of experience when appropriate, etc. Absolutely unimpressed and making no effort to hide it, they start asking me about programming.
Huh? Me no code. Me plug stuff in.
I'm getting questions about C, C++, Visual Basic, you name it. It was obvious I had no idea what they were talking about, and I must have told them 50 times that I had absolutely ZERO programming experience.
They seemed to take delight in just beating me up with all these questions they knew I couldn't answer.
Finally, I ran out of patience and the will to be polite and cordial (seeing as how they walked into the room without these qualities).
"Guys, I'm not a programmer. I have never written a line of code. Ever. It sounds to me like you're looking for a software developer, but my experience is with maintaining networks and resources."
The crusty fsck in the middle shoots back with something along the lines of, "Well we need both."
He was so smug and ASSHOLE about it. I sat there for a few seconds, looked down at my notes, glanced at them real quick, and then stood up and said "well... thank you for absolutely wasting ALL OF OUR TIME. Take care."
And I walked out.
As I'm leaving, the lady from HR is apologizing profusely. She was obviously embarrassed by their behavior. We left on a fine note, but those guys were absolute cocksuckers. They knew 5 seconds into the interview - BEFORE the interview had they bothered to read my resume - that I wasn't the guy they were looking for. If they had any brains, they knew the guy they were looking for probably didn't even exist... at least not for the salary they were willing to pay (official position title was Jr. Network Administrator, salary was $35,000/year).
Cliffs
- A bunch of jackasses wasted a sh1t ton of my time.
