Craziest Thing In A Job Interview...
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What is the craziest thing you've done (accidentally or on purpose) in an interview and did you get the job? (somehow I think I have trump on this one) So the thread below got me thinking and googling ( at my wife :doh: ) and I thought what's the craziest thing I've ever done in a job interview. Then it hit me of something I did do and still got the job. I showed up at job interview for a Senior Programming position with the State of Idaho and I had a Kool-Aid mustache a very big and very bright red Kool-Aid mustache. When I got home my wife took one look at me and with an ashen look on her face said, "So when did you have the Kool-Aid?" I nearly soiled myself on the spot and sprinted to look in the mirror. "Oh Hell!!!" it was so funny as to be absurd we laughed really hard and wrote that interview off completely. A week later I was called and told I got the job. A few months after the fact I asked my boss about the Kool-Aid mustache and he burst out laughing so hard. He summoned the HR manager and the VP of IT into the office and they all told me that my interview had made State history and been sent all over the place in email. I was told that everyone responded that I more than deserved the job and should fit right in. I also learned that without a college degree and no formal training I had posted the highest marks they'd ever had on their skills test besting one with a masters degree and one with 30 years experience in software development. I had... a perfect score. When I asked what got me the job the mustache or the test scores the VP of IT said in a very serious voice, "This place needs a little humor son and that's why your here." and he walked out of the room. I think that has followed me all of my days. The great Kool-Aid interview and I've never been the same. (Many of you will have *NO* trouble believing this story and I promise you on all things I believe holy that this is a true story. I had the brightest red upper lip you could get without lipstick. So it just goes to show that sometimes even though things can go horribly wrong it can work out okay. Next time I interview for a job I'm going to where my wife's underwear outside my dockers and hope for the best. I AM LEGEND!!! :doh:
This happened twice, once I got the job and once I didn't. I had interviews call me wrong in the interview twice: 1) Does C++ support interfaces (no, MS C++ does however) 2) How do you deal with IEEE rounding of Math.Float when End Users expect grade school rounding? (Interviewer to this day still believes there is no difference) Now I just keep my mouth shut in the interview. Proving you have more technical knowledge than the interviewer does not equate to contracts.
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Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway -
I think the dumbest thing I ever did was, towards the end of a phone interview, the employer said, "why don't you come in at 11 tomorrow for a formal interview?" I replied, "11pm sounds great." Woops. He said in a dumbed down voice, "11 AM!" I felt like a total idiot. But I still got the job, and am still working at that employer. :)
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I always throw that in to lighten the mood. A casual, "PM?", usually gets a chuckle.
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Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway -
Regarding rules 1 and 2, those represent my biggest fear in any interview - that the interviewer fancies himself some sort of clinical psychologist. Just focus on the work, and what the person can do for the company!
Independent123 wrote:
Regarding rules 1 and 2, those represent my biggest fear in any interview - that the interviewer fancies himself some sort of clinical psychologist.
Well, #1 is just saying don't sit in an interview as if you are knocking one off under the table.
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
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The alpha male felt threatened?
-- Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit
Joergen Sigvardsson wrote:
The alpha male felt threatened?
Perhaps. But what probably got me kicked out was when he told me that, at tax time, they have programmers sleeping in cots for about a month and they never go home. To which my response was, "geez, your development process is that broken???" :-D Marc
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Joergen Sigvardsson wrote:
The alpha male felt threatened?
Perhaps. But what probably got me kicked out was when he told me that, at tax time, they have programmers sleeping in cots for about a month and they never go home. To which my response was, "geez, your development process is that broken???" :-D Marc
:laugh: You turned him into an alpha male! :-D
-- Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit
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I always throw that in to lighten the mood. A casual, "PM?", usually gets a chuckle.
Need a C# Consultant? I'm available.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest HemingwayAlways insist on 24-hour time; it's ISO 8601 compliant. :-D
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leckey wrote:
4-12 ounce bottles in one interview
Wow! That is almost 1.5 litres.
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
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As the interviewer at Intuit told me, I was the only person to ever solve this complex sorting algorithm question that he posed. I did not get the job. Marc
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Independent123 wrote:
Regarding rules 1 and 2, those represent my biggest fear in any interview - that the interviewer fancies himself some sort of clinical psychologist.
Well, #1 is just saying don't sit in an interview as if you are knocking one off under the table.
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
Well, #1 is just saying don't sit in an interview as if you are knocking one off under the table.
Isn't that just saying, "I'm so cool - I can knock one off while answering your questions"?
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
Well, #1 is just saying don't sit in an interview as if you are knocking one off under the table.
Isn't that just saying, "I'm so cool - I can knock one off while answering your questions"?
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
Isn't that just saying, "I'm so cool - I can knock one off while answering your questions"?
The problem was he couldn't answer the questions. He answered each with an "Uh..." at the start of every answer, and frequenly throughout too. I really felt like offering him a tissue towards the end.
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
Isn't that just saying, "I'm so cool - I can knock one off while answering your questions"?
The problem was he couldn't answer the questions. He answered each with an "Uh..." at the start of every answer, and frequenly throughout too. I really felt like offering him a tissue towards the end.
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
:laugh: :laugh: Did you ever watch the series Big Train? It launched the career of Simon Pegg. One of the episodes had a sketch with a boss coming (pardon the bad pun) into the office and having a go at his staff for abusing their (shall we say knocking one off) privileges. If you haven't had the chance to watch it, it's really worth it.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Always insist on 24-hour time; it's ISO 8601 compliant. :-D
PIEBALDconsult wrote:
Always insist on 24-hour time; it's ISO 8601 compliant
Not here on Mars.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Yeah, I go through A LOT of water throughout the day. I'm constantly buying bottled water.
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leckey wrote:
I'm constantly buying bottled water.
I take it the tap water where you are is awful (or are you just posh). The worst I've ever tasted was in a hotel just south of Denver. When I was in Spain I always bought bottled water because when I was a child the tour guide on a package I was on was insistant that you didn't drink the tap water in Spain. When I started dating a spanish girl she drank tap water and thought I was being a bit posh for buying bottled. It turns out that the tap water in Spain isn't too bad.
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
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PIEBALDconsult wrote:
Always insist on 24-hour time; it's ISO 8601 compliant
Not here on Mars.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
Not here on Mars
A24 hour Mars bar!!! Wow!!!
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
Not here on Mars
A24 hour Mars bar!!! Wow!!!
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
A24 hour Mars bar
Would that be deep fried?
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
A24 hour Mars bar
Would that be deep fried?
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
Would that be deep fried?
You mean a Mars Bar Fritter? (He said, trying to make it sound more pallatable and upmarket)
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
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This did not happen to me but it did happen at the company that I work for. We was interviewing a candidate that had made it past the "board" interview and was interviewing with the company president as sort of a run off. The pres asked the guy if he played any musical instruments. The interviewee replied that he played the "skin flute" and was doing a concert later on that day. He didn't get the job.
Why is common sense not common? Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level where they are an expert. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to be lazy Individuality is fine, as long as we do it together - F. Burns
Wes Aday wrote:
The interviewee replied that he played the "skin flute" and was doing a concert later on that day.
And I'll bet the interview ended shortly thereafter. UFB (un-belieeeeveable) what people think you want to hear. :sigh:
Someone's gotta be the last to know, but why is it always me?
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leckey wrote:
I'm constantly buying bottled water.
I take it the tap water where you are is awful (or are you just posh). The worst I've ever tasted was in a hotel just south of Denver. When I was in Spain I always bought bottled water because when I was a child the tour guide on a package I was on was insistant that you didn't drink the tap water in Spain. When I started dating a spanish girl she drank tap water and thought I was being a bit posh for buying bottled. It turns out that the tap water in Spain isn't too bad.
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
The water here is very 'hard' with all the minerals since we are so close to the river. I swear it's 'chunky.' We go through a lot of salt. No one in this area drinks the tap water. We have groups at work that join 'water bottle' groups. As much water as I drink I would probably die from the magnesium.
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code-frog wrote:
What is the craziest thing you've done (accidentally or on purpose) in an interview and did you get the job?
Not something I've done, but after 3 months of trying to interview people I have some tips 1. Don't clasp your hands in your lap if you are sitting at a table. If you must clasp your hands (which is a defensive posture) put them on the table. If you absolutely MUST clasp your hands while they are in your lap DON'T FIDGIT! From the interviewers point of view it is very disconcerting. 2. Don't go into the foetal position. Some people actually do that. Not the full curled up job, but just the way they sit in the chair with their legs under the chair rather than the table and they lean forwards. Normal leaning forwards indicates attentiveness in what the speaker/interviewer is saying. In that case the candidate would be looking at the interviewer. In this demi-foetal position the head is looking down into the table. 3. If you don't know, don't bullshit. If you really don't know just say. If you are just a little unsure say so and attempt an answer. "I'm not entirely sure, but it is along these lines..." That basically says I've got the gist of the subject, I just don't have the detail. It shows you know something and are still willing to point out the limitations of your knowledge without sounding unknowledgable.
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I always remember that job interviews are a stressful situation and some may try to alter their natural behavior to seem more professional. I am a 'hands talker' so I try to keep my hand motions to a minimum. Really, at the end of the day, I think it takes 2-3 interviews to get closer to the 'real' candidate.
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
Would that be deep fried?
You mean a Mars Bar Fritter? (He said, trying to make it sound more pallatable and upmarket)
Upcoming FREE developer events: * Developer Day Scotland Recent blog posts: * Follow up on hiring a software developer * Aarrgghh!! Accidentally pressing the Caps Lock key My website | blog
Watch it. This thread is lurching toward 'Big'ness in its free-associativity.
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