Why I didn't get the job
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Some of you may remember this post[^] from 2 months ago where I tried to figure out why after such great interviews I was passed over for the position. You were all very supportive and enouraging. Your suggestions were very helpful. Well, today I'd like to follow up on that story. Some of you suggested that I should ask the interviewer for feedback about the code sample I had submitted. Well I did, and we emailed back and forth a couple times until I got the feedback I was after. The feedback was that the program was written as a structured program and lacking extensive error handling. He had expected the program to be written in OOP, with more comprehensive error handling, logging capability and that I should have used the project as an opportunity to "show off". I gladly followed his suggestions, rewrote the project and resubmitted it to him. After reviewing version 2, he suggested that minus the unit testing (which we had agreed would be omitted) it was a "technical tour de force". Soon after I was contacted by 2 project teams from the same company (one was led by my interviewer) and asked if I was still available and interested in a position with the company. I had only just accepted a position with another company as a software consultant and so I declined the offers with the agreement to keep in touch and revisit the possibility in the near future. I've taken home a couple lessons from this I'd like to share:
- Always put your best foot forward. Do your best work, submit your best answers and don't be afraid to take your time doing it.
- Read between the lines. I was asked several OOP questions by each interviewer (I had 3 separate interviews with this company).
- Don't give up, and don't take no for an answer!! If you want the job and you know you're qualified, you can demonstrate some great qualities as long as you're not a pest about it.
- Even if you don't get the job you can come away with something. Ask your interviewer for feedback. If you ask right, they'll be happy to tell you where you fell short and how you could improve for the next interview (wither it's with them or someone else).
Add your own comments and tell me what you think. I hope
-
Some of you may remember this post[^] from 2 months ago where I tried to figure out why after such great interviews I was passed over for the position. You were all very supportive and enouraging. Your suggestions were very helpful. Well, today I'd like to follow up on that story. Some of you suggested that I should ask the interviewer for feedback about the code sample I had submitted. Well I did, and we emailed back and forth a couple times until I got the feedback I was after. The feedback was that the program was written as a structured program and lacking extensive error handling. He had expected the program to be written in OOP, with more comprehensive error handling, logging capability and that I should have used the project as an opportunity to "show off". I gladly followed his suggestions, rewrote the project and resubmitted it to him. After reviewing version 2, he suggested that minus the unit testing (which we had agreed would be omitted) it was a "technical tour de force". Soon after I was contacted by 2 project teams from the same company (one was led by my interviewer) and asked if I was still available and interested in a position with the company. I had only just accepted a position with another company as a software consultant and so I declined the offers with the agreement to keep in touch and revisit the possibility in the near future. I've taken home a couple lessons from this I'd like to share:
- Always put your best foot forward. Do your best work, submit your best answers and don't be afraid to take your time doing it.
- Read between the lines. I was asked several OOP questions by each interviewer (I had 3 separate interviews with this company).
- Don't give up, and don't take no for an answer!! If you want the job and you know you're qualified, you can demonstrate some great qualities as long as you're not a pest about it.
- Even if you don't get the job you can come away with something. Ask your interviewer for feedback. If you ask right, they'll be happy to tell you where you fell short and how you could improve for the next interview (wither it's with them or someone else).
Add your own comments and tell me what you think. I hope