Work and Job interview: Too clever

Too clever

By DamnGurl - 12/02/2021 02:58 - United States - Kula

Today, during a programming interview, I provided the right approach and the right answer as agreed by the interviewer, but used some extra variables with proper names. Guess who is not selected for the next round due to those extra variables. FML

I agree, your life sucks 846

You deserved it 166

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Same thing different taste

Words is hard

By Anonymous - 20/09/2023 16:00 - United States

Today, I went for an interview at a great company. Everything was going well until I tried to demonstrate my knowledge of their industry by using a technical term. Turns out I'd completely misunderstood the term and used it in the wrong context. The interviewer raised an eyebrow, and I could see "Don't call us, we'll call you" flicker in their eyes. FML

I agree, your life sucks 269

You deserved it 650

By Anonymous - 25/07/2014 02:04 - Canada - Burnaby

Today, after months of job hunting, I finally got a phone interview with a company. Excited, I prepared for the interview and conducted extensive research on the company. The interview ended within a minute. They'd got the wrong person. FML

I agree, your life sucks 45 235

You deserved it 3 593

By smellslikeahangover - 29/07/2015 02:55 - United States - San Francisco

Today, while waiting for an interview at the career that I've been spending months tailoring my résumé for, I was thrown up on by my only competitor. Guess who got the job. FML

I agree, your life sucks 26 827

You deserved it 1 824

You, you, you…

By Anonymous - 10/09/2021 14:30 - India - Thane

Today, I sat through all 3 rounds of interviews for a job along with 14 others. It's assumed that if you reached the third round the job is guaranteed, but it turns out that's not the case. All 14 others were selected. Not me. FML

I agree, your life sucks 1 003

You deserved it 94

By Bummed - 12/06/2016 19:44

Today, I found out that after interviewing for two jobs at great companies, I was neck and neck with one other person for each position. They both offered the job to the other person. FML

I agree, your life sucks 14 952

You deserved it 982

Wait, what?

By The Bosnian - 15/10/2020 02:02 - Sweden - Solna

Today, after I applied and interviewed for a technical position in IT two weeks ago, they informed me that I didn't get it, because I'm "too technical." How the hell is that even possible? FML

I agree, your life sucks 1 256

You deserved it 94

M. Night Shyamalanadingdong

By Anonymous - 30/06/2020 05:02

Today, I went to the bathroom after a terrible job interview. My interviewer walked in with another guy, talking about my interview, saying he was obviously going to hire the other guy because my odd-sounding name was too hard to pronounce, yet alone spell in multiple emails. FML

I agree, your life sucks 2 537

You deserved it 159

By Me - 05/01/2010 07:16 - France

Today, I was rejected for a job I really wanted, they said I didn't have enough experience. I designed the systems they are implementing. FML

I agree, your life sucks 39 793

You deserved it 2 072

Prickly

By Anonymous - 16/03/2023 10:30 - India - Vijayawada

Today, I was rejected from a job for which I was perfectly qualified, as it was in my area of expertise. The interviewer was the most annoying prick and kept on talking and "helping" me debug from the moment I opened the technical task. I ended up asking him to please shut up so that I could think for a minute. FML

I agree, your life sucks 694

You deserved it 311

By gonnabeunemployed - 08/12/2016 21:33

Today, I got a call from the only company that asked me to come in for an interview of the many applications I submitted. I answered it even though I was at my current job. My boss heard and chewed me out. The call was to cancel the interview since the position was filled. FML

I agree, your life sucks 9 065

You deserved it 1 731

RichardPencil 30

Friday 12 February 2021 16:37

Wouldn't your compiler warn you about unused variables during the build phase, and give you a chance to delete them? Having extraneous variables shows you might not have a real grip of the problem.

Seeya55 31

Friday 12 February 2021 19:05

Yeah what they want is for you to be direct and understand the problem specifically; A self-reflective con that can actually harm you is being overly-divulsive and complicating things when the answer is actually simple.

Comments

RichardPencil 30

Friday 12 February 2021 16:37

Wouldn't your compiler warn you about unused variables during the build phase, and give you a chance to delete them? Having extraneous variables shows you might not have a real grip of the problem.

Seeya55 31

Friday 12 February 2021 19:05

eellik 10

Saturday 13 February 2021 15:44

We don't know the programming language. Could be one without compilers or build phases, or where extra variables are no big deal (are they a big deal in any modern language anyway?) Sounds to me like you dodged a bullet there, OP. Requiring a by-the-book solution in a creative environment with muliple possible approaches to a problem seems like a rigid workplace.

BurnInDemonFire 33

Saturday 13 February 2021 6:15

Employers want you to solve problems quickly and efficiently. It's called the KISS method. So next time this happens, remember; Keep It Simple Stupid Or, if you ever watched MythBusters, follow the Hyneman's examples.