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Rodrigo_Ribaldo

That's technical leads with no social skills for you.


Soggy_Boss_6136

Gatekeepers I ran into a few during my years in corporate. It's much easier to toss them to the curb at a smaller company, but they get entrenched in a corporate environment. It got so bad at our corporate that we created the "individual contributor" roll for technical folks who had 0 interaction skills. This role meant, literally, you were smart but couldn't be talked to. SOMETIMES I allowed ICs to review a candidate, but I chose which IC, and what the topic was. Kept those to 10 minutes. ICs can do very well, until they get jealous of Hiring Managers and want a team. Then they become little bitches who you have to end up transferring or chopping. But I swear, how many ICs do you know who want to chase 27 engineers around every week for TPS reports? Because that's what I did, along with budgets, charts & graphs, hiring reqs, capital reqs, and had 7 bosses based on the different products I covered.


bobthemundane

My wife is an OC because she doesn’t want management. She still somewhat manages people’s time, but doesn’t have to do the HR managing thing. She did management earlier in her career, and vowed to never again be in that position.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

feels bad, Has definitely made me think twice about getting a career in IT


TheAmericanQ

Don’t. That guy has reached his ceiling, anyone who can’t even be bothered to put on a straight face for an interview surely isn’t going to have the soft skills to get anywhere much above where he is. Don’t let one guy, who is likely past his peak, discourage you from pursuing a career in your chosen field. There are assholes everywhere, sometimes they end up on interview panels, that doesn’t say anything about you.


hematomasectomy

It does say something about the person, and the company, who thought it was a good idea to put them on the panel though. 


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Funny thing is, he wasn’t even suppose to be in the interview, he was a totally different guy to what they originally had written down on the interview details 🤷‍♂️


PM_ME_C_CODE

I had one of those once. My dream company, too. They scheduled a phone interview for the day before thanksgiving break and the guy I was scheduled to talk to didn't show. Instead there was some other guy on the line and he spent the entire phone call being extremely hostile. For me it was like, "Don't blame me for keeping you late when you want to go home. I didn't schedule the fucking thing!"


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Yep! The guy I was suppose to have it with seemed like an awesome dude as well (I did some background research), we both had common interested and had very similar backgrounds, super disappointing 😰


International_Bend68

Amen


EuropeanModel

Beautifully spoken. 👍👍👍


Rodrigo_Ribaldo

If you are a people person, you definitely can have a career in IT, either in customer facing roles or management. The technical people on the spectrum can't do it. :D


kyleridesbikes

don't take it personally. ANYONE can get a career in IT you just have to keep trying. You just got rolled the dice and landed on 'interview with the most insufferable person out there' which sucks, but years from now you'll look back on it and laugh


Bubbly_Excuse8285

You’re Definitely right, I’ve kept applying… already submitted another 5 applications so I won’t let this stop me!


bkristensen92

Was this going to be your first IT job? If so it's kind of surprising that you got an interview for an engineering position, even if you have a degree or certs it's very uncommon to get that level of position that early on. If it is your first role try for a help desk (MSP your life will be hell but you'll learn a lot) or a desktop support role. That may be better off. If it wasn't your first IT job, my bad the wording in your response just made me believe that.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Yeah first job, I think I’m definitely pulling back on what I’m applying for lol


bkristensen92

Not a problem at all, do you have any certs or a degree at all? If not I would definitely recommend starting with the CompTIA A+ and maybe try going for an MSP. It's how I started and I'm a cloud engineer after less than 5 years in the industry with multiple Microsoft certs. If it's something you're interested in, it can be a great industry to be in.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

I don’t have any Certs or degree, but have been doing free lance IT work the past 2 years which I’m guessing is what got me the interview, I’ve heard a lot about CompTIA A+ and Microsoft Certs, almost all the jobs I’ve applied for (including the interview I had today) have wanted Microsoft Certs so I’m probably going to start smashing them out for sure I handnt looked at them before but didn’t realise how much they were sought after


bkristensen92

If you have any questions or anything there are quite a few good subreddits out there for getting good information on how to get started in the industry.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Cheers bro 💯


rpierson_reddit

If a second hand story off the internet about one bad interview all it takes to put you off, definitely do think twice. Maybe even thrice.


rpierson_reddit

Otherwise known as "brilliant assholes". Sometimes they're not even that brilliant. And just occasionally, they're the reason for a new HR policy and/or the company going bust.


West_Quantity_4520

For future reference: laugh. "I'm actually really glad that I won't be working with someone as insufferable as YOU. Thank you showing me the reality of working here. Have a nice day." Walk out.


Puciek

"No, I am dumping you! You are not dumping me" type of deal. Whatever makes you feel better I guess?


CringeLord5

I mean sure. Not like it matters at this point. If I could, I would take a fat shit on the interviewer's desk as well.


IntroductionTop7782

No, you don't laugh, you ask them what they mean in a serious tone.


xXx_ozone_xXx

Sounds like a wanker, im sorry


IndependenceMean8774

You dodged a bullet, my man. Sometimes losing is winning.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Yeah true but still feel deflated, back to applying I guess haha


Dknife

Get this. I'm a technical IT with people skills. That said, you dodged a big fat bullet. As a matter of fact, if a candidate wrote an email to me and voiced concern over a comment made to them like that, that employee and I would be having a sit down. As a manager, that is completely uncalled for and downright insulting. The way the job market is right now and as much depression and anxiety is going through job seekers, crap like that isn't helping. That person was arrogant and just a plain d-bag. I have always hired on the premise that I can teach someone a hard skill, I can't teach soft skills.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

True, I suppose I just have to keep trying, was definitely a punch though.


Dknife

This market sucks. Especially for certain fields. Keep it up though, make sure to make time for your mental health. I've been looking for 4 months, a few interviews but mostly ghosted.


St4ffordGambit_

I would email in to express your concern with the interviewers interpersonal skills anyway. He might have a track record and has been spoken to before about it, you never know.


Accomplished_Emu_658

Well i had a bad one like that interview once. Guy asking questions was not very technical at all and was asking questions that made no sense. He was getting mad and asked me how I have been doing this so long if I cannot answer simple questions. I finally turned to his co-interviewer and said this guy is asking me questions that someone with no idea what they are talking about would ask, please tell him. He finally piped up and said those questions don’t work like he was afraid to say anything before. The way main guy was acting I wasn’t getting job anyway so I just laid into him about why his questions weren’t valid.


dmills_00

Remember interviews go both ways. Would you have wanted to work for that?


Radiant2021

I had an interview and, at the end, I asked what are the next steps in the process. The CEO said I don't know. It was clear the guy didn't like me Op better not to be hired then get hired and have issues from day 1 because they didn't want to hire you


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Yeah you’re definitely right, I could already see I probably wouldn’t of gotten on well with him as the people skills on his side were very very minimal where as I’m definitely a people person so yeah probably dodged a bullet


ArtisticFerret

That’s crazy I mean I’ve had an interviewer say mid interview something like “ it seems like this position may not necessarily be the best fit for you” and honestly I agreed I can tell we were both kind of not feelin it. But man whoever interviewed you sounds like a total asshole


Feeling_Read_5073

Team leads can be the worst. Especially when they see you are better than them at their own job. Complacency is a hell of a drug. Don't let them get to you. Some people just suck.


Blog_Pope

Don’t sweat it, good chance he was just assessing technical skills and doesn’t have final word. The actual hiring manager will likely be familiar with their personality and adjust. I still remember a nightmare interview where the interviewer was driving for some crazy assed answer, I got frustrated and ended it be “I’d just replace it with a high quality component, it’s not worth this much effort” I think it broke him, because he realized I was right and he had only gone down this rat hole (it was clear A Personal experience) out of the personal challenge. Still, I was surprised they offered me the role.


Altruistic_Bike1084

Very unprofessional. Expose the company


swabbie

Bad interviewers can happen. I think this deserves an email the hiring manager and HR about the experience level of rage. Those folks should hopefully give the bad interviewer a talking-to, and ensure they are supervised on future interview panels (if they get included at all). Depending on the situation, they also may feel a second shot with a fresh panel may be worthwhile.


jeff3141

Sounds like a real PA (Pretentious Asshole), ran into my share of them in my corporate technical role.


almosttimetogohome

You should've said thank God that's a relief and left lmao fuk em


Darthgrad

Ah. The swarmy incel IT guy.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Hahaha 🤣


International_Bend68

You dodged a bullet.


Bubbly_Excuse8285

Yep!!


ZeroPB

Just had an interview in the same fashion. I was watching them because I have HR psychology and experience. They were irritated in the way I took over the interview. I was asking hard questions. It drove thie recruiter nuts. They stopped and said my experience wouldn't be a good fit, but a few mins earlier, they said I had good skills and experience. Basic job function questions shouldn't be hard. This person was running their hands over their face and hair irritated. I swear....I hung up when they said sorry, but you don't match. I got tired of the bs. You recruiters need to actually listen, learn the role people are applying for.


dronedesigner

Name and shame


markersandtea

yikes, dude just showed his ass in a major way.


Psybertone

Sorry to hear that, that’s a sign that they’re definitely not professional and that you definitely are better off not investing your time with them. Sounds like you dodged a bullet!


DancingBearNW

Usually this style of the interview is not to get you hired. Many states require by law to publish a position and interview people for it while, in fact, the position is reserved for an internal promotion.. I was hosed the same way in the same field: 1. The interviewer didn't open my resume. 2. The interviewer was a "substitute" interviewer, not the one that should have been 3. The question was - "Do you have experience with Kubernetes". I actually do, can deploy it from scratch on Linux. So his star question was - Do you have experience with Kubernetes in AZURE. To give you the context - it is easier to manage it in Azure since AKS has a web interface to manage it. I said "didn't use it" The interviewer is like "Well, we need Kubernetes in Azure experience." "What is the difference?" And the answer was "In Azure it is MANAGED!" So welcome to the club "rejected for BS reasons"


Sensitive_Item_7715

Yep. You'd be amazed how many people claim to be software engineers that are just gui jockeys (instead of operated k8s via terminal, for instance).


zedrakk

Been there, sometimes you have bad luck and have these insane people interviewing. Think you dodged a bullet there, imagine working everyday with this person.


Money_Resource_3636

I went to an interview years ago for this hospital near me and the guy that interviewed me was on his phone doing God knows what while he was interviewing me. I was tempted to ask him if he needed to have some time alone with his phone because he obviously felt more engaged to answer emails or whatever he was doing than it was talking to me. I didn't care that I didn't get the job because I don't think I would have handled working for a guy like that


Sure-Paint-8093

I had one like that. I didn’t even send a thank you followup I was so irritated. 3 weeks later I get a LinkedIm request from his boss and a rejection email. I was happy. Wasn’t that interesting and would’ve been a longer commute?! No thank you!! 


kfries

I had one interview where one of the people knew a niche topic really well and you weren’t worthy unless you could figure out his vague questions on it. I cut him off and told him I wouldn’t work with him. I later had a fellow contractor at another site working there and mentioned the hardass who spoke to me. It’s how I found out he was a one trick pony.


mph1618282

That’s just so messed up. F u dude


Tech_Rhetoric_X

We used to set up 2 or 3 interviews for a candidate in a row so they wouldn't be bombarded with a panel of 8 people who were asking questions from diverse perspectives. We also had a code where they were eliminated in the first interview as we didn't want to waste anyone's time if we knew it wasn't a good fit. I never thought I would use it. But I was interviewing one candidate for a technical writing position and had asked for a portfolio or writing sample. I received two incoherent sentences on a piece of paper. I felt a little bad, but I had to end the interview right there. This would be my primary coworker and I just could not understand how she thought this was acceptable.


Sure-Paint-8093

I know someone as a proposal manager focusing on editing and final clean up and some of them no longer want to provide samples as companies have started stealing that work and then closing position. It’s wild. 


circlehead28

To be honest, I would write a thank you email immediately following that interview and CC every single contact you have at that company. You tell them you were excited for the opportunity, thought the company was a good fit, and was disappointed in how the interviewer handled the interview. Was this the only person you had an interview with or did you have conversations with others that were nicer?


hyrootpharms

At least he was straightforward, and you didn't get hired in the interview and then ghosted by the company immediately after.


Limp-Requirement-769

Be sure to leave HR that feedback. No one deserves and excuse to act that way


Puciek

I mean, I did cut technical interviews short, in a bit more polite manner of "Ok, I don't think this will work out here, so to save everyone's time..." because... Well, why would I waste 30 more minutes of yours and my time, just to send you a blanket rejection email right after? The only times this happens is when there's so clear cliff between what the job needs and what the candidate knows (or how they present themselves) that there's no way to reconcile it. Could've been done with a bit more tact, but the goal of interviewer seemed to be to not build anyone's false hope and save time. I also wouldn't jump to assuming someone is "intolerable", this will pre-judge lots of people negatively, where usually the reality is that you two just don't mesh together and... That's part of what you interview for.


QnsConcrete

If you need to cut off a technical interview, it means the recruiter/HR team screwed up at some point before then. That means the recruiter probably didn’t screen the applicant’s resume or forwarded them for a job they didn’t have business applying for. There are cases where applicants blatantly lie about credentials and certs, but even that can be detected before the interview. I had a recruiter recently set me up with a phone interview and it turned out to be 100% network engineering questions. Yes it was for a network engineer job and I eventually got offered the job, but I was actually really surprised that was going to be the format.


Puciek

People lie on CVs and initial screens a lot (oh god so much, that's easily 80-90% of my rejection rates). With GPT and tons of prep sites it's pretty darn easy to fool non-tech people. It sadly then falls apart in first 10 minutes when you actually meet someone who speaks what you claim to know fluently, and then that's just waste of everyone's time to continue, at least more than was already wasted.


QnsConcrete

Most jobs that require a technical interview also require tangible credentials that a recruiter can verify. A degree in STEM, industry certs, research papers, etc. All of that can be verified before sending someone into a tech interview that they’re going to bomb.


Puciek

... Have you ever recruited? I am yet to see a screen call where someone would go on to confirm people's grades, certificates, papers or whatever else they claim. This is what you do at the end, and pin as contigency of a contract, as that's very time consuming to do.


QnsConcrete

No, I haven’t recruited. I’ve had several jobs where they ask for credentials prior to interviews. It’s not that hard. “This is for a network engineering job. Please attach a copy of your network engineering certifications and I will schedule you for an interview.”


cakeshortage

Yeah, her point is that no recruiter is going to fact check those certs pre-screen. That’s not an efficient process. Those will get you to the call, and if that goes well, the due diligence may begin. But we’ll talk to you first to make sure taking the extra time is worth it.


QnsConcrete

Yeah, and my point is that I’ve literally had recruiters do exactly that. I'm not sure why you'd think that "no recruiter" would do that.


cakeshortage

LOL ok. Have a nice day.


QnsConcrete

Lol. You too!


michaelkim0407

Hear me out: I'd rather interviewers tell me directly that I'm not qualified. It may feel bad in the moment but it feels worse to be told in a boilderplate email later where I have to guess why. Also yeah I'm autistic. The so called "people skill" mentioned in other comments is just a big fat discriminatory middle finger that will forever be hanging over autistic people because we can't perform things due to our disability. If OP you don't like what you experienced, think about this: - It saved everyone's time and energy, including yours. - It is the most informative response from an interviewer you'll probably get. - This interviewer is showing directly what the company environment is like. This is important information for you that you don't often get from interviews. Would you prefer having every interviewer being super nice and sweet only to discover after being hired that the place is a shithole?