InstantForum.NET v2.9.0SQLServerCentralhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/notifications@sqlservercentral.comSat, 18 May 2013 08:26:21 GMT20http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Brandie Tarvin (10/24/2012)[/b][hr]I went to a job interview once where my handler was supposed to show up and introduce me to everyone. I was early, the handler was over 10 minutes late (maybe even up to 30 minutes, I don't remember). Since he wasn't there, I wasn't called in for any interview and by the time he showed up, the interviewer was in another meeting.Well, I was about to write it off when the handler decided to rip into the receptionist demanding to see the interviewer regardless of his current schedule. He made a huge scene, insulted her, and made it sound like the company was supposed to be catering to him.Needless to say, I didn't get any interview or a job from that company. A few weeks later, I went for a job with a different contracting firm and never worked for that contracting firm again.[/quote]Worked out for the best then. Alarm bells would've rung loudly if I saw his actions to the receptionist.Thu, 25 Oct 2012 08:49:08 GMTsql.comhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxI went to a job interview once where my handler was supposed to show up and introduce me to everyone. I was early, the handler was over 10 minutes late (maybe even up to 30 minutes, I don't remember). Since he wasn't there, I wasn't called in for any interview and by the time he showed up, the interviewer was in another meeting.Well, I was about to write it off when the handler decided to rip into the receptionist demanding to see the interviewer regardless of his current schedule. He made a huge scene, insulted her, and made it sound like the company was supposed to be catering to him.Needless to say, I didn't get any interview or a job from that company. A few weeks later, I went for a job with a different contracting firm and never worked for that contracting firm again.Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:05:38 GMTBrandie Tarvinhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxI've got to mention a few of the very odd interviews I've had:1. Many years ago went for an interview as a Junior DBA. Got there and there were 18 other candicates in the interview - it was a group interview! One had to compete against them for the 2 available job positions. No questions on DBA work just group activities. They slowly got rid of people throughout the day (so uncomfortable ><). I lasted to the end and got an offer. Turned out the job was for a Database Administrator which in their minds was an admin person who works on a database...data entry clerical work etc, not an IT position at all! Blame the agent I suppose.2. Went for an interview for a SQL Developer job at a large well known broadband and mobile supplier in the UK ;-). Only had one question, please explain the difference between clustered and nonclustered indexes. The rest of the 1.5 hours was spent listening to the manager: Explain in detail how they just fired almost 80% of the 'deadwood' in the IT department; How he hates his boss and CEO and what a terrible working environment it was; and how I would be expected to do ASP development in addition to SQLServer work. They called a little while after the interview to get me back for a second - I gave a polite NEVER EVER!3. Had a recent interview for a SQL Developer position at a large development company. The first interview went well, then came the test and second interview. I was put in the corner of a very noisy office and forgotten! Everyone went home early and I was left there with not a single person to collect my (very long and involved) test or take me back to reception. I was supposed to have my second interview with the head of IT - he also went home early. It took a bit of a look around to find the right exit to show myself out. I was forced to leave the test with the receptionist. After explaining in the first interview that I do not have any clustering experience, the test contained mostly very involved clustering questions, with negative marking! I got a call a few days later with an apology saying I was given the wrong test and that there was some sort of misunderstanding with a team leader (?). They offered me the position, but I turned it down.4. One other interview comes to mind, the interview consisted of them talking about their christmas party which had happened the weekened before. I did take this job and it turned out great. After hearing the managers talking and joking in the interview I was able to figure out what sort of team I'd be working with - brilliant, helpful and really easy going :D.Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:48:01 GMTJohn8990http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]FunkyDexter (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]I have an unusual interview technique I use which some here might find unreasonable but I'd defend it to the hilt. I get two sets of lego containing exactly the same pieces. I sit in one room with a pretty random shape pre-built out of one set of lego and have the interviewee sit in another room with the other set - connected by hands free telephones. The interviewee can ask any questions they like and they've got 20 minutes to build the shape I pre-built, which is waaay too short a period for them to actually complete the task (it takes alot longer than you might think). This is actually a great test because it reveals so much about the interviewee that I believe is crucial to a good programmer. Particularly around the "softer" skills I'm typically looking for. [/quote]I've found a lot of people that can't adequately describe what they want. Depending on how the interview was going, I might retort that I'll take the test if they'll also take a test where THEY have to describe what they built well enough for me to build it without seeing it to test THEIR communications skills because effective communication isn't a one way street. ;-)Thu, 13 Sep 2012 10:07:33 GMTJeff Modenhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Jeff Moden (9/12/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]a_sql (9/12/2012)[/b][hr]I was asked to peel an Orange at one of my interviews..[/quote]Did you ask for a spoon to make it easier? :-DMy response for such a question would have been the same as if someone asked me to write some code. [quote]Before I do that, let me ask you a couple of questions...[/quote]I would have asked what why they thought they wanted the Orange to be peeled and what they were going to do with it once peeled because the amount of Orange zest left on the Orange might be importantant. I would also have asked whether they needed the peel intact or it could be discarded and what made them think so. This would do things like make sure that they understood that they had an Orange and that what they really needed wasn't really a Lime or a Lemon or a BaseBall.[/quote]After reading that it probably explains why I never made it past that round :-)Oh well, next time someone asks me to peel an orange, I shall be prepared!Thu, 13 Sep 2012 08:20:16 GMTsql.comhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]FunkyDexter (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]I have an unusual interview technique I use which some here might find unreasonable but I'd defend it to the hilt. I get two sets of lego containing exactly the same pieces. I sit in one room with a pretty random shape pre-built out of one set of lego and have the interviewee sit in another room with the other set - connected by hands free telephones. The interviewee can ask any questions they like and they've got 20 minutes to build the shape I pre-built, which is waaay too short a period for them to actually complete the task (it takes alot longer than you might think).[/quote]Had a similar test as part of an interview for a support desk job. Bit weird but considering the job, quite valid.Thu, 13 Sep 2012 03:57:11 GMTStuart Davieshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]a_sql (9/12/2012)[/b][hr]I was asked to peel an Orange at one of my interviews..[/quote]Did you ask for a spoon to make it easier? :-DMy response for such a question would have been the same as if someone asked me to write some code. [quote]Before I do that, let me ask you a couple of questions...[/quote]I would have asked what why they thought they wanted the Orange to be peeled and what they were going to do with it once peeled because the amount of Orange zest left on the Orange might be importantant. I would also have asked whether they needed the peel intact or it could be discarded and what made them think so. This would do things like make sure that they understood that they had an Orange and that what they really needed wasn't really a Lime or a Lemon or a BaseBall.Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:44:02 GMTJeff Modenhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]a_sql (9/12/2012)[/b][hr]I was asked to peel an Orange at one of my interviews..[/quote]This is a necessary skill... if you're applying to work at an [url=http://www.orangejulius.com/]Orange Julius[/url]Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:54:33 GMTScott D. Jacobsonhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]a_sql (9/12/2012)[/b][hr]I was asked to peel an Orange at one of my interviews..[/quote]I have an interview tomorrow with a company not far from where I live. So I thought I'd go and check out my interviewers on LinkedIn. I also checked who's viewed my profile in the last 7 days and that's when I noticed that one of the guys who viewed my profile yesterday is the same guy who interviewed me 4 months ago for a different position with another company! So now he's also working for this new company! AHAHAHAHAHA.... :w00t:Not sure what to make of it to be honest. He's not one of the interviewers but he must have known that I'm going in for an interview otherwise why would he view my profile!I got the phone call about the job yesterday afternoon. By the end of the day I had secured an interview. Not a big deal but perhaps a good sign who knows......BTW, I didn't get that job from 4 months ago. Apparently I was okay technically but HR didn't like me! :doze:Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:05:34 GMTAbu Dinahttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Scott Arendt (8/14/2012)[/b][hr][quote]I didn't suggest to accept the job, just to let the interview to finish. You should try to speak with some of the employees or find some references from somewhere else. As they have said, at the end of the interview you can accept or decline the offer.You could have the best interview in the world, they can show you amazing things but it could be a simple illusion (been there) or it could be the other way around. [/quote]Of course, whether I stayed to finish the interview would depend on the circumstances.Do I need the job? Is this the guy I would be working for? Did the job sound great up until this time?[/quote]I have to say that I agree with Scott. I'd have to judge the situation at the time. I don't think there's anything wrong with ending an interview if you've hit a deal breaker. However make sure it is one and ask questions. I had an all day interview with DoubleClick years ago, literally 6 hours with 4-5 groups of people. That last was the CIO and after he told me everyone was impressed, he noted that I'd asked one of the groups about telecommuting. He wasn't a fan and said he would allow one day a week sometimes. I said that since I lived 60 miles away, that wasn't going to be acceptable, but I'd think about it and let him know, ending the interview. I called back the next day to decline.Being open honest makes sense to me and it's served me well. If someone were bouncing a ball off a wall, I'd have to say that's distracting and could they stop. If they didn't, regardless of this being a test, I would like let them know that I couldn't concentrate like this and would have to end the interview. Up to them how to respond from there.Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:02:13 GMTSteve Jones - SSC Editorhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]a_sql (9/12/2012)[/b][hr]I was asked to peel an Orange at one of my interviews..[/quote]The ancient Japanese art of Orange-gami:[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CVHF0J8XOKM[/url]Wed, 12 Sep 2012 08:55:09 GMTMichael Valentine Joneshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxI was asked to peel an Orange at one of my interviews..Wed, 12 Sep 2012 08:35:02 GMTsql.comhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]GSquared (8/7/2012)[/b][hr]Weirdest interview I ever had was 4 hours long. They flew me out to their city, put me up in the local Hilton, rented a car for me for the day, and took me out to lunch as part of it, but then, during the interview, it went like this:Manager draws some boxes and lines on a whiteboard, tells me it's a diagram of the company firewall and DMZ, and asks me what's wrong with it. I tell him I don't know, I'm a DBA, and don't normally configure firewalls and DMZs. There have always (in my prior jobs) been other people who handled that. He spends the next 15 minutes asking me things like, "so you've never worked for a company with a data-driven web-presence?", and grilling me on firewalls, DMZs, load ballancer and other external security measures, despite my answer to pretty much every question being "I don't know. I'm not familiar with this particular subject."A while later, after some softball questions about things I could actually answer, their Oracle DBA (they use both products) gets up, draws a diagram on the whiteboard, with backup plans and some basic ETL flows. It was pretty clear that it was missing log backups on key databases, and I expected the question to be something like "what's missing here". Instead it was, "So, we don't do log backups on our mission-critical data. Under what circumstances would that be okay?"I replied with some options about recovering data from ETL sources, possible use of replication or mirroring instead of PIT-restores, and a few essoteric possibilities that were "out there" a bit, but possible. It turned out the answer they were looking for was "It's okay to lose mission-critical data if you don't have enough disk space for the log backups". That's not really how they worded it, but that's what it boiled down to.I hope, to this day, they were just trying to get a shock reaction out of me. I think I did stare at him for a few seconds with my eyes a bit wide. I don't think my jaw actually physically hit the floor, but it may have.(As a note, data is either mission-critical, meaning losing it would critically harm the business, or it's non-mission-critical, and losing it is business-acceptable. Can't be both ways.)It gets better.At the end of the interview, as always, I was asked if I had any final questions. Every interview ends that way, right? So I did my usual, and asked, "Am I leaving you with any questions or concerns about my ability to do the job we're talking about here?" The answer was, "Well, you seem pretty arrogant. Have you ever made any friends?"It gets better.They made me an offer about 10 minutes later, while I was driving back to the airport to fly back home. A very high-pay offer, and generous moving/relocation expenses.(I turned them down. Between the weird questions, and some distinctly odd behavior while we were at lunch, they could have offered twice what they did and I still would have turned it down. But definitely an "interesting" interview.)[/quote]LOL.... and I thought I've had weird interviews in the past!Wed, 12 Sep 2012 06:11:56 GMTAbu Dinahttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Stuart Davies (8/17/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]ChrisM@Work (8/17/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]Stuart Davies (8/17/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]ChrisM@Work (8/16/2012)[/b][hr]Earlier this year I had an interview for a gig right next to Swindon station, a dream forty-minute commute compared with the two hours each way I’d been on for months. Two guys interviewed me, both PM’s, one with some SQL dev experience. The SQL questions were trivial, they then switched to the “can you work with us” questions, with a strong focus on discipline. The big one went like this: S: “I’m M’s boss. I’ve asked you to work on a project exclusively while I’m away for a few days. Two days in, M approaches you with an urgent request for a piece of business-critical work.” The answer I like the most for this one is “Seek the advice of a superior”. I can’t remember what I answered in the interview, but they didn’t like it and I didn’t get the gig. The guy who did get the gig works right here. He’d worked on it for three weeks – then found out that S & M hadn’t got approval to do the project but had started anyway, and was let go. [/quote]If the company involved is also the name of a town in Switzerland - I've had a couple of interviews there - both left me feeling uncomfortable about the staff that that really needed and why I had been selected for an interview.[/quote]That description may have fitted a year or two back Stuart, but not now - at least, not the company I'm thinking of. You were uncomfortable about the staff? From what I remember, they appeared bl00dy miserable - but it was a grim monday morning.[/quote]Yup - that sounds about right[/quote]You missed nothing. Swindon and roundabout has some fine companies to contract for - where you're not guessing why you're there or for how long ;-)Mon, 20 Aug 2012 01:47:45 GMTChrisM@Workhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]ChrisM@Work (8/17/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]Stuart Davies (8/17/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]ChrisM@Work (8/16/2012)[/b][hr]Earlier this year I had an interview for a gig right next to Swindon station, a dream forty-minute commute compared with the two hours each way I’d been on for months. Two guys interviewed me, both PM’s, one with some SQL dev experience. The SQL questions were trivial, they then switched to the “can you work with us” questions, with a strong focus on discipline. The big one went like this: S: “I’m M’s boss. I’ve asked you to work on a project exclusively while I’m away for a few days. Two days in, M approaches you with an urgent request for a piece of business-critical work.” The answer I like the most for this one is “Seek the advice of a superior”. I can’t remember what I answered in the interview, but they didn’t like it and I didn’t get the gig. The guy who did get the gig works right here. He’d worked on it for three weeks – then found out that S & M hadn’t got approval to do the project but had started anyway, and was let go. [/quote]If the company involved is also the name of a town in Switzerland - I've had a couple of interviews there - both left me feeling uncomfortable about the staff that that really needed and why I had been selected for an interview.[/quote]That description may have fitted a year or two back Stuart, but not now - at least, not the company I'm thinking of. You were uncomfortable about the staff? From what I remember, they appeared bl00dy miserable - but it was a grim monday morning.[/quote]Yup - that sounds about rightFri, 17 Aug 2012 10:50:53 GMTStuart Davieshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Stuart Davies (8/17/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]ChrisM@Work (8/16/2012)[/b][hr]Earlier this year I had an interview for a gig right next to Swindon station, a dream forty-minute commute compared with the two hours each way I’d been on for months. Two guys interviewed me, both PM’s, one with some SQL dev experience. The SQL questions were trivial, they then switched to the “can you work with us” questions, with a strong focus on discipline. The big one went like this: S: “I’m M’s boss. I’ve asked you to work on a project exclusively while I’m away for a few days. Two days in, M approaches you with an urgent request for a piece of business-critical work.” The answer I like the most for this one is “Seek the advice of a superior”. I can’t remember what I answered in the interview, but they didn’t like it and I didn’t get the gig. The guy who did get the gig works right here. He’d worked on it for three weeks – then found out that S & M hadn’t got approval to do the project but had started anyway, and was let go. [/quote]If the company involved is also the name of a town in Switzerland - I've had a couple of interviews there - both left me feeling uncomfortable about the staff that that really needed and why I had been selected for an interview.[/quote]That description may have fitted a year or two back Stuart, but not now - at least, not the company I'm thinking of. You were uncomfortable about the staff? From what I remember, they appeared bl00dy miserable - but it was a grim monday morning.Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:46:53 GMTChrisM@Workhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]ChrisM@Work (8/16/2012)[/b][hr]Earlier this year I had an interview for a gig right next to Swindon station, a dream forty-minute commute compared with the two hours each way I’d been on for months. Two guys interviewed me, both PM’s, one with some SQL dev experience. The SQL questions were trivial, they then switched to the “can you work with us” questions, with a strong focus on discipline. The big one went like this: S: “I’m M’s boss. I’ve asked you to work on a project exclusively while I’m away for a few days. Two days in, M approaches you with an urgent request for a piece of business-critical work.” The answer I like the most for this one is “Seek the advice of a superior”. I can’t remember what I answered in the interview, but they didn’t like it and I didn’t get the gig. The guy who did get the gig works right here. He’d worked on it for three weeks – then found out that S & M hadn’t got approval to do the project but had started anyway, and was let go. [/quote]If the company involved is also the name of a town in Switzerland - I've had a couple of interviews there - both left me feeling uncomfortable about the staff that that really needed and why I had been selected for an interview.Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:38:28 GMTStuart Davieshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxEarlier this year I had an interview for a gig right next to Swindon station, a dream forty-minute commute compared with the two hours each way I’d been on for months. Two guys interviewed me, both PM’s, one with some SQL dev experience. The SQL questions were trivial, they then switched to the “can you work with us” questions, with a strong focus on discipline. The big one went like this: S: “I’m M’s boss. I’ve asked you to work on a project exclusively while I’m away for a few days. Two days in, M approaches you with an urgent request for a piece of business-critical work.” The answer I like the most for this one is “Seek the advice of a superior”. I can’t remember what I answered in the interview, but they didn’t like it and I didn’t get the gig. The guy who did get the gig works right here. He’d worked on it for three weeks – then found out that S & M hadn’t got approval to do the project but had started anyway, and was let go. Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:45:31 GMTChrisM@Workhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote]Were either or both of these set up by a recruiter? First sounds like confusing data entry with DBA. Second sounds like generic DBA position but they forgot to mention what they wanted specifically. I.e. someone with DB2 experience.[/quote]The interviews were few years ago, so I don't remember how they were organized, but in both of them after few questions, I've asked if this is an interview for a SQL Server DBA and the answer in both of them was yes.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:57:55 GMTAdi Cohn-120898http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Adi Cohn-120898 (8/14/2012)[/b][hr]Few years ago I've had very strange interview. I was asked all kind of strange questions that had nothing to do with my ability to work as a DBA. At first they asked me if I can show them my high school grades. I told them that I have no idea where to find my high schools grade. They asked me few times how come I'm not able to find my high school grades with me (at that time I was already over 30 year old, and high school was a very remote memory). I told them that I'll might be able to find my grades from college, but I don't think that I'll be able to find a report card with my high school grades. After that I was asked about my typing ability - How fast do I type? do I have mistakes and typos? etc. At this point I started thinking that I got to the wrong interview and asked them if this is the interview for the DBA position. The answer was yes. After few more questions that had nothing to do with databases and programming, I told them "thank you, no thank you". At another interview that was very strange I was asked many technical questions but none of them was about SQL Server. At first I was asked about UNIX. They asked me about 10 questions about UNIX and for each one of them I replied that I don't know UNIX at all. After that they started asking me questions about DB2. Again I replied that I never worked with it, and don't know the answers. They just kept asking more questions about DB2. When they realized that I told them the true and I don't know how to work with DB2, they asked me questions about few other technologies. The only thing that I was not asked about was SQL Server. Of course I didn't get that job.Adi[/quote]Were either or both of these set up by a recruiter? First sounds like confusing data entry with DBA. Second sounds like generic DBA position but they forgot to mention what they wanted specifically. I.e. someone with DB2 experience.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:41:44 GMTScott D. Jacobsonhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxFew years ago I've had very strange interview. I was asked all kind of strange questions that had nothing to do with my ability to work as a DBA. At first they asked me if I can show them my high school grades. I told them that I have no idea where to find my high schools grade. They asked me few times how come I'm not able to find my high school grades with me (at that time I was already over 30 year old, and high school was a very remote memory). I told them that I'll might be able to find my grades from college, but I don't think that I'll be able to find a report card with my high school grades. After that I was asked about my typing ability - How fast do I type? do I have mistakes and typos? etc. At this point I started thinking that I got to the wrong interview and asked them if this is the interview for the DBA position. The answer was yes. After few more questions that had nothing to do with databases and programming, I told them "thank you, no thank you". At another interview that was very strange I was asked many technical questions but none of them was about SQL Server. At first I was asked about UNIX. They asked me about 10 questions about UNIX and for each one of them I replied that I don't know UNIX at all. After that they started asking me questions about DB2. Again I replied that I never worked with it, and don't know the answers. They just kept asking more questions about DB2. When they realized that I told them the true and I don't know how to work with DB2, they asked me questions about few other technologies. The only thing that I was not asked about was SQL Server. Of course I didn't get that job.AdiTue, 14 Aug 2012 08:34:12 GMTAdi Cohn-120898http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote]I didn't suggest to accept the job, just to let the interview to finish. You should try to speak with some of the employees or find some references from somewhere else. As they have said, at the end of the interview you can accept or decline the offer.You could have the best interview in the world, they can show you amazing things but it could be a simple illusion (been there) or it could be the other way around. [/quote]Of course, whether I stayed to finish the interview would depend on the circumstances.Do I need the job? Is this the guy I would be working for? Did the job sound great up until this time?Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:18:28 GMTScott Arendthttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote]I got a job at a marketing company in Soho, London. They didn't mention it in the interview but they expected me to handle any network issues too! I got the hang of Small Business Server quite quickly, but I was stumped when the network went down & I was supposed to fix it. One of the girls said 'Jasper used to hang the router out of the window'. I discovered the router was on top of a radiator! Sure enough, it all started working again after about 5 minutes hanging out of the window.[/quote]:Wow: +1. This. This actually led to knee-slapping laughter. Keep 'em comin' guys and gals.Edit: spelling. I really need to preview my posts more often.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:15:52 GMTScott D. Jacobsonhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote]You could have the best interview in the world, they can show you amazing things but it could be a simple illusion (been there) or it could be the other way around.[/quote]Good call. I've been there too. My last job before my current turned out that way. There were also some complete fallacies about the job presented in the interview. Job ended up being a nightmare of moving targets that were impossible to hit. To this day when I mention the organization locally (where it carries quite a bit of cachet) people always say "oh that must have been so cool!" Then I regretfully recall my experience for them and the reaction is usually "man that stinks".Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:09:18 GMTScott D. Jacobsonhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxCome to think of it, I've had a couple other odd ones:About 20 years ago I went for an interview in Bristol (England) & the 'office' turned out to be a few rickety desks in the changing rooms at the old Eastville football stadium which had recently become disused. I ran a mile from that one....Another one was at Heathrow airport for FoxPro. The company was a US freight handler & the local boss didn't like the US software, but they wouldn't change it - so he had 'ReFoxed' it. This product produces FoxPro source code from compiled code. The trouble was he had an older version of ReFox than FoxPro & it reproduced code it didn't understand as hexadecimal strings - of which there were quite a lot! I didn't follow that one up either...I got a job at a marketing company in Soho, London. They didn't mention it in the interview but they expected me to handle any network issues too! I got the hang of Small Business Server quite quickly, but I was stumped when the network went down & I was supposed to fix it. One of the girls said 'Jasper used to hang the router out of the window'. I discovered the router was on top of a radiator! Sure enough, it all started working again after about 5 minutes hanging out of the window.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:54:57 GMTlaurie-789651http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Scott D. Jacobson (8/14/2012)[/b][hr]Now if you really need the gig, you could always do as Luis suggests. Suck it up and take it. Try to be patient and tolerant. Start looking for something else on day 1. My thought is any qualified person should always be "looking" even if there's a lower likelihood they'll tab something else.[/quote]I didn't suggest to accept the job, just to let the interview to finish. You should try to speak with some of the employees or find some references from somewhere else. As they have said, at the end of the interview you can accept or decline the offer.You could have the best interview in the world, they can show you amazing things but it could be a simple illusion (been there) or it could be the other way around.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:47:44 GMTLuis Cazareshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx+1There must be more good stories out there..Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:42:10 GMTlaurie-789651http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote]Never take the first impression as the absolute truth[/quote]I'm going to have to disagree. Interviews and first dates are very similar. In order to avoid wasting everyone's time when there's a solid pool of applicants (both employers and employees) you need to cut to the chase. If something rubs you the wrong way, you should bail out.Now if you really need the gig, you could always do as Luis suggests. Suck it up and take it. Try to be patient and tolerant. Start looking for something else on day 1. My thought is any qualified person should always be "looking" even if there's a lower likelihood they'll tab something else.All that being said, please tell me we have some more of these. This thread started off really strong. I know more of you have some weird stories.Edit: grammar.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:38:26 GMTScott D. Jacobsonhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxNo matter how the interview goes, I always try to get offered the job. At least I have the option to take it or leave it, & it's good practice (for me) to try & deal with anything that comes my way.Having said that I've never had any really wierd 'tests' myself...Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:10:35 GMTlaurie-789651http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Scott Arendt (8/14/2012)[/b][hr][quote]I just don't get the "shock" interview mentality. My boss did this to one of my co-workers. He brought him in for an interview and about half way through spun around in his chair (he was sideways to the guy) and started bouncing a ball of the wall and catching it. He did this for about 10 minutes.[/quote]That shows a complete lack of respect. I would have (politely) told him so and ended the interview. I would not be comfortable working for someone who can't look me in the eye and gives the appearance of being bored.[/quote]I believe that you shouldn't leave so early. It might be disrespectful and he might know it, but you might have to deal with people like this on any job. If it's a test, they should let you know before they ended the interview, if they don't telll you anything you can point that out and leave.Never take the first impression as the absolute truth (no matter if it's good or bad), most of the times you can be wrong.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:07:15 GMTLuis Cazareshttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote]I just don't get the "shock" interview mentality. My boss did this to one of my co-workers. He brought him in for an interview and about half way through spun around in his chair (he was sideways to the guy) and started bouncing a ball of the wall and catching it. He did this for about 10 minutes.[/quote]That shows a complete lack of respect. I would have (politely) told him so and ended the interview. I would not be comfortable working for someone who can't look me in the eye and gives the appearance of being bored.Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:49:48 GMTScott Arendthttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Lowell (8/7/2012)[/b][hr]I had a similar interview like laurie had years ago; they were interested in whether I knew vb6, ADO and whether i knew javascript; the questions had a couple of techy questions, but the end of the interview was "can you start tomorrow".[/quote]I took the same interview as Laurie, two or three weeks' before, with the same two interviewers. "Do you know the difference between an inner join and an outer join", "Yes", was the interview. We spent the rest of the allotted time talking about photography. That was the second gig Laurie and I worked. The first was Bravissimo about 4 years ago. Oh, and this is the third, he sits on the same run of desks. The interview wasn't particularly interesting for this one. A fairly rigorous online test followed up a week later by a phone chat about hobbies. Prior to the phone chat, I'd attended an interview with a DM company only a half-hour walk from home. That one was offerred too but the offer came through a day after the offer for this job. Here's the unusual bit - the agent said they'd like me aboard but wanted to haggle over the quoted rate, even though I was putting [i]more[/i] on the table than the list of requirements. I'm hoping to discover if it was the client, or the agency scrabbling for a bigger percentage.Mon, 13 Aug 2012 02:46:13 GMTChrisM@Workhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]jasona.work (8/9/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]Steve Jones - SSC Editor (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]I had a strange interview back in the Novell 3.11 days where a guy kept asking me questions about digging into a particular problem scenario. As I'd answer with things to check or look at, he'd provide the results and explain what didn't work and we'd go on. I asked questions, and some he answered, some he couldn't.Eventually I tried something that made him stop. He told me they'd had this problem and couldn't solve it, going through almost everything I'd done until that last thing. Was an interesting experience.[/quote]So they did this: [url=http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2006-05-06/]http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2006-05-06/[/url]to you?[/quote]Almost. They'd worked around the issue, but it always bugged the guy, so he kept the scenario as an interview question.Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:39:53 GMTSteve Jones - SSC Editorhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote]Sounds like a reasonable technique to me. Assumes 3D mental imaging skills that some people might not have, and which probably aren't applicable to most DBA/dev tasks, but that itself as a barrier would be easy enough to false-negative out of the test.[/quote]Just to be clear, I'm looking for a successful completion of the task or even how close they get. I'm looking at how they aproach it it. To be honest, I always thought it was impossible to complete in the timescale although one guy did get awfully close once. He completed a model but a couple of the bricks were miss-orientated. Damn close though. I put him forward but the budget got cut back just before we made an offer. I think that sucked and I hope he found something else decent.[quote]20min seems long to me[/quote]I'd have thought so too if I hadn't tried it out on one of my team members first with no duration to see how long was reasonable. It took him over an hour but he did end up getting it exactly right. At the 10 minute stage most people are still establishing which bricks have actually been used. 20 is actually surprisingly tight.[quote]Eventually I tried something that made him stop. He told me they'd had this problem and couldn't solve it, going through almost everything I'd done until that last thing. Was an interesting experience[/quote]That does sound like you got fleeced for some free consultancy.:-D By the way, I've got a position available for a particularly talented c# programmer with a deep understanding of the data binding model. It's imperitive that you know how to implement the iBindingList interface to give a source that will remember the persistance state of it's members, allow filtering and sorting and handle any generic type. This question will be purely to test your knowledge at interview and is in no way connected to the fact that I've been banging away at this for weeks now! There's definitely be a job at the end of it. Honest. You can trust me.;-)[quote]The first thing I'd do is ask for specs.[/quote]That would definitely win you points as would asking for a picture. An insistence on ALWAYS having a spec (not sure you're saying you always need one though) would lose you points. To me a good developer needs to be able to investigate a problem themselves when the situation demands it. As often as not the customer genuinely cannot spec what they want because they don't fully understand the problem themselves and on those occassions I want someone with a much more rounded skill set than just the ability to follow a set of instructions. Any developer who ever tells me they don't feel they should ever have to speak to a user gets counted out immediately. Specs when possible, flexibilty when not.Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:53:18 GMTFunkyDexterhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]FunkyDexter (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]Wierdest interview I ever has was only about my second job after finishing my degree. The boss turned up an hour late and the only thing he seemed interested in was whether I liked Frank Zappa. I did, so I got the job. In hindsight I wish I hadn't accepted it as it turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Still, you live and learn.I have an unusual interview technique I use which some here might find unreasonable but I'd defend it to the hilt. I get two sets of lego containing exactly the same pieces. I sit in one room with a pretty random shape pre-built out of one set of lego and have the interviewee sit in another room with the other set - connected by hands free telephones. The interviewee can ask any questions they like and they've got 20 minutes to build the shape I pre-built, which is waaay too short a period for them to actually complete the task (it takes alot longer than you might think). This is actually a great test because it reveals so much about the interviewee that I believe is crucial to a good programmer. Particularly around the "softer" skills I'm typically looking for. Do they panic? Do they give up? How do they communicate? Do they ask open and closed question to understand the problem? Do they make assumptions or fully clarify the goals up front? Do they take a methodical aproach? Do they think logically and try to break the problem into smaller chunks? I'm not cruel, I lay the basic premise out in front of the interviewee before hand and what my expectations are. I tell them they probably won't finish and I just want them to get as close as possible.Technical skills are pretty easy to test for, you just ask some technical questions. And knowing your syntax off by heart isn't really what makes a good programmer, it's about having a flair for problem solving. Those soft skills can be damn hard to test for and this is the most effective way I've ever found to do it.[/quote]The first thing I'd do is ask for specs. If there were no specs, I would ask if you always require developers to work without specs. Depending on that answer, I may stay and play the game, or, I'd walk out. If I stayed, I would then ask you to take a pic of the lego and email it to me. I am interviewing you as much as you are interviewing me.Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:38:36 GMTOCTomhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]Steve Jones - SSC Editor (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]I had a strange interview back in the Novell 3.11 days where a guy kept asking me questions about digging into a particular problem scenario. As I'd answer with things to check or look at, he'd provide the results and explain what didn't work and we'd go on. I asked questions, and some he answered, some he couldn't.Eventually I tried something that made him stop. He told me they'd had this problem and couldn't solve it, going through almost everything I'd done until that last thing. Was an interesting experience.[/quote]So they did this: [url=http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2006-05-06/]http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2006-05-06/[/url]to you?Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:19:38 GMTjasona.workhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspxI had a strange interview back in the Novell 3.11 days where a guy kept asking me questions about digging into a particular problem scenario. As I'd answer with things to check or look at, he'd provide the results and explain what didn't work and we'd go on. I asked questions, and some he answered, some he couldn't.Eventually I tried something that made him stop. He told me they'd had this problem and couldn't solve it, going through almost everything I'd done until that last thing. Was an interesting experience.Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:58:57 GMTSteve Jones - SSC Editorhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]FunkyDexter (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]I have an unusual interview technique I use which some here might find unreasonable but I'd defend it to the hilt. I get two sets of lego containing exactly the same pieces. I sit in one room with a pretty random shape pre-built out of one set of lego and have the interviewee sit in another room with the other set - connected by hands free telephones. The interviewee can ask any questions they like and they've got 20 minutes to build the shape I pre-built, which is waaay too short a period for them to actually complete the task (it takes alot longer than you might think).[/quote]That's really interesting. A good amount of this depends on how good a communicator you are, but you need this person to communicate with you, so this is actually a good test. 20min seems long to me, I might try to get this down to 10 minutes to see how they work with you, but I like it.Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:56:38 GMTSteve Jones - SSC Editorhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]FunkyDexter (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]Wierdest interview I ever has was only about my second job after finishing my degree. The boss turned up an hour late and the only thing he seemed interested in was whether I liked Frank Zappa. I did, so I got the job. In hindsight I wish I hadn't accepted it as it turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Still, you live and learn.I have an unusual interview technique I use which some here might find unreasonable but I'd defend it to the hilt. I get two sets of lego containing exactly the same pieces. I sit in one room with a pretty random shape pre-built out of one set of lego and have the interviewee sit in another room with the other set - connected by hands free telephones. The interviewee can ask any questions they like and they've got 20 minutes to build the shape I pre-built, which is waaay too short a period for them to actually complete the task (it takes alot longer than you might think). This is actually a great test because it reveals so much about the interviewee that I believe is crucial to a good programmer. Particularly around the "softer" skills I'm typically looking for. Do they panic? Do they give up? How do they communicate? Do they ask open and closed question to understand the problem? Do they make assumptions or fully clarify the goals up front? Do they take a methodical aproach? Do they think logically and try to break the problem into smaller chunks? I'm not cruel, I lay the basic premise out in front of the interviewee before hand and what my expectations are. I tell them they probably won't finish and I just want them to get as close as possible.Technical skills are pretty easy to test for, you just ask some technical questions. And knowing your syntax off by heart isn't really what makes a good programmer, it's about having a flair for problem solving. Those soft skills can be damn hard to test for and this is the most effective way I've ever found to do it.[/quote]Sounds like a reasonable technique to me. Assumes 3D mental imaging skills that some people might not have, and which probably aren't applicable to most DBA/dev tasks, but that itself as a barrier would be easy enough to false-negative out of the test.Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:47:28 GMTGSquaredhttp://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1341332-61-1.aspx[quote][b]FunkyDexter (8/9/2012)[/b][hr]...I have an unusual interview technique I use which some here might find unreasonable but I'd defend it to the hilt. I get two sets of lego containing exactly the same pieces. I sit in one room with a pretty random shape pre-built out of one set of lego and have the interviewee sit in another room with the other set - connected by hands free telephones. The interviewee can ask any questions they like and they've got 20 minutes to build the shape I pre-built, which is waaay too short a period for them to actually complete the task (it takes alot longer than you might think). This is actually a great test because it reveals so much about the interviewee that I believe is crucial to a good programmer. Particularly around the "softer" skills I'm typically looking for. Do they panic? Do they give up? How do they communicate? Do they ask open and closed question to understand the problem? Do they make assumptions or fully clarify the goals up front? Do they take a methodical aproach? Do they think logically and try to break the problem into smaller chunks? I'm not cruel, I lay the basic premise out in front of the interviewee before hand and what my expectations are. I tell them they probably won't finish and I just want them to get as close as possible...[/quote]Maybe you are really just testing their willingness to work on pointless tasks in order to get a job. :-)Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:45:41 GMTMichael Valentine Jones