Yesterday I interviewed for a senior developer position at a large corporation. I was confident, in charge, and ready to rock.
Thirty minutes into the interview I left shattered and destroyed.
What happened?
I bombed.
How I bombed the interview
Bombing an interview can happen at any stage of your career. It can happen if you prep. It can happen if you don't prep.
Bombing isn't always just on you. It can also be because of the team that you are interviewing for, their lack of preparation, and the interview style.
Prepping
I prepped by reviewing everything on the job listing.
Most of the bullet points were about Agile, testing, and leading a project so I reviewed those skills and made sure they were mentioned on my resume.
There was a single line mentioning the MEAN stack so I brushed up on my MongoDB and Express.js.
I felt confident and prepared.
I washed my power suit, picked out my jewelry, and settled on a simple red lipstick and gold eyeshadow look.
The interview
I had been to the location before, so I knew how to get there and the amount of time needed to walk to the building. I arrived a few minutes before my interview to check in and calm myself.
I met one of the interviewers and went to the conference room. He started to explain the the team and project.
And I realized something wasn't right.
He was going into a deep dive of security terms. I rolled with it. I did security years ago so I was able to keep up and add to the banter.
He then talked about the tool the team was making and their stack, Java 8 and Oracle.
They wanted a senior Java engineer who knew a little about front end development not a senior front end developer.
It had been years since I worked with Java. It wasn't even listed on my resume.
They carried on and quizzed me about JavaScript and everything left my brain.
I couldn't remember the base datatypes, hoisting left my mind, first class functions were not there. I scribbled frantically on my scratch paper trying to pull up anything. These were terms I knew, things I just did without thinking, I could not define them anymore. They were just a part of how I coded.
Then I was asked about databases.
I finally asked them what they were looking for. It was obvious I was not it. They agreed and we ended it early.
Afterwards
I calmly walked out and drove home.
I called my recruiter and they apologized to me. They didn't know the team wanted a Java engineer as that is not what they asked for. The recruiter was also confused to why they even interviewed me as my resume has none of the skills they actually wanted.
I bombed because I should not have been interviewed for that position. It still hurts and is frustrating. Remember not every job is for you.
Top comments (21)
What the...I mean..I just...
WHY ARE PEOPLE?!
I know.
I wasted my good glitter eyeshadow on that interview.
I second that
Such experiences suck, but they happen unfortunately. Don't blame yourself. Interviewing is just as much about assessing the company as it is the company assessing you.
You dodged a bullet. You wouldn't want to work for such a company.
Bigger and better things will come your way :)
I’m curious to see the job description
Here it is in all its glory:
Need to Have React.JS (Mean Stack).
SENIOR (10+ YRS OF EXPERIENCE)
• Develop and test code to deliver functionality that meets the overall business strategy and objectives
• Build the work needed to implement features from the product backlog
• Size user stories
• Unit test code, create automated test scripts, and execute all other testing-related tasks
• Test deliverables against a user story's acceptance tests
• Execute necessary project documentation
• Work closely with other team to ensure that features meet business needs
• Follow industry-standard agile software design methodology for development and documentation
• Work with infrastructure, security, and other partners
• 3-5 years in an engineering role
• 1-3 years participating in agile development
• Scrum certification, a plus
• Experience with test-driven development and software test automation
• Deep experience working in an agile environment (e.g. user stories, iterative development, etc.)
I'm trying really hard to decode what they meant. Maybe this?
M: Oracle DB
E: Java EE
A: React
N: Tomcat
The JORT stack? 😂
I think they left out the opening description. If you imagine it saying, "senior software engineer wanted for Java role)" first then none of the rest of it is particularly off.
I bet they were a little too close to it and not used to writing job specs.
Hopefully they learn something.
There is no mention of Java. Wtf. 10 years of exp for only a senior role? If they pay you 100€ per hour then fine but in that level that’s the minimum. Tbh the job description is all over the place and so do they.
Some good people have a lot more than ten years experience and are regular or senior developers. It's not like there's a common agreement about what terms mean across the industry :)
I had an interview with Facebook, and they asked me the simple question of what port is associated with DNS... and I said 63 instead of 53.
Another interview, I flipped what a == and === did. I've been developing for years, have written production code in multiple languages... and my mind still freezes sometimes when I'm put on the spot.
I'm so happy to read this ... No, don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about you having those moments, I'm happy I'm NOT ALONE with them.
Thanks for confirming I'm not a special case of developer dumb. I feel hope and will continue ... to bomb interviews.
I know this s**t!!! It's "just a part of how I code".
I also sometimes doubt that interviewers are 1. knowledgeable and professional people, 2. simply good humans or 3. even know themselves what they're looking for.
Next time don't work with a external recruiter. Work with a internal one that is directly from the company's HR department.
I will usually ignore recruiters because of their way in placing candidates from misinformation to down right waste of time in useless phone calls.
That is what I normally do, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Yeah well, I would just chuck it as life lessons then.
I'd offer you a post for telling a great story and choosing great gifs to go with it. Top job. You da bomb!
You didn't bomb anything. You got ushered into the wrong screen and only figured out their mistake when you were 20 minutes into The Phantom Menace.
This is annoying but don't let it get you down!
This is just a mistake of the recruiter. It happened to me in the past when I used to work as a management accountant. They invited me to an interview for a job which was not matching my CV which they already had.
So they wanted a Java engineer but they quizzed you on Javascript? They need to get their stuff together!
When I asked what they wanted because I prepped for obviously the wrong thing, they seemed appalled at what I did prep for. Apparently reviewing Agile was wrong and foolish because "You are just assigned a task and do the thing."
Bombing was the best case scenario out of that entire interview.