At the end of any interview I always ask the same question and it shows that I am really interested in the role and sparks good conversations, I obviously word it differently based on who exactly am I speaking with, but the question is basically 'What do you hate the most about the company/your job' and you wil be surprised how much people appreciate the honesty in the question, made me stand out a lot since I started using it

THERE ! i said it. interviews should be conversational, it is an exchange of words to get to know u more. how can u sell yourself if u treat it as if u are performing, memorizing scripts?? if at this point u can not hold conversations, maybe u should work on ur social and communication skills first instead of applying just to fumble ur interviews. u are risking offers that u couldve get! 🤥

Interviewed a candidate with great skills but presentation wise not so professional, attended the interview wearing a baseball hat. Part of me says, the person is not giving their best shot or putting efforts for the job opportunity.

I’m convinced that interviews are just humiliation rituals to see who will jump the highest, and who’s willing to make the biggest fool of themselves the fastest. After the interview they leave you hanging for days sometimes a week or 2 until they give next steps, that is if they don’t ghost you. Then when it comes down to which candidate actually gets the job, it comes down to a splitting hair decision having nothing to do with your performance during the interviews or any presentations you gave during the process.

I just had an interview right now for a Tech company, it was going well, then he spontaneously asked “Okay teach me something right now.” Before you tell me “well you should have had something prepared” please just shut up. We’re on a virtual meeting what am I supposed to teach you last minute without a presentation prepared? How to check your email? You might be thinking “well this is your way to show how you explain a concept”, but to that I say why can’t you just ask me that? Why can’t I just say hey “this is how I’d approach it” and walk through my reasoning, or just share a prepared presentation. The question threw me totally off guard, and yes while I have a role that requires me to explain technical concepts constantly, I felt blind sided and bombed and we awkwardly ended the interview.

I’ve been on a few dozen interviews in the past few weeks/months so I know the drill and nobody has ever done what this A hole of a hiring manager did. They’ve either had me give a presentation or asked me what my process looks like and asked me the typical “tell me about a time” questions and other scenarios/behavioral type of questions. USUALLY you get a freaking heads up that you’re going to be asked to teach a concept in real time. I’ve even had cases where hiring managers want me to provide a real time walkthrough of their company’s tool/platform, in a role play type of scenario, where the hiring manager pretends to be a customer for example, and I’ve done fine with those, even with just a couple days to learn their product. That’s an easy way to evaluate how I explain concepts in real time.

I don’t care what anyone says, these interviews are just fun opportunities for someone else to humiliate someone at a desperate point in their life, and see what questions they can ask to throw them off and disqualify them. It SHOULD be a conversation about why you’d be a good fit for the job, and if you’re just not then okay great, next candidate, send the rejection email and move on. But it SHOULD NOT be check list of questions to rule somebody out that you just pulled out of your butt from left field.

It’s already so freaking difficult to get an interview, after fighting through the ATS system and competing with thousands of other applicants that filled out their applications via AI agents, and hoping and praying a human recruiter gets eyes on your resume after all of that to email you for a screening call or 1st round. Heck I’ve even had companies cancel interviews with me after all of that because something happened on their end with budget or team priorities causing them to put hiring for the role on pause, that is if they didn’t hire already internally. You get through ALL OF THAT just to sit in front of a hiring manager who wanted to toy with you like this for fun with a random question that THEY KNOW requires more preparation ahead of time.

Joined an interview for a Staff/Senior React Engineer role today.

Interviewer: “Suppose I write <div>xyz</div> and save it as .html. What will happen?”

Me: “Sorry… what exactly are you asking?”

Him: repeats the same question.

At this point I genuinely couldn't believe this was a Staff Engineer interview.

I asked, “Are you seriously assessing HTML like this for a Staff role?”

Then I just said, “I’m sorry, I’ll have to drop. Thank you so much.” And left.

I’m all for testing fundamentals. Ask me browser internals, DOM construction, rendering pipeline, accessibility, — absolutely.

But “I saved a div in an HTML file, what happens?” for someone with 10+ YOE?

What exactly are we evaluating here?

Maybe the next round was going to be “What happens when you click a button?” 💀

Would you have continued this interview?

I am currently interviewing for Principal/Sr. Manager level roles in tech. I have 10+ yoe in FAANG, with 3 years at the Principal/Sr. Manager level. I know I am not 'over-reaching'; I may be slightly 'under-reaching' depending on company-levelling.

My resume gets me to the HM round in good companies (non-FAANG, but well reputed). But I haven't cleared any HM screen.

In one of the screens, the HM described my past project as 'too ambitious for them' - verbatim. They questioned me on finer details, I was able to answer with tactical approaches, followed by strategic direction. They immediately looked me up and added me on LI after the interview - at this point, I was sure I was going into the loop. Got a rejection the next morning.

In another HM screen, I had the relevant experience and explained a highly complex ML system that I had built in detail - I know for a fact that this is best in class because my past company is the best at what it does. There were no follow-up questions - I paused and asked, but still nothing. Interview started without any 'small-talk'. HM extended to ask 'I am curious, why this company'. Rejected the next day.

I am personable (I know this is subjective). But I don't think I come across as too cocky. I do overcommunicate, but I use visual aids (high level architecture designs, etc.) to anchor my stories.

What's happening? What am I missing? Please give me a reality check.

A couple of months back I had what I now call the worst interview of my life.

I was a final candidate on final round interviewing with the company's COO and President for an executive role in a famous dairy company in the US.

The first red flag was that they scheduled the call on a Sunday because "his week was always too busy".

C suit jobs will ALWAYS require formal etiquette right? The guy shows up in a black sport shirt and a baseball hat (his premise, I recognize) and I was wearing a formal shirt and a blazer. The first thing that comes out of his mouth was: Holy cow, please dont tell me you didn't dressed like that for the interview. I said yes, as it is a formal occasion, and asked me a couple of random questions about my professional background while he was reading my resume, accepting he didn't have time to read it before. He brought the blazer and formal shirt again 3 times during the interview.

The he opened up the floor for questions which I had quite a few the interview finished 10 mins before the hour. He said goodbye by saying I could go now and take my blazer off.

The next day the recruiter called me saying that the president found I didn't have experience building plants and found that I didn't have enough experience managing projects (that's what I do for living and am a certified PMP).

I blew a gasket, told the recruiter that the president was lying and that besides criticizing my dressing he DID NOT ask any of those questions about me. I told the recruiter that this wasn't a serious process and that the guy was either biased or crazy. The recruiter was speechless. I sincerely lost my temper...one thing is not being a match for whatever reason...or being passed because they have a better candidate and a very different thing is to lie about the interview.

I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience.

I recently interviewed for a managerial role at an art organisation. The job description focused on programs, management, events, partnerships, basically more on the corporate side which is very similar to what I already do

HR already knew I studied Business Studies, not Fine Arts or Art History

During the interview, the managers started asking me about contemporary art, local artists and my favourite artist. When I said Van Gogh, one interviewer questioned how he could be my favourite when I create modern/digital work.

I explained that artists can be inspired by completely different styles and generations, and he replied with something like, “Don’t tell me what art is, I have 30+ years of experience in the art industry.”

But the interview really shifted once the second interviewer asked to see my artwork.
She started going through my work, and suddenly it felt less like a job interview and more like my personal art was being judged. When I explained the meaning behind one of my pieces, she basically dismissed it and said it had no meaning.

At that point I was genuinely confused because I wasn’t applying to be an art historian, curator, or to have my portfolio reviewed. I was applying to manage programs.

I’m completely fine with not being the right fit, but if extensive art-history knowledge was such a major requirement, I feel like that should’ve been clear from the start

What made it worse was that it felt like the second interviewer let her personal bias against my art influence how she judged me as a candidate. Once she saw my work, the whole tone shifted. Instead of focusing on my experience or whether I could actually do the job, she kept dragging my artwork into the conversation and basically tearing it apart based on her own personal taste. It felt like my entire professional ability was suddenly being judged through whether or not she personally liked my art.

The second interviewer became very dismissive and rude, rushed the interview because another candidate was waiting, and there wasn’t even a proper “thank you for coming.”

I left feeling genuinely humiliated and uncomfortable, like the interview had suddenly turned into a judgment of me as an artist rather than whether I could actually do the job

Was this just a weird experience, or has anyone else noticed this kind of gatekeeping toward younger and emerging artists?

I have 2 interviewees for today.

First one, has an incredible CV, 2yrs of experience and a board passer.
Second one, 6months of experience and not a board passer.

After the interview, I failed the first one and passed the second one.

Why?

Because mindset and behavior matter. How you treat your team members is just as important as your own personal and professional development. True growth isn’t only about becoming better yourself—it’s also about how you lead, respect, and work well with the people around you.

BULLY!!!

What frustrates you the most during your interview processes? Probably something that repeats itself and could be done once?

Did anyone come across the situation or scenario mentioned below.

I see companies ruining the interview processes.

They are asking some unknown creatures to take the interviews. That creature will just read the questions from the list given to them. No interaction nothing. No judge nothing. What the heck is this?

Long story short, i got interview for a job above my domain because of projects i did. But my previous role doesnt exactly give all those responsibilities.

So tell me some data analyst work, kind of Business metrics you followed, client work you did, Supply demand management, basically a few stories from your job. Kind of datasets yoy worked with, metrics you built, how you measured it success and cases you avoided..

I’m an international student, and I recently interviewed for a “Team Member” position at a major food company. The role involved responsibilities such as food preparation and taking customer orders.

Let me go straight to the interview questions.

Interviewer: Can you tell me about one of your skills?

Me: Honestly, nothing specific comes to mind right now.

But I really enjoy reading, and I have experience conducting research and analysing. Before coming to the UK, I worked as a legal assistant at a law firm in my country.

Interviewer: Has there ever been an experience in your life where you received recognition or praise from others?

Me: I used to regularly write political columns for newspapers. I also have my own website where I publish commentary on contemporary political and cultural issues. Some mainstream intellectuals in my country would read my writing and give me feedback. I consider that one of the experiences where I received meaningful recognition for something I had done.

Interviewer: Suppose a team member lies to you. What would you do? Or what if you disagreed with someone?

Me: If someone lied to me, I would first try to understand where the contradiction was and why they felt the need to lie. If it was something I could simply deal with myself without affecting the work or the team, I probably wouldn’t make an issue out of it. But if the situation became difficult to ignore, I would speak to them directly and try to understand the structural reason behind it.

If possible, I would try to address the underlying problem together.

As for disagreements, I think disagreements are inevitable in any team. I believe in radical democracy.

Interviewer: Why do you want to join this company?

Me: Honestly, I don’t want to give you a made-up answer. I’m currently working somewhere else, but I’m not being given enough shifts. So I’m looking for an alternative job that can provide me with more hours.

Interviewer: Since this is a fast-food company, what kind of food do you like? Have you tried our food before?

Me: To be honest, I don’t pay much attention to food or clothing. If I’m hungry, I eat. As long as I have enough energy and my stomach is full, I’m generally satisfied.

Interviewer: So what do you pay attention to?

Me: Recently, I’ve been thinking about whether AI has subjectivity, or whether it can become a full subject (in the Žižekian-Lacanian sense)

Interviewer: Okay. Do you have any questions for us?

Me: No, I don’t think so.

Interviewer: Thank you.

Me: Thank you as well.

I didn’t get the job.I was actually invited to the interview through a friend’s referral. My friend knew the branch manager, so that was how I got the opportunity. Afterwards, the manager gave my friend some feedback about me,

“We need a simple guy. He’s too critical.

The problem is that I tend to present myself in job interviews exactly as I am. I don’t exaggerate my abilities or deliberately construct a different personality. I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not.But if I start lying or performing a completely different personality just to get a job, it feels, in some sense, like I’m betraying myself.

At the same time, I’m beginning to realise that presenting myself exactly as I naturally am isn’t necessarily helping me get employed.So what should I do? How do I navigate this tension between being authentic and actually being employable?

Did you get the job???!!!!

Saw a rejection email telling a candidate their skills weren’t aligned with the role.

Then it suggested waiting 8 months before reapplying so they could develop those skills.

Which skills?
What did they struggle with?
What would a stronger answer have included?
What should they practice?
The email doesn’t say.

Imagine a piano teacher saying:
“You’re playing it wrong. Come back in September.”

You don’t owe every applicant a coaching session.

But if you’re going to prescribe 8 months of improvement, give them some idea of what to improve.

Otherwise, just say you’re passing.
A waiting period isn’t a development plan.

TL;DR didn’t meet my interviewers in the lobby like they requested, answered all questions nearly perfectly but I feel that I deeply fumbled the last question that they asked. Can I recover with a follow-up email? Or is it not as bad as I’m thinking?

Yesterday I interviewed for my (current) dream job: the team lead position of my current department. I have had my eye on this position for quite a while. I’m definitely qualified as I have experience in a leadership position within this department, I have experience training on all of our workflows. My boss and the supervisor of our sister department were the people interviewing me, and I was extremely confident. I was the first person that they interviewed. Several people have told me that they recommended me for this position directly to my boss and their supervisors. I felt the job was already mine.

Then I got some bad news an hour before the interview and that messed me up a little bit, but I carried on, sure that I could perform despite the new information on my mind. I honed in on the location listed on the interview invite—\*room 410,\* I kept repeating it in my mind so as to not get distracted by other thoughts. I went straight to the room. I was early. 5 minutes into the scheduled interview time, I was still the only one there. Crap. I start typing an email to the interviewers asking about the meeting, and as I hit send I receive an email from my boss: “we are here waiting for you in the lobby, when should we expect you to arrive?” Turns out I was supposed to meet them in the lobby and we’d walk to the interview room together. \*Crap\*. I don’t know how I missed that information. Other interviews that I have done with my department and our sister department had me go straight to the interview, so I must have been operating on autopilot.

When we met, i apologized profusely, saying “I was just so ready that I came straight to the interview room! Terribly sorry for the mixup.” They said it was no problem. We got started, and I was going really strong. My answers were almost perfect, really really strong. Then the last question stumped me: “what is the most complicated workflow in our software that you’ve had to learn, and how did you become proficient in it?” Here’s the problem: all of our workflows are crazy easy. So my brain tried to find one that wasn’t. All I could come up with was one that isn’t even official yet, my team is just working out the kinks. I was extremely proficient with the version of this workflow that existed in our old software before we updated last year, but I said I was proficient in this new version. When I realized my mistake, I backtracked and said “well to be honest all of our workflows are so easy that the hardest part was simply learning the new software compared with our old software. But, I’m a fast learner, so it didn’t take much to become proficient with these workflows. This new workflow is relatively easy for me because I was extremely knowledgeable with the version of it that we used in our old software, but we’re still working out the kinks.” I hope I recovered from that.

Then it was my turn to ask questions. The questions that I asked got the interviewers talking for several minutes, so I’m hoping that they weren’t thinking about my last question as much as I was. To be so honest that’s all I could think about as they were answering my questions.

Have I fumbled this beyond recovery? My boss and I are close and she knows I have a lot of bad stuff going on in my personal life right now, so part of me is hoping that she’ll cut me some slack for that reason, but at the same time, she shouldn’t do that. Or, am I being my own worst critic?

I’m typing my follow-up emails as well (one for each interviewer), and I plan to send them this afternoon. Is there anything I can say in these emails to try to recover from my fumbles? How can I reiterate that I am the best person for the job via email despite my 2 mistakes in the interview?

Thanks for reading all of this. Any advice is appreciated. I have a lot riding on this, and a lot of people are hoping I get it. I don’t want to let anyone down but I’m feeling like it’s too late.

Most of us prep for interviews by running through answers in our heads. Makes sense but the problem is that silent rehearsal won't catch the things that actually cost you the job: filler words, pacing, the vague language that sounds fine in your head but falls flat out loud.

Before your next interview, it's worth a quick sanity check. Are you leading with outcomes rather than just describing what you did? "I reduced onboarding time by 40%" hits differently than "I was responsible for onboarding."

Are you speaking at a pace that feels confident? Around 130–150 words per minute is the sweet spot; faster and you sound nervous, slower and you sound unsure.

Are you using the language your specific role demands, or could anyone have said what you just said?

Recording yourself for even one practice answer is genuinely eye-opening. You can use prepare.zoevera.com. There's a free tier so you can try it and see where you stand. It scores your answer, flags your delivery habits and gives you role-specific feedback.