Tell me some programming interview horror stories.
One horror story is when the interviewer was constantly interrupting the candidate. The candidate was trying to explain their solution to a coding problem, but the interviewer kept cutting in with their own thoughts, not letting the candidate fully express themselves. This made the candidate very nervous and they couldn't perform at their best.
What are the most common types of programming interview horror stories?
One common type is the unprepared interviewer. They might not have a clear understanding of the skills they are supposed to test, so they ask irrelevant questions or misinterpret the candidate's answers. Another is the overly strict time limit. For example, being given a very complex problem but only a few minutes to solve it. It doesn't give the candidate enough time to think and code properly.
What are some programming horror stories?
One horror story is when a developer made a small change in a critical function without proper testing. It led to a cascade of errors in the whole system. Hours were spent debugging to find that one innocent - looking line of code was the culprit.
What are some 'threading horror stories' in programming?
Another threading horror is starvation. This occurs when a thread is continuously deprived of the resources it needs to run. For instance, in a system with a priority - based scheduler, if high - priority threads keep getting scheduled all the time, low - priority threads may starve. So, a thread that is supposed to perform an important background task may never get a chance to execute.
What are some 'hr interview horror stories'?
There was this situation where the HR interviewer was asking inappropriate personal questions. Things like relationship status in a way that made the interviewee uncomfortable. This is not only unprofessional but also made the whole interview seem more like an interrogation than a job interview.
Share some employer interview horror stories.
In an interview once, the room was freezing cold. The employer didn't seem to notice or care. I was shivering while trying to answer their questions. And on top of that, they were asking really personal questions that had nothing to do with the job, like about my family's financial situation. It was a very uncomfortable experience.
Share your technical interview horror stories.
I once had an interview where the technical questions were way beyond the scope of the job description. They started asking about very advanced algorithms that I hadn't really studied in depth. I felt so unprepared and it was really nerve - wracking. I left the interview feeling really down about my skills.
What are the common elements in interview horror stories?
One common element is unprepared interviewers. They might not have read your resume properly before the interview and ask you basic things that are already on there. Another is a very uncomfortable or intimidating interview environment, like a super cold room or an interviewer who stares at you in a really unfriendly way.
What are some celebrity interview horror stories?
One horror story is when an interviewer asked a very personal and inappropriate question about a celebrity's family member's health issues. The celebrity was visibly uncomfortable and the interview took a really awkward turn.
Share some Cambridge interview horror stories.
A student walked into the interview room and immediately felt an intimidating atmosphere. The interviewers were very serious - looking and didn't give any reassuring smiles. Then, during the interview, they were constantly interrupted while trying to answer questions. This made the student lose their train of thought multiple times and they felt like they couldn't get their full ideas across. It was a very disheartening experience for them as they thought they could have done much better if they had been given a chance to fully express themselves.
Share some 'case interview horror stories'.
I heard of a case interview where the technical equipment failed. The candidate was all set to present a complex data analysis case, but the projector didn't work and there was no backup plan. The candidate had to struggle to explain the graphs and data just verbally, which was a nightmare as it was hard to convey the full picture without the visual aids. It made the candidate seem less prepared than they actually were.