greyostrich

I'm not sure if these are red flags, but I've never had a positive experience when I've encountered the following items:

1) Focusing on the salary. Whenever $$$ is mentioned, the interviewing process becomes tainted for me. Some people say it's a good thing for salary (what you made, and what you're expecting) to be mentioned, but I find it highly unnecessary when you're interviewing with a good company (big, interesting products, not a sweatshop). I rather salary be discussed after you pass the interviewing process, so that I can focus on whether I like the company enough. Arguing about the salary from step 1 ruins the experience for me. I've had more positive experiences from not talking about salaries. I can't remember a single positive one from doing the opposite.

2) JavaScript === Java. I honestly have no clue how to talk to non-savvy recruiters. They're very boring to talk to, sound disinterested in you, and seem to mess up everything. The worst part is them being unable to answer your questions about the company. Compare that to a savvy one, whom I just talked to. He was able to help me with trying the product out, and used some of the tech I had on my resume.

3) Questions? There are no questions. I've had several interviews that lasted 10 minutes. They gave me no chance to ask any questions. They seem like they're reading from a script and checking off items. Very robotic sounding.

4) Constantly talking about your negative points. Why did you go to this school? Why is your GPA so low? Why do you have an unemployment gap? The entire interview turns into you trying to defend yourself. I don't understand the point of discussing all of this, when it has nothing to do with the job. The best recruiters for me have never asked any of those questions. They focus on how I fit into the job description, and whether I have the right skills.

Any HN readers share similar experiences, or know other flags?

An internal company recruiter asked me to list several dates and times for a phone interview. I selected three different days, and a range of four hours for each day. The recruiter decided to schedule the interview no where near any of my ranges.

Is the recruiter testing me? Did he make a mistake? I find it hard to believe he was off by two hours. Is he expecting me to be obedient? This is a STAR type-of-interview company, as far as I can tell.

Should I correct him? I'm OK with the time, but I'm not the kind of person who likes these kind of mistakes free without saying anything.

I was given seven problems to submit via an online coding service called remoteinterview.io. Three problems included HackerRank style challenges. I was able to solve everything within an hour (though, it take me closer to two hours to code the edge cases for the third one), and the time limit was eight hours. Everything was green; all tests cases were solved, minus any hidden cases I didn't know about. Next day, auto rejection.

How common is this? It's not my first time dealing with this. I find the interview process such bull crap, at the moment.

Note: I did document my entire code, which included my plan of action before writing anything and any necessary comments.

My university did a poor job of teaching either. Databases was not required, and it was mainly a graduate course. Operating systems was taught entirely theoretically with no programming assignments, so I practically learned nothing. The university doesn't even have us use C in any courses, besides the one optional Unix course. Are there any recommended resources I can read or watch?

I was invited for an interview with this company. I've heard nothing really positive. Apparently you get signed into an indentured contract for 2 years, where you get paid less working than at a McDonalds in exchange for "experience." I'm not sure what this "experience" entails. Is it app or tech support? Or will I get to actually do something worthwhile? I won't have problems with location, since I live right by NYC (~1 hour commute by subway).

Can anyone share their story? Should I hit the "emergency button", after being unemployed for 15 months as a CS grad?