For this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, Kendra Little asked us to share our interview patterns, anti-patterns, highs, and lows.
Several years ago, I was talking to a prospective employer via phone, and things were sounding really interesting. I made it past the first couple rounds of remote interviews, and they wanted me to come into the office for the final round.
The interview started with a tour of the offices, and things seemed alright enough at first until we got to the part of the building where the technical people worked.
We stepped into one room maybe 20′ x 20′, and it was completely packed with desks, classroom-style – and 15-16 employees. Each desk was maybe 3′ across – wide enough for a single monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse, and that’s it.
The desks were all next to each other, and I mean next to each other. Without leaning, each person could reach out their arms out sideways and tap both of their neighbors on the shoulder. Furthermore, each person could turn 90 degrees, and tap the monitors of the row ahead & behind them. I’m not even sure how one person could have taken a bathroom break without asking other people to move. Maybe they had to go at designated times. Maybe they weren’t allowed to go at all.
As if on cue, the entire room turned to look at us, then turned right back to their monitors to continue working.
This was one of those times in my life where I really wish I had a photograph of my reaction. It must have been horrific, because as we walked to the next room, my guide said, “No no, don’t worry, you wouldn’t be working in that room. You’ll be in another area.”
That was it, though – I was shellshocked and done. I smiled and nodded my way through the rest of the interview.
Shortly thereafter, the recruiter called me back with the great news that I’d been offered the job. I turned it down. Sure, that wasn’t my office today, but if the company would do that to any of their team members, there was nothing stopping ’em from doing it to me later.