Comments on: The Day I Timed Out http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/ Observations of everyday Java phenomena Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:32:07 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: underdog1969 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-205 underdog1969 Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:51:53 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-205 Kudos to you zydeco100 for your continued evaluation... I concur with your final assessment as to what the real "issue" was... professionalism (a.k.a manners?) I originally read the post and thought... "ok... two individuals [receptionist and interviewer] who both failed to communicate to *anyone* apparently that this guy was sitting in a room by himself." What do those two have in common? The only thing we DO know is that they work for the same company which would tend to raise red flags for most of us I think. I originally thought of you (and those that agreed with you)... "What would these people think if the consultant was 15+ minutes LATE to the appointment and THEY had to wait?" I feel, that 98% of the time, they would write of the geek/techie as someone with "poor social skills", etc. because... IT'S AN INTERVIEW AFTER ALL! If you expect people to be on time to YOUR meetings, be on time for THEIRS! Kudos to you zydeco100 for your continued evaluation… I concur with your final assessment as to what the real “issue” was… professionalism (a.k.a manners?) I originally read the post and thought… “ok… two individuals [receptionist and interviewer] who both failed to communicate to *anyone* apparently that this guy was sitting in a room by himself.” What do those two have in common? The only thing we DO know is that they work for the same company which would tend to raise red flags for most of us I think.

I originally thought of you (and those that agreed with you)… “What would these people think if the consultant was 15+ minutes LATE to the appointment and THEY had to wait?” I feel, that 98% of the time, they would write of the geek/techie as someone with “poor social skills”, etc. because… IT’S AN INTERVIEW AFTER ALL! If you expect people to be on time to YOUR meetings, be on time for THEIRS!

]]> By: zydeco100 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-191 zydeco100 Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:20:27 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-191 I've taken some more time to think about the entire issue again, and maybe in hindsight it's not as cut-and-dry as I first suspected. I wanted to give the receptionist the benefit of the doubt and assume she made a mistake in not telling Mr Interviewer that the candidate was ready and sitting in a room. But in 15 minutes she couldn't remember that? Usually people are pretty well prepared that someone is coming. WarpedJavaGuy mentioned he felt the receptionist had "other priorities". If taking care of a guest isn't a top priority in that 15 minutes, then what does that say about the environment at the company? If they're not handling you professionially in that short visit, it could be a huge red flag on things to come. I’ve taken some more time to think about the entire issue again, and maybe in hindsight it’s not as cut-and-dry as I first suspected. I wanted to give the receptionist the benefit of the doubt and assume she made a mistake in not telling Mr Interviewer that the candidate was ready and sitting in a room.

But in 15 minutes she couldn’t remember that? Usually people are pretty well prepared that someone is coming. WarpedJavaGuy mentioned he felt the receptionist had “other priorities”. If taking care of a guest isn’t a top priority in that 15 minutes, then what does that say about the environment at the company? If they’re not handling you professionially in that short visit, it could be a huge red flag on things to come.

]]> By: Maik http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-190 Maik Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:21:48 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-190 I'm with Guido and zydeco100 here. You burned bridges to gain - what? Enjoying your righteous anger, wearing a smug evil smile? You really showed them! Maybe the manager knows somebody at your next potential employer. Shit happens. Being the "guy that runs away at the first trouble" is not a cool thing. A developer is expected to make things work, to archieve project goals in spite of obstacles. The right thing would have been to go to the reception and have that interviewer called. You'd have gained an interview and an interviewer who owns you an apology, which is something that you could have played to your advantage. Now all you've got is minor short term satisfaction over causing some trouble for someone else and a blog post. Meh. I’m with Guido and zydeco100 here. You burned bridges to gain – what? Enjoying your righteous anger, wearing a smug evil smile? You really showed them! Maybe the manager knows somebody at your next potential employer. Shit happens. Being the “guy that runs away at the first trouble” is not a cool thing.
A developer is expected to make things work, to archieve project goals in spite of obstacles. The right thing would have been to go to the reception and have that interviewer called. You’d have gained an interview and an interviewer who owns you an apology, which is something that you could have played to your advantage.
Now all you’ve got is minor short term satisfaction over causing some trouble for someone else and a blog post. Meh.

]]> By: MasTRE http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-182 MasTRE Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:16:19 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-182 You guys are seriously out of touch with reality (it's common in geekdom). You fail to comprehend the simple concept that the interviewer and the job this guy may have landed are not necessarily connected. Maybe he would have met the CTO of the company, who may have liked him, maybe he would have met smart people, who he may have liked. Point is, he'll never know. Real life is about maximizing opportunities, you guys are doing/suggesting the opposite. All I can say is, enjoy that coffee dude! 100% with zydeco100. You guys are seriously out of touch with reality (it’s common in geekdom). You fail to comprehend the simple concept that the interviewer and the job this guy may have landed are not necessarily connected. Maybe he would have met the CTO of the company, who may have liked him, maybe he would have met smart people, who he may have liked. Point is, he’ll never know. Real life is about maximizing opportunities, you guys are doing/suggesting the opposite.

All I can say is, enjoy that coffee dude! 100% with zydeco100.

]]> By: WarpedJavaGuy http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-181 WarpedJavaGuy Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:41:57 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-181 It's always good to hear from people from both sides of the fence that can relate to these situations. That was the primary point of this posting. So I do thank you all for your comments. There are many ways I could have reacted to the situation, but on the day that is how I felt. I generally tend to perceive things literally and sometimes even suffer as a result. On this particular occasion, I felt that both the recruiter and the receptionist had 'other priorities' and that it didn't matter that much if I was left there waiting. I take every job opportunity seriously and my priority was to participate in the interview and hopefully secure the job. After 15 minutes I felt no need to waste any more of my time. I don't like wasting my time. But I did leave them something to think about and also replied to their emails in the politest way that I could. Having said that, I am still working on my social skills. They don't come all that naturally to me and I am constantly working hard to improve on them. I am an <a href="http://intp.org/huh.html" rel="nofollow">INTP</a> kind of person after all (at least the one time I did my Myers-Briggs type indicator test I was). It’s always good to hear from people from both sides of the fence that can relate to these situations. That was the primary point of this posting. So I do thank you all for your comments.

There are many ways I could have reacted to the situation, but on the day that is how I felt. I generally tend to perceive things literally and sometimes even suffer as a result. On this particular occasion, I felt that both the recruiter and the receptionist had ‘other priorities’ and that it didn’t matter that much if I was left there waiting. I take every job opportunity seriously and my priority was to participate in the interview and hopefully secure the job. After 15 minutes I felt no need to waste any more of my time. I don’t like wasting my time. But I did leave them something to think about and also replied to their emails in the politest way that I could.

Having said that, I am still working on my social skills. They don’t come all that naturally to me and I am constantly working hard to improve on them. I am an INTP kind of person after all (at least the one time I did my Myers-Briggs type indicator test I was).

]]> By: zydeco100 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-180 zydeco100 Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:16:47 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-180 Read the article again, Giles. The receptionist made a simple mistake, WarpedJavaGuy was not left sitting in a room for 15 minutes because of a deliberate action by the interviewer. Read the article again, Giles. The receptionist made a simple mistake, WarpedJavaGuy was not left sitting in a room for 15 minutes because of a deliberate action by the interviewer.

]]> By: Guido http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-179 Guido Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:47:11 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-179 Hey WarpedJavaGuy, what's up next time if you need the position in that same company ? You aren't doing yourself a favor acting the way you did. I'm a contractant too. Hey WarpedJavaGuy, what’s up next time if you need the position in that same company ?

You aren’t doing yourself a favor acting the way you did.

I’m a contractant too.

]]> By: bryan http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-176 bryan Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:33:45 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-176 I'd never want to hire someone who gets so frustrated in 15 minutes that he walks out without saying anything. Sounds like someone who would just give up in the middle of a project to me. Show some initiative, track down the receptionist. It's not hard. I’d never want to hire someone who gets so frustrated in 15 minutes that he walks out without saying anything. Sounds like someone who would just give up in the middle of a project to me.

Show some initiative, track down the receptionist. It’s not hard.

]]> By: Ralph http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-175 Ralph Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:32:12 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-175 It is amazing how rude some companies are. At my current employer, the candidate sits in a windowless room and goes through many interviews with large periods of time in between (almost 15 minutes a piece). Funny how the reverse does not happen. My point is that the candidate is evaluating the employer just as the employer is evaluating the candidate, and it certainly looks bad for us to be disrespectful. Good for you! It is amazing how rude some companies are. At my current employer, the candidate sits in a windowless room and goes through many interviews with large periods of time in between (almost 15 minutes a piece). Funny how the reverse does not happen. My point is that the candidate is evaluating the employer just as the employer is evaluating the candidate, and it certainly looks bad for us to be disrespectful. Good for you!

]]> By: giles bowkett http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-173 giles bowkett Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:06:24 +0000 http://warpedjavaguy.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-day-i-timed-out/#comment-173 You made absolutely the right move. If your would-be employer can't show you respect and professionalism during the interview, you're looking at a workplace you'll be better off avoiding anyway. Being rude in the interview is like picking your nose on the first date. Because a programmer is more likely to walk away from bad manners if he or she has other alternatives, by definition, this type of behavior screens out programmers with the ability to work somewhere else. In effect, it's a hiring process biased in favor of desperate programmers and/or programmers with low self-esteem. Bad manners are often a sign of serious workplace dysfunction. You made absolutely the right move. If your would-be employer can’t show you respect and professionalism during the interview, you’re looking at a workplace you’ll be better off avoiding anyway. Being rude in the interview is like picking your nose on the first date.

Because a programmer is more likely to walk away from bad manners if he or she has other alternatives, by definition, this type of behavior screens out programmers with the ability to work somewhere else. In effect, it’s a hiring process biased in favor of desperate programmers and/or programmers with low self-esteem. Bad manners are often a sign of serious workplace dysfunction.

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