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The defense industry is strange. I've had three jobs in it. In every single interview, the most technical question that anyone ever asked me was, "What do you l
by engi_nerd 11y ago
The defense industry is strange. I've had three jobs in it. In every single interview, the most technical question that anyone ever asked me was, "What do you like to do on the weekends?"
And all three jobs have been engineering positions.
- ethbro 11y ago> "What do you like to do on the weekends?" I code for fun in Ada.
- meowface 11y agoI've only interviewed at one, but yes, it was the exact same for me. They asked me about school projects and times I acted like a "leader". No technical questions whatsoever, other than asking stuff like what programming languages I liked. I left feeling very confused, but after I received the offer, I realized it was basically a grunt work position, despite what the original job listing said.
- engi_nerd 11y agoThe DoD are the biggest offenders in my past. They were the "what do you do for fun on the weekends" people. Turns out they are hiring engineers and telling them they will be doing actual engineering, then putting them to work as project managers and job estimators.
- jcadam 11y agoMy last two jobs (including my current one) have been at smaller defense firms. Both interviews involved some amount of coding (mostly a 'homework' project). Now, several years ago when I interviewed with a frickin' huge aerospace company who shall remain nameless, my experience was similar to yours. The interview was a panel-style discussion with the hiring manager and several engineers. They had to follow a script given to them by HR and ask every candidate exactly the same questions in exactly the same way. It was.... surreal. At one point I was asked something along the lines of (my memory is a bit hazy here) "Describe a time when workplace diversity significantly contributed to the accomplishment of a challenging project." "Oookay. Uh... Well.... Uh... So... Hmm...," and so on and so forth.
- engi_nerd 11y agoAh, yes. I had a bit of a strange experience when interviewing for my current job (at a large, hyphenated aerospace company...probably the same one you interviewed with). Because I knew the hiring manager already, and he knew I could do the job. So it was very much a "Well, tell me what has happened" and "When can you start" kind of interview.
- jldugger 11y agoSo does that anecdote reflect poorly on the interviewer, or the interviewee?
- engi_nerd 11y agoI personally would be hard-pressed to answer that question. If they mean diversity by gender and ethnicity...well, for some reason I always find myself in teams largely of white males. Not through any selection process of my own, it's just that is how it works out.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- jschwartzi 11y agoWhat about teams where some of the white males solve problems or think differently from others? How about foreign language proficiency helping with suppliers? Not all diversity involves overt differences. Sometimes it's as simple as one guy's test-driven mentality shipping something on time.
- engi_nerd 11y ago...Thus why I said on the basis of gender and ethnicity
- rhizome 11y ago"I've never had the pleasure of working at a company where this was even attempted, would [present company] provide opportunities in this regard?"
- knughit 11y agoIt is contracting. They bill cost plus, so performance is irrelevant
- engi_nerd 11y agoTell that to my boss.