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I had a similar experience at a company that made software that scanned text for social equality (i.e. it would flag something like "our guys make great bread")
by ericmcer 5y ago
I had a similar experience at a company that made software that scanned text for social equality (i.e. it would flag something like "our guys make great bread") in corporate copy. I am pretty liberal but was still kinda nervous about not being "woke" enough, so when the interviewer asked me about times I had faced adversity I launched into a diatribe about breaking away from a conservative religious background and friction with my family etc. She was like... "ok how about adversity in your past software roles?"
- mediaman 5y agoThat's pretty funny. I have to admit, though: "adversity" is an odd term to use when they meant challenges specifically related to your past jobs. Ask about how a candidate dealt with conflict, or dealt with being asked to meet an unreasonable timeline, sure: but adversity? Especially for a company that worked on social equity issues, conflating life adversity with sundry issues faced in a corporate job seems odd. Your answer seems pretty appropriate!
- sequoia 5y agoThat's hilarious! Also a bit disturbing that you felt the need to recite some political "party line" to get a job (not that I think you were wrong), but I suppose if it's an explicitly political org it could make sense. But more generally, I'm now interested in completely misinterpreted interview questions, and funny stories about same.
- plasticchris 5y agoMy favorite was at a dying startup when Amazon interviewed anyone willing and gave us all their leadership principles to read beforehand. One person got a question wrong and when challenged thought they were testing on “disagree and commit” and so doubled down thinking that’s what they wanted to see.