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This made my day. Bursted out laughing while waiting in line in an immigration office. Many years ago, I interviewed somewhere where the HR manager gave me hel

This made my day. Bursted out laughing while waiting in line in an immigration office. Many years ago, I interviewed somewhere where the HR manager gave me hell. It was a roller coaster emotions. She would say something funny, I would laugh and then she'd take note seriously. Out of the blue, she would ask about my childhood, then switch to why do I look stressed. I had 6 technical interviews before her that went well. I had just lost a family member, talking with her was a nail in my coffin. I was surprised when they called me back. Two years at the job, a deranged guy accosted us at lunch with my team. He made everyone feel uncomfortable before leaving. Turns out, this was the guy I had replaced. After he was hired he turned into a lunatic who would threaten anyone who questioned his code. The stress test HR made me go through was designed to filter these people out. I'd like to believe I'm not a psycho since I passed the test, but I don't think it did what it was designed to do. Two of my coworkers are now convicted murderers. One of them with a famous televised trial that just ended last month.

peteradio 3y ago
> Two of my coworkers are now convicted murderers. Wut. Does that include the guy you replaced? Any more details here?
sjducb 3y ago
What was the job and industry? Two murderers in one company is unusual
- HPsquared 3y ago
  And a specific test of mental stability at interview... yes, this is unusual.
  - surfingdino 3y ago
    I thought those tests were not required until someone hired a sociopath who was clueless about coding, but immediately started fights with everyone. We got very selective after that one got in. But then someone hired a socipath manager who started fights, sex harassment baiting, demanded devs were fired on the whim without justification. I had to block that person on all comm channels.
- tgtweak 3y ago
  Whatever it is, I'm guessing the codebase and project management style is not perfect.
- logicchains 3y ago
  Maybe they were still stuck on Java 1.3 or something traumatising like that.
- firefoxd 3y ago
  Why the tech industry of course! And it was a web dev position.
- Fatnino 3y ago
  It might have been a conspiracy to commit murder and they did it together. Basically two criminals, one crime.
froggertoaster 3y ago
TBH, I thought the original post was bland. I'm glad I checked the comments, because your comment was a rollercoaster to say the least.
tibbetts 3y ago
Many years ago I had a job interview that included a personality test. I didn’t take the job, for other reasons. But I always wondered what had gone wrong in the past such that a personality test for engineers was in order. I’m now glad to know. I also wonder how many problematic malcontents I would have found had I gone to work there.
93po 3y ago
Were you told it was a stress test? It seems pretty unethical to perform a test like that without informed consent.
otikik 3y ago
> Two of my coworkers are now convicted murderers. Ex-coworkers, I presume.
- appplication 3y ago
  > “So you’re a software engineer? You must make a killing” > “I do alright”
- smsm42 3y ago
  You know how hard it is to find a good programmer?
ryandrake 3y ago
Seems like a lot of us have worked with that "deranged guy." We had a guy who would _mostly_ keep to himself, do his programming job, eat lunch by himself, but then, every so often, he'd come up to you by the water cooler and just say something random and moderately disturbing, like "You know, I sleep with a gun under the pillow and a bullet in the chamber" and then just turn around and walk out of the break room. He would also stand in your cubicle doorway blocking your exit, and talk at length about his background in the military and intelligence agencies, and keen interest in Russian sensor technology, or some other unhinged topic--for hours or until you forcibly walked under his arm to leave. He was eventually fired for taking something too far (it wasn't disclosed to the rest of the office). He had to be escorted out by security while he yelled that he was going to come back to the office with one of his AK-47s and mow it down. We had a cop stationed outside the office for a few weeks after that just in case. Fun times!
Bilal_io 3y ago
> She would say something funny, I would laugh and then she'd take note seriously. In 1st and 2nd grade my teacher used to designate a student to watch other students whenever he needs to step outside the classroom. He always picked this one student who had an annoying bestie that would tap someone's shoulder or would call their name, and if they turned around they got reported. Your story reminded me of this.

peteradio 3y ago

> Two of my coworkers are now convicted murderers. Wut. Does that include the guy you replaced? Any more details here?

sjducb 3y ago

What was the job and industry? Two murderers in one company is unusual

HPsquared 3y ago
And a specific test of mental stability at interview... yes, this is unusual.
- surfingdino 3y ago
  I thought those tests were not required until someone hired a sociopath who was clueless about coding, but immediately started fights with everyone. We got very selective after that one got in. But then someone hired a socipath manager who started fights, sex harassment baiting, demanded devs were fired on the whim without justification. I had to block that person on all comm channels.
tgtweak 3y ago
Whatever it is, I'm guessing the codebase and project management style is not perfect.
logicchains 3y ago
Maybe they were still stuck on Java 1.3 or something traumatising like that.
firefoxd 3y ago
Why the tech industry of course! And it was a web dev position.
Fatnino 3y ago
It might have been a conspiracy to commit murder and they did it together. Basically two criminals, one crime.

froggertoaster 3y ago

TBH, I thought the original post was bland. I'm glad I checked the comments, because your comment was a rollercoaster to say the least.

tibbetts 3y ago

Many years ago I had a job interview that included a personality test. I didn’t take the job, for other reasons. But I always wondered what had gone wrong in the past such that a personality test for engineers was in order. I’m now glad to know. I also wonder how many problematic malcontents I would have found had I gone to work there.

93po 3y ago

Were you told it was a stress test? It seems pretty unethical to perform a test like that without informed consent.

otikik 3y ago

> Two of my coworkers are now convicted murderers. Ex-coworkers, I presume.

appplication 3y ago
> “So you’re a software engineer? You must make a killing” > “I do alright”
smsm42 3y ago
You know how hard it is to find a good programmer?

ryandrake 3y ago

Seems like a lot of us have worked with that "deranged guy." We had a guy who would _mostly_ keep to himself, do his programming job, eat lunch by himself, but then, every so often, he'd come up to you by the water cooler and just say something random and moderately disturbing, like "You know, I sleep with a gun under the pillow and a bullet in the chamber" and then just turn around and walk out of the break room. He would also stand in your cubicle doorway blocking your exit, and talk at length about his background in the military and intelligence agencies, and keen interest in Russian sensor technology, or some other unhinged topic--for hours or until you forcibly walked under his arm to leave. He was eventually fired for taking something too far (it wasn't disclosed to the rest of the office). He had to be escorted out by security while he yelled that he was going to come back to the office with one of his AK-47s and mow it down. We had a cop stationed outside the office for a few weeks after that just in case. Fun times!

Bilal_io 3y ago

> She would say something funny, I would laugh and then she'd take note seriously. In 1st and 2nd grade my teacher used to designate a student to watch other students whenever he needs to step outside the classroom. He always picked this one student who had an annoying bestie that would tap someone's shoulder or would call their name, and if they turned around they got reported. Your story reminded me of this.