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Making fun of my side project. An interviewer looked at me with this vicious, incredulous look when I described my side project in ~2019, which was a weather n

Making fun of my side project. An interviewer looked at me with this vicious, incredulous look when I described my side project in ~2019, which was a weather network built on the sensors inside phones. Guy said, “a weather app, really?! You think that’s a good use of your time in 2019? What makes you think a weather app is useful to make today?” MFer, it was a good idea in 2011 and it’s a good idea today and it’ll be a good idea in 10 years. And it wasn’t just a weather app omg! But he didn’t care, just kept pressing me for like 5 mins why I would ever think making a weather network service was useful. No amount of explaining the complexity or novel recently-developed techniques that made it possible would convince him I wasn’t wasting my time.

bazil376 2y ago
And even if it wasn’t a good idea, the fact that the person couldn’t be respectful when they’re trying to impress you the most is a very bad sign.
- giantg2 2y ago
  And you're not being hired as a product guy. You don't need marketable ideas. They could have dug into the technical architecture of it instead.
- kelnos 2y ago
  Yeah, that's the thing. Being a dick to your interviewee -- being a dick to anyone -- is just a huge red flag. And ignoring that, even if the project was just a toy that isn't particularly useful, that's not really the point. Developing and building a project/product from the ground up is useful experience, whatever it is. Demonstrating a valuable skill should never be a prompt for scorn.
geocrasher 2y ago
Any idgit who couldn't recognize a great hack when they see one is worthless. Glad you moved on.
geoblack 2y ago
Imagine how handy it would be to read temperatures at 1000 phones if you were an HVAC engineer trying to optimize AC in a 50 story building on a 100 degree day in San Francisco. A heat map heat map, so to speak. Forest fires? Outdoor events on hot days? This is a good idea. And yes, I am a marketing guy.

bazil376 2y ago

And even if it wasn’t a good idea, the fact that the person couldn’t be respectful when they’re trying to impress you the most is a very bad sign.

giantg2 2y ago
And you're not being hired as a product guy. You don't need marketable ideas. They could have dug into the technical architecture of it instead.
kelnos 2y ago
Yeah, that's the thing. Being a dick to your interviewee -- being a dick to anyone -- is just a huge red flag. And ignoring that, even if the project was just a toy that isn't particularly useful, that's not really the point. Developing and building a project/product from the ground up is useful experience, whatever it is. Demonstrating a valuable skill should never be a prompt for scorn.

geocrasher 2y ago

Any idgit who couldn't recognize a great hack when they see one is worthless. Glad you moved on.

geoblack 2y ago

Imagine how handy it would be to read temperatures at 1000 phones if you were an HVAC engineer trying to optimize AC in a 50 story building on a 100 degree day in San Francisco. A heat map heat map, so to speak. Forest fires? Outdoor events on hot days? This is a good idea. And yes, I am a marketing guy.