3 ms·

I disengaged hard, once, in the middle of the code test. I still don't know how I feel about it. The situation was that the company, right before the code tes

I disengaged hard, once, in the middle of the code test. I still don't know how I feel about it. The situation was that the company, right before the code test, had told me a bunch of really weird stuff that wasn't part of the discussion right up until the last minute - it wasn't actually a job, but rather contract to hire; they needed to be ready if the next round of financing didn't come in, but they still expected me to move; I would legally be a consultant and therefore not have proper insurance; et cetera. They wanted me to do this in exchange for admittedly fairly decent money and equity. However, the sudden, last-minute nature of the reveal really left a bitter taste in my mouth. Then we got into the code interview, and the programmers started asking questions that made it pretty clear they only sort of barely understood what they were asking. One of them tried to "catch me on an error," and when I showed him the standard saying something else, he complained that I should just accept his viewpoint. And at that point, I said "well you know what? This is a problem." And so I just put the brakes on, hard. I turned over a far better solution to what they were asking than the question was structured to generate, said that I was sorry that I had consumed their time, but I was uncomfortable with the way that things had been done, especially that they had not been up front about the structure of the job, and I thought the interview was probably finished, and I appreciated the opportunity. The guy who complained asked me to explain what I had handed over. I disconnected, and decided I was happy I hadn't flown in. There are a lot of people who, I suspect, will feel that this is me being unacceptably rude. I could have gone out in a more gracious fashion, et cetera. I've burnt bridges. I look at it differently than that. I think those people need to know just how strongly their choices changed how I looked at them. I had been extremely bullish; I was super excited. They knew that. We'd been on the phone a lot, and I'd given them some help over the phone (small startup, lead engineer of dubious ability.) And, they could hear the change in my voice when they pulled back the curtain on what they were offering. They need to know that dirty pool like that is going to cost them, hard. I believe I informed them of that in a fairly clear way. Your mileage may vary.

jseliger 14y ago
I wrote about this here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4449194 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4449194 , but again, imagine what they did in a date context: things are going well, you like the girl, you reach down. . . and find that "she" is a pre-op transexual. Now: there's nothing wrong with that. But there is something wrong with not making this clear in advance. Or, from an alternate gender perspective, you're a woman and you've been dating a guy. The first night you stay over at his house, he gives you $1000 the next morning. You're probably going to be miffed because of the expectation violation.
- illuminate 14y ago
  You do realize that there are analogies that could be used without slighting sex workers and bringing up trans-panic? I don't know what sort of yuks you were expecting, but both of those are wholly unnecessary, bordering on hostile.
blindhippo 14y ago
Burnt bridges? Those bridges are only burnt if you insulted the people interviewing and in your description I see no hint of that. You disengaged in a mature fashion and asserted your rights as a participant in the discussion. This isn't "being rude". Anyone who thinks it is likely has a very immature view of the world. A job interview is a business negotiation. Emphasis on "negotiation". They changed the terms on you (or rather your expectation) - it's hardly surprising to expect a change of attitude on your end. Frankly, if I ever have someone react like you did to me in an interview I would chase them out the door and take them for coffee. Interviewees that have the fortitude to walk out in a polite fashion are worth chasing.
brown9-2 14y ago
Sounds like you made the right decision for you.
richardjordan 14y ago
I like the sound of how you did that. If someone tries to pull a surprise reveal on you they're hardly treating you with the respect you deserve in an interviewing context. Making it clear to them this is not acceptable behavior by disengaging is the only real signal you could send. I have been in many situations where someone wants to talk about a gig but tries to squirm it around to more of a favor on the promise of some future funding event paying me. I usually have more experience than the other party, in such situations, with the funding process and likelihood of their success in it. What annoys me isn't the over-reach, it's the deception. It's being treated like an idiot who cannot handle the truth by someone who fears the rejection that might come with being up front. Truth is I do freebies and favors all the time, when I have spare cycles, as I really want people who have ideas to be successful - and if I can help I love to do so. But they need to be honest with me up front. Sounds like you were dealing with inexperienced folks (though I'm extrapolating from insufficient data so I might be wrong there). If so you have done them a favor by sending them market signals about what they're offering and what they can likely get in return. I think you're right about dirty pool.

jseliger 14y ago

I wrote about this here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4449194 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4449194 , but again, imagine what they did in a date context: things are going well, you like the girl, you reach down. . . and find that "she" is a pre-op transexual. Now: there's nothing wrong with that. But there is something wrong with not making this clear in advance. Or, from an alternate gender perspective, you're a woman and you've been dating a guy. The first night you stay over at his house, he gives you $1000 the next morning. You're probably going to be miffed because of the expectation violation.

illuminate 14y ago
You do realize that there are analogies that could be used without slighting sex workers and bringing up trans-panic? I don't know what sort of yuks you were expecting, but both of those are wholly unnecessary, bordering on hostile.

blindhippo 14y ago

Burnt bridges? Those bridges are only burnt if you insulted the people interviewing and in your description I see no hint of that. You disengaged in a mature fashion and asserted your rights as a participant in the discussion. This isn't "being rude". Anyone who thinks it is likely has a very immature view of the world. A job interview is a business negotiation. Emphasis on "negotiation". They changed the terms on you (or rather your expectation) - it's hardly surprising to expect a change of attitude on your end. Frankly, if I ever have someone react like you did to me in an interview I would chase them out the door and take them for coffee. Interviewees that have the fortitude to walk out in a polite fashion are worth chasing.

brown9-2 14y ago

Sounds like you made the right decision for you.

richardjordan 14y ago

I like the sound of how you did that. If someone tries to pull a surprise reveal on you they're hardly treating you with the respect you deserve in an interviewing context. Making it clear to them this is not acceptable behavior by disengaging is the only real signal you could send. I have been in many situations where someone wants to talk about a gig but tries to squirm it around to more of a favor on the promise of some future funding event paying me. I usually have more experience than the other party, in such situations, with the funding process and likelihood of their success in it. What annoys me isn't the over-reach, it's the deception. It's being treated like an idiot who cannot handle the truth by someone who fears the rejection that might come with being up front. Truth is I do freebies and favors all the time, when I have spare cycles, as I really want people who have ideas to be successful - and if I can help I love to do so. But they need to be honest with me up front. Sounds like you were dealing with inexperienced folks (though I'm extrapolating from insufficient data so I might be wrong there). If so you have done them a favor by sending them market signals about what they're offering and what they can likely get in return. I think you're right about dirty pool.