5 ms·

I have a solid history of failing remarkably. Good lessons learned, though. To be honest I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was completely unpre

I have a solid history of failing remarkably. Good lessons learned, though. To be honest I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was completely unprepared and under qualified, and it was my first job interview ever. I bombed it.

ronaldx 13y ago
I find the remarkable part more important than the failure. Best of luck for the future.
gscott 13y ago
You may be selling yourself short, you might feel under qualified but with technology you're always in the fire meaning that things change at such a rapid pace the real qualification is that your competent to keep up with it.
cmbaus 13y ago
That's crazy that you didn't get the job. Considering AirBNB's growth rate, it seems they could have taken a risk that someone like yourself would grow into the position.
- Segmentation 13y ago
  This isn't the 1970s where you could get hired as a novice and trained on the job. In today's world you need to be a rockstar programmer right out of college. Training? No start up wants to gamble resources on that.
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    A person's capacity for learning complex concepts quickly matters more than their current body of knowledge. Startups are marathons, not sprints. If Feynman were still alive and wanted to work as a programmer at your startup, it'd be foolish to turn him away. This was a guy who went from "zero knowledge of how a space shuttle works" to "knows the design of the Challenger shuttle in detail, and is able to spot overlooked problems" within a couple weeks. So he'd certainly have no trouble reaching rockstar programmer status at your startup within a couple months. But I'm getting the feeling most startups would turn him down if he wasn't already a rockstar programmer the day his interview rolls around. That seems a little nutty.
xsace 13y ago
I would be fascinated to read more about that experience.
- guynamedloren 13y ago
  I've been meaning to write about it for 2.5 years now... I might get around to it eventually.
8_hours_ago 13y ago
Job interviewing is definitely a skill that improves with practice. Next time you'll do better :)

ronaldx 13y ago

I find the remarkable part more important than the failure. Best of luck for the future.

gscott 13y ago

You may be selling yourself short, you might feel under qualified but with technology you're always in the fire meaning that things change at such a rapid pace the real qualification is that your competent to keep up with it.

cmbaus 13y ago

That's crazy that you didn't get the job. Considering AirBNB's growth rate, it seems they could have taken a risk that someone like yourself would grow into the position.

Segmentation 13y ago
This isn't the 1970s where you could get hired as a novice and trained on the job. In today's world you need to be a rockstar programmer right out of college. Training? No start up wants to gamble resources on that.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  A person's capacity for learning complex concepts quickly matters more than their current body of knowledge. Startups are marathons, not sprints. If Feynman were still alive and wanted to work as a programmer at your startup, it'd be foolish to turn him away. This was a guy who went from "zero knowledge of how a space shuttle works" to "knows the design of the Challenger shuttle in detail, and is able to spot overlooked problems" within a couple weeks. So he'd certainly have no trouble reaching rockstar programmer status at your startup within a couple months. But I'm getting the feeling most startups would turn him down if he wasn't already a rockstar programmer the day his interview rolls around. That seems a little nutty.

xsace 13y ago

I would be fascinated to read more about that experience.

guynamedloren 13y ago
I've been meaning to write about it for 2.5 years now... I might get around to it eventually.

8_hours_ago 13y ago

Job interviewing is definitely a skill that improves with practice. Next time you'll do better :)