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Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by 015a on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @12:09AM (#27204470)
I once, 30 minutes into what was supposed to be a 1 or 2 hour phone interview, had an engineer at Google cut me off in the middle of their standard "write code in a Google Doc" with a "oh, I have a meeting I have to run to, good work we'll get back to you."

I assume it was not, in fact, good work, as I did not progress to the next interview.

I think a phrase like "typical" would be inaccurate; possibly "common" as well. But, I think, most people who have interviewed a decent amount have at least one story like this. Cursing is another step beyond, but its not insane; many of the people on the other end simply get drafted, they don't want to be there, and in some companies even see you as a threat to their career advancement.

Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by dr_kiszonka on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @12:19AM (#27204532)
I had a Google research scientist telling me during an interview that they don't like their job and don't recommend it. At a different occasion, Google's VP showed up 15 minutes late, asked one question, and stopped paying attention for the rest of the interview too busy with their laptop.

I understand that these are probably outliers but I will not be reapplying soon.

Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by kevin_thibedeau on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @12:56AM (#27204727)
I interviewed for a company that was (maybe still is?) the leader in industrial cameras. I was being vetted for a EE role by a bunch of non-EEs until I got to the one poor woman who was the only EE left in the company after they had gutted their in house development and switched to using fancy enclosures around SZ commodity cameras. I was asking probing questions and had her on the verge of tears during the interview. Glad I never got a call back from them.
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by pm90 on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:10AM (#27204800)
Oh man, I feel bad for that poor woman. If she didn’t leave there must be other reasons why she’s trapped in such a terrible environment.

The psychological tax of seeing your team dissolve and not be replaced seems brutal.

Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by NAG3LT on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:33AM (#27204936)
Is that the same company that produces a lot of thermal cameras?
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by devin on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @12:44AM (#27204671)
Shoulda called them out.
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by speedgoose on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @12:53AM (#27204707)
During an interview?
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by calt on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:20AM (#27204852)
Yes. If you're ever talking to someone one on one and they're not paying attention find a way to address it.
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by Rapzid on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:59AM (#27205102)
It wasn't an interview but when I was first starting my engineering career I was in a little three-way meeting with my manager and the department director in a tiny break-out room presenting some automation I'd developed to save time provisioning DC infrastructure.

The director was not paying attention at all and was pecking at their iPad. iPads had just come out and every VP/director was carrying them around and chicken-pecking them during meetings.

I stopped presenting and said I would wait until they weren't busy anymore ;D Was a bit irritated as they were the entire reason we were in that room.. Luckily I had quite a bit more tenure than that director haha(and a lot of political cover).

Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by willhinsa on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:30AM (#27204919)
Absolutely. It can be quite painful in the short term, but the long term benefits (both for you and that particular relationship) can be huge, especially if you're naturally averse to confrontation.
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by dehrmann on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:35AM (#27204956)
Remember that interviews are two-way.
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by pmiller2 on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @02:38AM (#27205339)
If they’re already not paying attention, what’s left to lose?
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by JAlexoid on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:02AM (#27204766)
Well... There are cases when you just need to cut the interview off.

Google is purely consensus company, where one "outlier" can literally block staffing of a whole department. So if that one person was against you - you had 0 chance.

Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by bryanrasmussen on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @01:57AM (#27205086)
I think it depends somewhat on what the cursing at me really means - if the recruiter said something like:

"Screw you, you little shit, I can't believe I wasted my time with your worthless ass!" and hung up that would be one thing, if they said "oh damn it" and hung up that would be another, both still rude but quite different. I'm assuming of course it was probably something like the second but the phrasing makes it sound like the first.

Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by machello13 on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @02:27PM (#27212487)
I think cutting off an interview is fine if it's clear that it's not going to work out. It saves everyone's time. Maybe he could have been less rude about it.
Re:I am sick and tired of hearing tech companies complain ab... by LorenPechtel on Wednesday May 19, 2021 @08:53PM (#27216194)
They were probably going through the motions to hire an H1-B.