Tales from the Interview: Classic WTF: Slightly More Sociable

As we continue our vacation, this classic comes from the ancient year of 2007, when "used to being the only woman in my engineering and computer science classes" was a much more common phrase. Getting a job can feel competitive, but there are certain ways you can guarantee you're gonna lose that competition. Original --Remy

Today's Tale from the Interview comes from Shanna...

Fresh out of college, and used to being the only woman in my engineering and computer science classes, I wasn't quite sure what to expect in the real world. I happily ended up finding a development job in a company which was nowhere near as unbalanced as my college classes had been. The company was EXTREMELY small and the entire staff, except the CEO, was in one office. I ended up sitting at a desk next to the office admin, another woman who was hired a month or two after me.

A few months after I was hired, we decided we needed another developer. I found out then that there was another person who had been up for my position who almost got it instead of me. He was very technically skilled, but ended up not getting the position because I was more friendly and sociable. My boss decided to call him back in for another interview because it had been a very close decision, and they wanted to give him another chance. He was still looking for a full-time job, so he said he'd be happy to come in again. The day he showed up, he looked around the office, and then he and my boss went in to the CEO's office to discuss the position again.

The interview seemed to be going well, and he was probably on track for getting the position. Then he asked my boss, "So, did you ever end up hiring a developer last time you were looking?" My boss answered "Oh, yeah, we did." The interviewee stopped for a second and, because he'd noticed that the only different faces in the main office were myself and the office admin, said "You mean, you hired one of those GIRLS out there?"

Needless to say, the interview ended quickly after that, and he didn't get the position.

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