Difficulty with job interviews.
I'm trying to find a new software development position but I'm finding that I'm losing out because of difficulties interviewing. I find it difficult to answer certain kinds of questions. I think I need to make a list of questions along with some canned answers.
I'll give an example. I had an interview today and heard back back from the recruiter that the company did not want to pursue anything with me any further because I seemed to have difficulty with certain questions. I knew this was a problem during the interview.
The question was something like "tell me about a task you had to accomplish that had a lot of details and how you handled those details".
I started to describe a somewhat complicated task that I accomplished at my last job then, while explaining the task, I realized that I have no idea how I handled the details. I'm not even sure what the question means.
I know that I don't seem to think like most people. I get things done, but I can't always explain how. Details are just something I handle as they come along, but I'm not really able to explain the process I go through. I know that I've often been told that I do a good or even superior job. Certainly that should be sufficient for any employer, but how can I convince a potential employer of that when they have a mindset that a person needs to be able to explain how they handle details?
Bullshit questions like this are unfair and eliminate potentially good or even superior employees simply because they don't fit into a mold.
I think I need some kind of canned answer, even if it's not an entirely true one, just to get past this roadblock. What's are some good answers to this kind of question?
= new reply since forum marked as read
...asking that type of is looking for you to relate your ability to develop a systematic organization to handle details. Years ago upper management assembled people with complementary talents and got the job done. Some folks were valuable because they were very detail oriented while others had tremendous creativity. Everyone shared some basic level of many talents but often the team had stars in a few areas. Today what is valued is the ability of an employee to relate in words and writing the process by which they accomplish what it is they do. Establishing a set process gives management a better handle on judging progress.
For the most part, if I was the answering the question, my answers would be a bit different if the details were mine to handle or were to be delegated to others. The basic steps common to both would be:
* Identify all of the major tasks and make a list of them including a status/condition/requirement that could be used as a criteria to judge the completeness of the task.
* Breakdown the tasks into minor tasks and prioritize them.
* Assign the tasks and make a schedule.
* Track progress and report issues and/or problems.
Mostly this procedure oriented approach is desirable for places that are involved with ISO or CMMI type standards.
Also, it's just a good idea to have a formal record of your diligence in accomplishing a goal or completing a project.
In the aerospace world there are standards that are targeted due outside regulation like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DO-178B.
In the DoD world there is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_12207.
These documents are about organization and recording of the evidence of diligence.
I hope this helps. 
...you've got the idea.
A few weeks ago I had an in person interview for a very good position at a company within easy commuting distance. The job was very much like what I was doing in my last postion; a combination of development and IT support. I interviewed with 4 high level people (all at once, in a conference room), including the IT director, and HR. If the CEO had been in that day, he would also have been in the meeting.
After I got home I called the recruiter and he told me that they told him that they loved me and that I was exactly what they were looking for. All that was needed was for me to meet with the CEO so that he could pass on me and that was probably just a formality. This all happened on a Friday and he said he would call me early the following week to give me a time for that meeeting.
So Wednesday comes and still nothing. Then the recruiter calls and asks if I'd be willing to accept contract-to-hire rather than direct hire. I said that was fine and he said he'd get right back to me. He didn't.
I called him a few days later to see what was happening and he said that they were still working on the contract. At this point I was getting concerned.
Finally, after a few more days I called the recruiter again. This time he told me that his contact at the company told him that "upper management" had said that they were not hiring anybody for any reason at this time.
WTF? Why were they even interviewing? What gives them the right to screw with people like that? 
I hate job hunting.
If I didn't get paid for it....
...I get paid once I get the job and start working. 
...a partial benefit credit. That is the dollar amount ceiling that you can earn per week without a reduction in unemployment. Over that and they take $1 for every dollar you make.
Stay in touch
Good night and good luck
good luck 
I apply anyway, because they're not likely to find anyone who has experience with the dozen or more things they list. The problem is that you then get blocked by either a recruiter or the HR person because you haven't used some specific code editor or whatever.
It went great with the first two guys, and I think I aced the written Javascript test.
Then this other guy comes in and he wants to know what my goals are. He says something like "I hate questions like where do you see yourself in 5 years, so just tell me what your goals are".
Isn't that basically the same damn question? What can I say, that I just want to earn a good salary so I can sock some of it away for when I retire in 10 years? Of course I can't say that. I tried saying that I wanted to do development work, but that wasn't good enough and this asshole just kept pushing.
He says: "It's all well and good to say that you want to do development work, but what about when you've done the same thing a dozen times and you're tire of it and want to do something else"?
WTF? First off, it's not the same thing, if I'm writing it then it's new, otherwise I wouldn't be writing it, and anyway, if I'm good at it and like it and am paid well for it and all of that makes me happy then why do you care?
But of course I can't say any of that. I have to show ambition. I have to want to take over the company or something.
I'm not a very good liar but I had no choice, so I lied and said that I'd like to be a team leader (in software development you often work in teams, with each having a leader). That wasn't good enough. He had to poke and prod. "What does that mean? What would you like about being a team leader?"
Are these guys just sadists? Don't they know the game? Why keep pushing and pushing and never just accept an answer as it stands? I almost wanted to tell him to go fuck himself and just walk out of the interview, but of course you can't do that.
Goddammit I hate job hunting!
...let's call him goal man, work for?
I find that most folks asking interview question that are very open-ended are being more conversational than technical. Psychologically such a question (especially if you are pursued the way you were) way be more about seeing how you respond than the actual answer.
Since we all have lots of goals ranging from small and immediate to lifelong, (I would) ask a question back to narrow the focus. My overall goals range from getting another cup of coffee to become the all-being master of time, space and dimensions. You can start with expressing that you believe goal man is asking about your professional goals. Ask if he is refering to short, mid or long term goals.
Just a few examples:
Short term: get hired
Mid term: engage in successful carreer at this company and explore directions for growth
long term: depends a lot on which direction the mid term goals take
How's it going?