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just bombed an interview (self.cs_career_questions)

submitted 5 hours ago by pugsnroses77 to c/[email protected]

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applied internally to a role thatd be a nice pay pump. its a data role with a strong emphasis on python and sql skills. i studied my ass off on data concepts anticipating questions like "how would you start solving xyz problem" or "how would you find business insights on zyx" and the first question is "whats the difference between a dict and a list in python?" or hell, even a leetcode-like question. i like to think im decent at USING python and sql, but not having used them in a current role in ~2 years, these google-search-esque questions threw me off guard. i fumbled making up answers for a few but some i straight up had to say i have no fkn clue. so todays been a bit of a demeaning experience! has anyone else ever had an interview where they asked questions like that?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Don't be too hard on yourself. A great interview explores the limits of your experience with the interviewer. That ideally includes some questions you simply cannot answer.

I have, very rarely, interviewed someone who had every answer I was looking for. In that case, she went on to build the entire team. But usually I don't need someone with all the answers, but just someone with enough experience to do the job while growing into it.

So sometimes missing some questions still lands you the job, and just informs my training plan for after I hire you. It's hard to tell right after the interview which way it went.

And sadly, I don't know for sure, until I've interviewed every candidate, so I rarely can give meaningful feedback right after the interview.

Also, if you were honest and communicated clearly, you likely grew your professional network, whether you get the job or not.

All that to say - you might not have bombed, after all.

[–] pugsnroses77 2 points 1 hour ago

this is very kind, thank you!