All this talk about job application/interview tips has reminded me of my favorite personal interview horror story.
I was invited to a telephone interview for a job with Yahoo in California. I wasn't really interested in moving to CA but I figured what the heck. How could I say no to Yahoo, right?
The programming part of the job turned out to be mostly in PHP which I didn't realize at first. I don't really have a good opinion of PHP but my experience with it has been limited and based on free internet code, not enterprise systems.
So, when prompted if I had any questions, I tried to say that I was curious about how Yahoo has used PHP in a positive, efficient way and what aspects of the language they feel makes it best suited for their environment. I guess what I actually said sounded to the interviewer more like "PHP sux and you are stupid for using it."
Unfortunately, I didn't get much of a response and needless to say, I didn't get the job (or even a free trip to CA).
I was a junior network admin. I was invited to an interview at UUNET. I get there and go into a room with 5 senior level SA's who proceeded to tear me up. The Marines didn't make me sweat as much.
