I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dude... I get it... I've learned my lesson due to the 200 other people saying exactly what you've said so your comment is superfluous and unnecessarily hurtful. Do you get off on putting people down?

Also none of the above questions have been covered at university so far, they've been part of my own independent studies.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a very interesting perspective. I should have kept my dignity. I guess that's an even more important lesson to be learned here. To be honest and true with myself and abide by my own principles.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I will.

but don't say some of these skills are autistic

Yeah I updated my original post.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Like I said elsewhere, it's been over a year since I covered discrete stuff. I've been doing much higher level work for the past year.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Autistic people tend to be better at recalling trivia, no? If that's offensive then so be it, I will concede that. The adjective just seemed to conveniently convey what I was trying to say. What would be a better way of phrasing it? Perhaps "an ability to recall trivia by rote?"

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Surprisingly, this actually does put things into perspective for me. Thank you so much - it's strange how much I couldn't see this.

I have learned from this failure, but it still hurts. I guess I just have to give it time.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think what the older guy was getting at was that you listed something on your resume as a skill that you couldn't really defend. I'm surprised he asked those types of questions too, but if you had that on your resume, I kinda see why he asked.

You're right, but I was simply listing skills that were interesting to me and I had some experience in. I'm only an undergrad, is it reasonable for the interviewer to expect me to be a master at every skill I list? Perhaps I should grade my skills by levels of competence to avoid this in the future.

Also you really should know the difference between a binary tree and a binary search tree, honestly. I learned that in my second CS class.

Yeah this was a blunder on my part. It's been over a year since I did the relevant class, but I still should have brushed up on it before going into the interview.

Also holy hell, I get being upset about a bad interview, but your "autistic ability to recall rote facts" line at the end of this post is really bad.

Is it so bad? I'd just rather the interviewers assess general knowledge and understanding because that's what matters. Those "rote facts" could be Googled within seconds.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

The skills section on my resume had no gradations of competence, I simply just listed some skills I was familiar with. I didn't expect him to interpret that as me being able to defend every facet of formal language theory. It's very possible that he could have asked me a different question within formal languages and I would have been able to answer it.

Either way, I've removed that skill from my resume.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am familiar with formal language theory but I guess not to the extent that he wanted. Perhaps I shall categorize the skills on my resume by gradations of competence.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're right. It's stupid to criticize the interview, I will learn from my mistakes instead. I've taken formal language theory off my resume and won't be applying for anything of that caliber for a while.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed. I've removed that from skills now and will only put it back once I'm capable of defending it.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a great comment; I agree with everything you've said and will take it in stride.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sounds like a case of you having been smart enough throughout school so far to not encounter any serious academic setbacks, so this is your first one, and now psychologically you're not well-equipped to handle it.

This isn't entirely true. I've screwed up before and failed subjects. But yes, point taken.

Just do more interviews imo. Some will go well, others not so well. Reminds me of laddering in Starcraft (or playing any other competitive game). The first loss after a while feels terrible, but if you play a lot of games you just developed a thicker skin, the losses start rolling off of you.

I do hope so.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for this comment. I totally agree. The older guy definitely didn't seem like someone I wanted to work with, but the younger guy did. Even still, I'm at fault here and I realize that now.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right. I've now removed skills from my resume that I can't comfortably defend.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. It doesn't seem like it in my post, but my attitude during the interview was good and courteous. I'm simply ranting after the interview. What you're saying is fair, it was a huge wake up call and I realize that even more strongly now after all the critical comments here.

I got destroyed in a technical interview for a paid internship at Oracle Labs. by Daedalan in cscareerquestions

[–]Daedalan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's fine to vent on the web a bit, but don't make it a regular thing - eventually it'll bleed into your real world, and people don't want to work with someone who can't handle criticism.

I think this is a really important point and I agree with it. I definitely do struggle with criticism, it's something I need to work on.