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Old 05-05-2016, 09:01 AM
 
Location: Western NY
730 posts, read 962,252 times
Reputation: 864

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So just had a phone interview for what all the descriptions talked about was my area, engineering and equipment interfacing. Also imaging and image processing. Great done that, can answer any and all in that area. Most of interview was in fact about that, programming and so on related to that. I can help them.

Then the third person, clearly IT who obviously hates engineers got on the phone. Nowhere in the description is the position an IT position but this guy spent the whole time asking me IT and database questions, specific ones about some Microsoft tool. Nowhere in the description or even what the others in the interview talked about. The position is engineering not IT. I have certainly talked SQL to all kinds of systems and sent data 100 differing ways to Oracle, Excel, etc but I am not an Oracle or Microsoft certified database type developer. But he wasn't happy, he had specific algorithms he used in developing some sort of database he wanted to see if I knew. I am sure I could learn his little algorithm but he clearly was not happy that I could not address it immediately from experience. But since that isn't even what the job is, it came across pretty confusing to me. The others in the interview sort of understood he was asking questions about another position, but they didn't stop him.

Are these IT department that desperate that they try to steal engineers and convert them to IT during interviews?

Last edited by TestEngr; 05-05-2016 at 09:15 AM..
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Old 05-05-2016, 09:35 AM
 
973 posts, read 908,701 times
Reputation: 1781
Sounds to me like two things. They wanted to see how you react being flustered and under pressure...or the doofus from IT is a complete pompous idiot. Not like IT is a glorified job title anyways...
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Old 05-05-2016, 10:05 AM
 
Location: Southern California
12,713 posts, read 15,430,087 times
Reputation: 35511
I would have just chimed in and asked if the SQL and database questions were part of the qualifications required for the engineering position you were being interviewed for.
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Old 05-05-2016, 10:35 AM
 
Location: Western NY
730 posts, read 962,252 times
Reputation: 864
Thanks for the inputs.

I tried to deflect it as best as I could and did ask if that was what the position required since it isn't in the description, but he just said he needs to know my understanding of fundamentals of Microsoft database systems. He didn't act on my deflection and again asked more Microsoft specific tool database questions. I offered to help anyway I could. I could tell since I don't know the details of the Microsoft tool he uses, and that I could not answer his questions at all, that he didn't like it. So he seems to be genuinely be thinking I was disqualified immediately even though it wasn't listed in the job. So in this guys mind it was required it seems.

Or maybe it was a pressure check, who knows. It is definitely best that IT not determine what engineers get the job and since this guy didn't know engineering he asked what he knew. Oh well... we will see, I was real interested in position from first two interviewers but after the third I was not actually sure. Though I did offer to help anyway I could.
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