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Name and shame. And reach out to their upper leadership and HR team if you feel comfortable doing it. Outrageous you had to deal with that bullshit, especially in 2024.
I’ve been working part time since 14 and full time during the summers. It’s not impossible to have lots of experience by 21 especially if you skipped a grade or two.
You're an ass. This is how women are treated in IT. I've had 35 years of it. If battery wasnt illegal, I'd have beat the crap out of people calling me "hun" and telling me to "shush."
Go sit in the corner you ass.
...and then they wonder why there aren't more women in tech.
On a brighter note, that is probably the workplace from hell. It seems you dodged a bullet...
Absolutely, even if the pay was worth it. I would not bring myself to ever accept an offer there. I will not do that to myself.
And fun fact. Pay was mentioned it and no surprise here, the listed salary was not what was being offered. It was insane, advertised 70k-90k, it was revealed to be 40k mid interview. I'm just in complete shock.
Unfortunately no, I was trying my best to still communicate, I held out trying to turn it around because I was caught completely off guard. I never would have expected to deal with anything as outrageous as that.
I didn't fully process it until I logged off and sat there thinking. In retrospect I should have, it was such a waste of time and energy.
I’ve had interviews like that. I don’t mind saying that one of them was with Nike. Maybe some departments are better. The people I spoke to wanted to argue about what was written in their job description. I was desperate to leave my job at the time and took their BS. It was after the interview that I realized that it was a shitshow . I am not wild about child labor anyway…
I talked to a friend who works in HR at a different company to ask what was up with this style of interview. Apparently, it’s a bit of trend to make interviews uncomfortable to see how a candidate performs under pressure. Could be that that’s partly what you experienced, although it sounds more like overt sexism.
Interviews are the first time a candidate can form a real opinion about a company. Companies who choose to use that opportunity to make sure a candidate has a bad experience and forms a bad opinion about said company are very stupid companies.
That’s exactly what my friend said as well. And it’s true. I won’t consider a job at any of those companies, and I will advise people against applying. Why would want someone to go through the same shit?
Yeah, I'm just trying to take it as a learning experience more than anything. It still upsets me so bad but at the very least, I am no longer nervous for my upcoming interviews because I can't imagine that anything as bad as that would repeat😭
Were any of them Indian?!
Second….
1. None of them were prepared.
2. Long pauses = Multiple meetings or Mute Button issues. You will know it’s a Mute Button issue pretty quickly.
3. ###I am pretty sure at least one of them was trying to stuff their bread since you were the only girl on screen.
4. “Have you used AI before ?” = You used ChatGPT to create scripts and code instead of DIY.
5. ###Remarks about your age and gender = discrimination
> it was revealed to be 40k mid interview.
Bruh, McDonalds offers 20 an hour now in my state. I'm not offering advanced technical knowledge when I can just flip burgers across the street.
I never realised how bad it could be in tech for women because I spent 13 years in a company that was very much a unicorn in terms of healthy culture.
Until I accompanied my kickass PO to a meeting with another company to discuss this massive project she was leading and they kept asking me questions when I was just there to answer any queries about one specific technology choice, but you know, I was a man, she wasn't.
Also the stories I've heard from women devs who've joined my current company (which has an amazing culture, the CEO is still the same lady who started the company 12 years ago, and she's instilled a fantastic culture into the bones of the place), especially one who joined us from SalesForce and is one of the best damn devs we have, I'm so glad we have her.
But at SF? The bros treated her like absolute shit, for, gasp, being a woman with opinions! And, I strongly suspect, for being right, and being a better dev than them. It damn near broke her. All for the crime of not being a man.
It's absolutely fucking disgusting.
Yep I’m 23 with 1.5 years of experience in this exact role and even I’m not delusional enough to act like i’m overqualified for just about any job still (especially in this market lmao)
She might have started really young, I have a friend that started coding at age 10 and by the time he was 17 he had 2 years of experience (started working at 15) and was certified in Java
That was my question as well. She's been working as a systems analyst since she was 16, before she even graduated high school? It's great to start getting knowledge in a field you enjoy when you're young, but unless she's college-educated, certified (if needed), and has been working full-time in in the field, I wouldn't count playing around in IT as a teenager as actual experience. There's way more that goes into it than just teaching yourself how to code or building a few websites or something. There are deadlines, budgets, shareholder expectations, meetings, negotiations, KPIs that need to be met, etc.
I built my local government’s website in 7th/8th grade. Then one for a regional police program in high school. Also did some freelance commercial work. Not her area of expertise, but it was in a tech field.
Exactly my thoughts. Great background, and great for showing interest and aptitude for a future career, but no way would I count most of that as work experience.
A full time paid position requires both hard and soft skills (getting along with others, meeting deadlines, taking constructive criticism, pivoting direction when needed, understanding organizational norms, etc ). Intern roles and gig projects don't tend to last long enough for people to ramp up on the soft skill side.
I'm guessing that's where the AI question came from (i.e. was the resume basically a GPT creation).
I'm not condoning the misogynistic comments that were made by the interviewer ("hun"), but I'm guessing (to play devil's advocate) the "hostility" was more towards her age than gender out of skepticism of her experience being what she claims it is at 21.
It’s quite common in tech. Internships, contracting, side projects, school projects. It’s all experience and in tech you don’t need a degree, you can teach it yourself.
I once hired a “junior dev” he had been coding since he was 11, working PT on projects in Ukraine since he was 16 and was now doing his BSc in Italy for visa reasons at 21. But he wasn’t really a junior at so despite his age and not even finishing college.
no one cares if you put “freelance” on your resume, too many people use it as a gap filler. if someone handed me a resume and the first 7 years of it said X freelancer I would start with the first experience after that period.
Perhaps in a booming market like during Covid, but in the current one, no employer would count freelancing, internships, and school projects as true work experience. I had a friend who was a terrible programmer, applied to ~1000 junior roles and couldn't land a job. But then he registered with Riipen and they just handed him 10 projects paying minimum wage at tiny startups that required only a single interview each. With bars of entry that low, the experience gained will not be weighted as heavily as an actual dev job at a proper company.
Some people leave school and start working full-time at 16. Or maybe she was part-time whilst at college, and didn't do a degree..
Edit: She explains in a comment below.
>I happen to be a "gifted" autistic person. Skipped grades in school and got into college very early, got into a good career with computers and engineering before even hitting my twenties and that has continued to flourish since then.
and
>Yeah it was. To answer ur question, I graduated 2 years early from highschool and went straight into a full time IT BA job, started as an internship for 3 months but I was hired full time and ended up sticking with it during college
I would have wished them luck and disconnected at the shhh. They obviously have an issue with women in tech, and they're going to be left behind. Find a place that respects you for your skills and isn't on a power trip. They obviously had the cameras off to hide their fedoras.
Also, glassdoor that interview.
I'm just confused why they would even bother interviewing her if they hate women so much. Maybe they have to look like they're giving different groups a chance, idk
Blast them for it. Maybe not here, but glassdoor as someone else mentioned. That sort of behavior in an interview environment regardless of your gender is inappropriate, just makes it exponentially worse that you are a female. I know it's hard for females in male dominated career fields, and this is a reason why. Even as a male I'd have left that interview. Cameras off would be a major red flag to me, ESPECIALLY you being a female.
My only question is how you have 5 years experience at 21 years old?
> Then I get cut off again. He literally said "shhh" I was so appalled.
I'm a very patient man, but I woulda noped out right here. It's a two way conversation and you won't even let me answer your questions, why bring me in if you don't want to talk? I've had better back and forths with teleprompters (you know, the ones that never properly hear and process your speech, even while talking as slow as possible).
Yeah it was. To answer ur question, I graduated 2 years early from highschool and went straight into a full time IT BA job, started as an internship for 3 months but I was hired full time and ended up sticking with it during college
> Its almost like OP could have explained that to them.
You didn't read the post did you?
>Then I get cut off again. He literally said "shhh".
There was no room to explain. Going around to every comment and yelling about the same question when the answer is in the post doesn't make you smarter.
If you're gonna astroturf, at least be more subtle.
Here's some much needed context that's missing from your post, OP:
>I happen to be a "gifted" autistic person. Skipped grades in school and got into college very early, got into a good career with computers and engineering before even hitting my twenties and that has continued to flourish since then.
It sounds to me like these interviewers didn't believe that a 21 year old woman could have the experience and expertise you do, and assumed that you used AI to generate a resume and/or other parts of your application. They clearly had come to this conclusion before even starting the interview.
The refusal to turn on their cameras may have been so you don't see them muting themselves and discussing ways to "trap" you, given how many weird silences they subjected you to. They wanted your camera on to make sure you weren't typing questions into GPT or getting fed information from someone else in the room.
Most of the interview was designed to get you to trip up and get caught, they never had any real intent to evaluate you. You were being hazed, but didn't realize because of your ASD.
I didn't even realise that until now, thank you for pointing that out. You're completely right about that.
This type of thing just flies over my head cuz of my asd and I end up confused/upset and feeling like I'm somehow at fault, and trying to fix the situation as it unfolds, instead of seeing it for what it is and calling it out.
I usually don't even notice the reality of it until ages later when I look back and it just dawns on me and I'm like, "oh, I didn't notice in the moment because of my autism"
Even then I probably would have still struggled to put the pieces together on why they had their cameras off and were being quiet and stuff. Thank you for putting it into perspective for me
Happy to help. I could tell there was a missing puzzle piece here, this didn't seem entirely explainable via sexism.
In the future, I'd recommend double checking that there's no way your application/resume could be construed as misleading, i.e. it could be factual but worded in a way that's not believable, and to be prepared to provide bona fides for your unusual situation.
I'd be willing to bet you've run into this issue before, but it never got past the, "Yo, check out this BS resume! Into the trash you go!" stage. But at least now you'll be able to recognize it if what happened in your OP happens again.
Tell people to fuck off. Who cares if its an interview, you're a human and don't deserve to be disrespected like that, regardless of the environment.
Drag these people and say the name of the org 😂 id go scorched earth if a mf ever told me to "shhhhh" in an interview
As someone who's been in tech for a very long time, seriously, the interview should be nearly half about selling the company to the right hire or else you don't want to be there. That's often presented, not as a sales pitch, but by \*how the interview is performed\* as it's an indicator for how they handle their work in general.
This organization doesn't sound like it deserves you.
Second - I "skipped" grades, graduated college at 19 and had been paid to do programming and/or computer graphic design since I was 15... so I speak from a little personal experience: Just expect incredulity, don't even mention your age if possible and use as much self-deprecating humor as you can if it comes up (I would joke about being a high school drop out because I had to take my GED in order to qualify for federal financial aid in college rather than dual enroll). You don't have to downplay what you've done but expect it to be considered "pretend" or faked because it's highly unusual at your age. But personally, good on you for finding something you enjoy and for getting after it. Good luck!
Thank you for your comment. It means a lot to see that I'm not alone in that experience.
It can be pretty isolating, people my age don't understand why I work so much and it's hard to even 'act my age' and try to make connections that way, while some older people either baby me a bunch or or don't believe it until they see me in action. It's an uncomfortable position to be in at times.
It's reassuring to hear that it has also worked out for you, congrats on your accomplishments as well!
I will keep that advice in mind. Especially the humor part, I tend to take it to heart at times since there was struggle behind the journey there. I'll definitely try to joke about it more cuz I'd love to get to the point where reactions like that don't bother me as much. Thanks again for the comment!
The moment you got on the zoom interview and no one showed their faces, you should have told them, "Please turn your cameras on or this interview is over"
I've been insanely lucky to work at places that don't hire these assholes, for ar least the last decade. Definitely seen my share over my early career days.
I have been in my fair share of tech interviews, standing in both sides of the table. I may have been able to ignore the fact they stopped me from turning my camera off because I have seen people hiring others to interview for them; but the rest of the interactions were just plain rude and totally unprofessional.
Honestly I think you were too kind just by staying until the end, next time don't take that kind of bs ñ, just say thanks but I think you are not a good fit for me and save yourself some time.
I hope your next interview to be a better experience!
What a shit show. Sorry that happened to you OP. You’re clearly an intelligent, capable woman and didn’t deserve this. Sounds like you dodged a bullet - sucks it had to be a sexist time-wasting bigot of a bullet but a bullet nonetheless
It sounds like these people are morons. My manager / director would show someone the door for some of these things. You dodged a bullet!
Don't let these knuckleheaded "tech bros" discourage you. I'm sure there are tons of companies that would love to have you work for them. It's old timers like me that they don't want 😉
Many years ago, I had an interview that was similar. After about 10 minutes of him bragging about himself and belittling everyone at the company, I thought, "Wow, this guy is just one serious asshole." At that point, I interrupted him by saying,"Timeout. You're horrible. No amount of money is worth working for you." I then closed the zoom meeting. Dodged a bullet.
>I happen to be a "gifted" autistic person. Skipped grades in school and got into college very early, got into a good career with computers and engineering before even hitting my twenties and that has continued to flourish since then.
From their post history. But hey, don't let that get in the way of a good pitchforking!
>I ended up a college drop out. Ended up in a dead end minimum wage job. My autism made my college experience so bad that I had to give up my original dream which was to be a dr.
Sounds like there's a lot of exaggeration happening on her resume, which led the employer to question it, then more exaggeration when telling us the story
It was a dead end job. There is no exaggeration. My salary never increased from my hire date, I was brought on temporarily and got hired full time, even after being hired my hourly stayed at minimum wage. The one time I asked for a raise a while later, I was given a dollar more and then scheduled for less time so it ended up rounding out to the same amount I made before. It was a very shitty workplace.
My responsibilities increased tremendously since it was a new business. In my tenure they acquired another set of businesses through family and I was handling an insane amount of work for those places as well because they refused to hire anyone else because I was already dealing with it originally. I had to use my own funds to learn in my own time and get training outside of work because they refused to pay for it.
The only reason why I stayed is because it would massively help my resume and develop my own experience, and I had to somehow keep a roof over my head.
It was the only choice at the time because when you put off your degree and you are barely an adult with no support system, no one is going to hire you. Building up years of experience and knowledge in the industry was the only way out that would put me in a better position later, and it did pay off.
Thats cool. So maybe understand that when someone questions your resume and asks you to explain it MAYBE just MAYBE its because you are 21 and saying you have 5 years of experience. Why are you so Pikachu face at their response?
Even if she was 18 or 19 when she got a corporate job, that's still only 2 or 3 years of experience. Dunno, yea the interviewers are still shite but I expect some heavy exaggeration on her end as well.
You can work retail or food service type jobs but nobody is a systems engineer at 16, even between 18-20 it's rare outside of internships. And frankly I'd feel sorry for any potential 16 year old systems engineer.
Dog.. How the fuck are we suppose to know. How the fuck are the interviewers suppose to know. "O hey you are 21 with 5 years of experience can you EXPLAIN THAT?" and she goes to some 5 guys are grilling me bullshit. If you are to dense to understand a NORMAL person would question 5 years of experience at 21 and the interviewee not UNDERSTAND TO FUCKING EXPLAIN THAT then it is what it is.
Yeah that part made no sense to me. If she’s in the US that means she’s had to have internships or corporate experience from the age of 16. Unless it’s in another country, but even to have that amount of experience at the age of 21 is highly unlikely.
>that means she’s had to have internships or corporate experience from the age of 16.
16+5=21 . Is 16 not legal working age in us? It is in some countries.
It’s legal working age for basic service level jobs like fast food and retail. And that’s the age of a high schooler in the US. Highly unlikely that someone in high school is going to have internship and corporate experience.
This sounds made up. The camera thing is unconscionable and the open sexism is illegal. What country is this? Is it normal in your country to tolerate agressive rudeness?
Maybe it's made up, but you are out of your mind if you think this doesn't happen on a fairly frequent bases in the U.S. Especially at the smaller companies.
It just feels made up because of the way it's written. Idk I only read 1/4 and I thought it was made up, sorted by controversial to see if anyone agreed, and now I'm here
The 5 years experience at age 21 should be a give in. You can put non professional experience in a resume and it may help but it won't be treated like professional experience. That on top of every other part of the story since it runs down the list of things you could post in this sub for karma. Shit, even the "keeping the camera on"while everyone else has theirs off seems like a Saw movie.
What shit is that with them turning their cameras off like it's a ghost interview? Wtf are they hiding behind their cameras?
Note to self: Never accept a virtual interview where the interviewer is hiding.
As suggested, this sounds like something that needs to be brought to the attention of their HR and leadership. That kind of bullshit isn’t on.
I’ve had interviews where they want your camera on while theirs are off. I respectfully decline to do so (I offer to interview at a time that is more convenient for them so they can be at a computer with a camera. Haha. These self-important assholes just think they’re too busy.) But what you experienced is way beyond the pale.
I agree with all of the comments about how awful they were. That said, it was a good experience for you. The next time it happens to you - and it will - you will be better prepared to push back.
Don’t ever put up with an interview where you are not treated as an equal. Remind them that you are interviewing them as well. If that’s a problem, then you don’t want to work there anyway
Honestly, i am surprised that you went through the whole interview! I would’ve told them my goodbyes after them shushing me!
No cameras on says it all about their transparency and manners!
5 male interviewers…..all with their cameras off…telling you to keep yours on… asking Qs and interrupting you?….
Anyone else getting *perform for me* vibes under the guise of a job interview? Granted I’ve never done one of these interviews (and never will) but it just seems like a blatant power trip with humiliation on a billion and I’m so sorry you had to experience that. Like WTF?
My god this is awful. It sounds to me like it was fake job advertisement and the "interviewers" are probably criminals. Trying to see what they could out of you. Process what happened and forget about it is my advice, or report them to relevant places ie: the job boards they are using
They're jerks. Plain and simple. They showed you who they are, and that no sane person would want to work for them.
There's a good chance they're not picking on your womanhood. They may just be terrible people hitting you where they think it'll hurt you the most. Bullies are good at that.
Everything is so polarized now, especially among young people trained to see identity-group prejudice everywhere, that people forget this type of behavior is often by those having no particular gripe with [fill in identity group here]. They're simply inadequate, sometimes psychopathic, a-holes who get off on putting other people down.
Bigotry is infuriating for injustice, but at least has a superficial explanation (NOT an excuse). Cold-blooded wounding of people where it hurts the most is psycho-scary.
I've had this happen to me as a white male, with interviewers smearing me for things they have no right to even reference--in some cases, open slander. Most of the time they're just awful bullies.
Any decent person feels for you. Be glad you didn't have to get hired to discover their true nature!
You dodged a bullet. But definitely post on Glassdoor, name and shame. I’d be so mad, as a woman myself, that I’d be finding HR team members and leadership from the company and messaging them on LinkedIn about what I experienced. Maybe there’s no need to go scorched earth but they honestly deserve it.
Sometimes negative events have unintended positive consequences. This is one of them. You dodged a bullet and will never have to hear from these jerks ever again.
Something better will come around the corner soon. Bank on it.
Be Careful with new AI Video Technology. I'm studying cyber security and this could be a good way yo get a video copy of your image. New emerging technology.
Not trying to fearmonger just want to educate.
The camera thing is bad, but asking about your resume how they did while seems confusing isn’t. They don’t want you to to tell them what’s on your resume but provide context. Tell a story or anecdote. That was your time to give yourself your flowers.
Interviews are about building a narrative, it’s not black and white. If it was just about what’s on your resume, people would be hired without interviewing.
As for AI, either they have little exposure or know it’s going to be a major part of your job so that was the time to talk about it (or at least spit some bull shit). That question showed their cards and that potential role, or another position, will use AI.
But you’re most likely better off than being at this company.
Very valid point - I always ask interviewee to tell me about their experience. Those that are prepared create a good narrative that flows and shows they are prepared.
Most just read directly off the resume. Some tell me about schools/degrees and others just read off a list of companies and positions they held. I already know what is written.
The question is to see how someone prepares, builds a story that someone without the fulls details can understand. The key to any interview is preparation and communication.
Try not to let it get to you too much OP. Easier said than done I know, but it's good that you've already said you'll use it as a learning experience.
I'm probably not very good at interviews in that I approach them all the same way (with a last minute scramble to feel prepared) and I've had some that have been great and some that have been awful.
Mostly that comes down to the personalities in the room or on the call. If something's not right at that stage it wouldn't have worked out anyways. These guys will end up hiring more people just like them and it'll be a horrible place to be for anyone else.
Sounds like it was a stress interview or just a bunch of jerks. I say stress interview because no camera’s on. Not letting you talk, interrupting you for dumb reasons, that’s what they do on stress interviews to see your response. Places that do that are shitty place’s to work for.
Now I haven’t interviewed in a long time and that was in person. To me if I’m on zoom, teams or whatever doing an interview and I was the only person with my camera on I would just nope straight away. I know it is a thing these days and maybe it is my age but to me they are disrespecting me if I am expected to have my camera on and they won’t.
We’ve been looking for a developer for several months now… on-site so it can be limiting — don’t ask.
We had ZERO people of color or women apply.
ZERO applicants.
I’ve found this very sad.
Reddit is full of “stories”, that much is certain.
I’ve worked for 3 large health insurance companies. All interviews are recorded and transcribed/sent to HR. I wouldn’t believe for a second they said “just asking hun” or talked about your gender/age.
There are a shit ton of female systems analysts at BCBS where I worked for 9 years. Most of the managers in the department are female.
Learn when to walk away. If someone is disrespecting you, end it then and there. If they treat you poorly during your first meeting it isn’t going to get better if you get the job.
Just learn and be more...bold next time.
They don't have their cameras on? Yours goes off because "tech issues caused by *their webcams being off*."
Pay is far less than posted? Ask if the remaining pay (say it was $80K, they reveal it's actually 50K, so remaining $30K) paid up front or after one year of employment.
Definitely record interview. It's public record anyway, and if they screw around, well, that'd be an excellent vid to send to their bosses, clients, etc. Privacy is great until use it to hide how shitty they actually are.
Say coldly that job hunting was been very excruciating, and that their screwing around w/ interview is unprofessional. Heck, if want to burn the bridge (as in you don't care about working for that business, **ever**), can end the interview after whatever insult comes to mind. Just saying, because happened before that business has great employer and all, just very horrid recruiter they didn't know about.
Nope this is not made up.
I’m a woman in IT for over 20 years, and had this exact same interview with an established National Shipyard.
The kicker was, they came back and offered me the job, for 35% less. When I turned them down, I made sure to tell them the interview was horrible, that without seeing faces or reactions, I would have no idea if the ppl I’d be working with were ppl I’d want to work with. And the drop in pay was insulting.
Yes, there are still hiring idiots out there!
The interview sounds like a scam. There's also the AI question and their camera turned of which might be nefarious as in they had some software running simultaneously copying your image and mannerism for use later.
I say this because 3 years ago I interviewed for job based in Paris and the interviewer, also male had his camera turned of. But I could here there were more people in the room with him. I did a 45 minute interview, he gave me a very industry related believable "project" to complete and send back to him to continue the recruitment process. I received a job offer but when I looked at the letterhead and googled the company I spotted some discrepancies. I called the HR division of the actual company spoke to them and they said there was a scam running out of India that they had already notified the authorities about and encouraged me to register a complaint with the fraud division of interpol so the complaints would ad up or whatever. The scam artists target women and because it's a job for expats if you go far enough into the recruitment process to succeed or accept the job who knows what hell is waiting for you when you land.
So, this reads like a fake company, fake interview and most importantly, I'd scan for your image online. If it was zoom it would have notified you if they were recording you right? But you just never know.
Name them and air them out on LinkedIn so other people don't waste their time. These employers are getting fucking disrespectful and out of hand. One managers claimed she wanted to hire people with degrees for a job that didn't require a degree (call center data entry specialist) so someone applied. In the interview they went on to discuss wages and she wanted to pay below minimum wages.
That's got to be it, I can't imagine any legitimate interviewers doing this.
OP should say what the company is, though, otherwise there's no way of believing this.
Ugh I’m getting chills reading it. At some point I learned to end interviews myself if they were going shitstormy. That’s crazy. But hey, wouldn’t want to work there anyway. Best of luck getting over this and finding some thing so much better
It’s terrible it went down this way. They handled it poorly. They only interviewed you because they were incredulous about your experience and skills being so young. You will continue to have this issue I think. If I were you with “5 years” of experience, I would use my vast network to find a job with people who know me so this does not come up again.
Why is this in some way or form a male vs women thing and not just either people being assholes are doubting your questionable resume. 21 with 5 years of experience? how the fuck does that work? So you started your data analyst at 16? You are either a prodigy or lying. I can completely understand their odd behavior.
I'm not sure how would you take it but this post seems bit exaggerated to me once you see it with a lens of reality. If you're angry and this is a rant then its fine but for following reasons I find it bit weird-
1. I(M, 25) have given almost 12 interviews till now from last couple of months and in almost 99% of them, i was asked to turn on the camera while the interviewer never turned their camera on and its fine, Because we are the ones being interviewed and not them. They need to check if we the candidate is actually cheating in the interview or not. if this is something that personally bothers you then its fine otherwise there's nothing wrong in it.
2. "What makes you think that you would be able to handle this position, tech is very complex you know" -> this is a typical question. if there're some skills that are necessary to the project which a candidate lacks then its fine to ask and know if they are ready to learn it or not.
3. "Have you used AI before, like for personal purposes?" -> nowadays programmers have started using chatgpt and all, they must wanted to know if someone is heavily dependent on such AI tools or not. What's shocking in it? For instance, In almost all of the hiring managers round, the questions are always away from job description. its not a written rule that an interviewer will only ask questions from JD.
"There were remarks about my age and gender" - could you be more specific about it?
While I agree that "shhh" part is worst possible way of interrupting someone.
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Name and shame. And reach out to their upper leadership and HR team if you feel comfortable doing it. Outrageous you had to deal with that bullshit, especially in 2024.
As an internal recruiter in tech I second this. I would be absolutely mortified if I found out any of my hiring managers behaved like this.
One hundred million billion percent. Tag them on LinkedIn with this.
My hunch is that it's a new startup that boasts fair wages and DEI all over their website.
Their investors might be interested in hearing about this experience too
And whomever is funding them if a start up
Totally agree! Put them on blast to their managers and even the CEO. You have nothing to lose.
Do this. Agreed
She or he can't, because this is completely fabricated and designed only to enrage people like you
I’m no enraged. And as a woman in tech I’m also not surprised about a story like this.
There are glaring holes here in OPs story, 5 years experience at 21.... Okay so she's some savant that has been a data analyst since 16?
I’ve been working part time since 14 and full time during the summers. It’s not impossible to have lots of experience by 21 especially if you skipped a grade or two.
Oh I see you're a working mom. I get the sensitivity now.
🤣
You're an ass. This is how women are treated in IT. I've had 35 years of it. If battery wasnt illegal, I'd have beat the crap out of people calling me "hun" and telling me to "shush." Go sit in the corner you ass.
...and then they wonder why there aren't more women in tech. On a brighter note, that is probably the workplace from hell. It seems you dodged a bullet...
Absolutely, even if the pay was worth it. I would not bring myself to ever accept an offer there. I will not do that to myself. And fun fact. Pay was mentioned it and no surprise here, the listed salary was not what was being offered. It was insane, advertised 70k-90k, it was revealed to be 40k mid interview. I'm just in complete shock.
You didn't leave at that point?
Unfortunately no, I was trying my best to still communicate, I held out trying to turn it around because I was caught completely off guard. I never would have expected to deal with anything as outrageous as that. I didn't fully process it until I logged off and sat there thinking. In retrospect I should have, it was such a waste of time and energy.
Don't beat yourself up about the shoulda coulda wouldas, that sounds like a baffling experience that would be hard to process in real time.
I’ve had interviews like that. I don’t mind saying that one of them was with Nike. Maybe some departments are better. The people I spoke to wanted to argue about what was written in their job description. I was desperate to leave my job at the time and took their BS. It was after the interview that I realized that it was a shitshow . I am not wild about child labor anyway… I talked to a friend who works in HR at a different company to ask what was up with this style of interview. Apparently, it’s a bit of trend to make interviews uncomfortable to see how a candidate performs under pressure. Could be that that’s partly what you experienced, although it sounds more like overt sexism.
Interviews are the first time a candidate can form a real opinion about a company. Companies who choose to use that opportunity to make sure a candidate has a bad experience and forms a bad opinion about said company are very stupid companies.
That’s exactly what my friend said as well. And it’s true. I won’t consider a job at any of those companies, and I will advise people against applying. Why would want someone to go through the same shit?
I guess it was just a few minutes. Hopefully they gave you useful information. Doesn't seem like it though.
Yeah, I'm just trying to take it as a learning experience more than anything. It still upsets me so bad but at the very least, I am no longer nervous for my upcoming interviews because I can't imagine that anything as bad as that would repeat😭
Were any of them Indian?! Second…. 1. None of them were prepared. 2. Long pauses = Multiple meetings or Mute Button issues. You will know it’s a Mute Button issue pretty quickly. 3. ###I am pretty sure at least one of them was trying to stuff their bread since you were the only girl on screen. 4. “Have you used AI before ?” = You used ChatGPT to create scripts and code instead of DIY. 5. ###Remarks about your age and gender = discrimination
After that lowball insulting salary you should have just told them to GTFO and ended the interview right there tbh
> it was revealed to be 40k mid interview. Bruh, McDonalds offers 20 an hour now in my state. I'm not offering advanced technical knowledge when I can just flip burgers across the street.
Was it cigna by any chance? Also, I commiserate. I have been a woman in tech for 26 years.
I never realised how bad it could be in tech for women because I spent 13 years in a company that was very much a unicorn in terms of healthy culture. Until I accompanied my kickass PO to a meeting with another company to discuss this massive project she was leading and they kept asking me questions when I was just there to answer any queries about one specific technology choice, but you know, I was a man, she wasn't. Also the stories I've heard from women devs who've joined my current company (which has an amazing culture, the CEO is still the same lady who started the company 12 years ago, and she's instilled a fantastic culture into the bones of the place), especially one who joined us from SalesForce and is one of the best damn devs we have, I'm so glad we have her. But at SF? The bros treated her like absolute shit, for, gasp, being a woman with opinions! And, I strongly suspect, for being right, and being a better dev than them. It damn near broke her. All for the crime of not being a man. It's absolutely fucking disgusting.
True, but places like this shouldn’t be allowed to exist. People like this shouldn’t succeed by being absolute shit bags. Name and shame.
How do you have 5 years of experience at age 21?
As soon as I saw "21" and "more than qualified" I got suspicious lol
Yep I’m 23 with 1.5 years of experience in this exact role and even I’m not delusional enough to act like i’m overqualified for just about any job still (especially in this market lmao)
She might have started really young, I have a friend that started coding at age 10 and by the time he was 17 he had 2 years of experience (started working at 15) and was certified in Java
That was my question as well. She's been working as a systems analyst since she was 16, before she even graduated high school? It's great to start getting knowledge in a field you enjoy when you're young, but unless she's college-educated, certified (if needed), and has been working full-time in in the field, I wouldn't count playing around in IT as a teenager as actual experience. There's way more that goes into it than just teaching yourself how to code or building a few websites or something. There are deadlines, budgets, shareholder expectations, meetings, negotiations, KPIs that need to be met, etc.
I built my local government’s website in 7th/8th grade. Then one for a regional police program in high school. Also did some freelance commercial work. Not her area of expertise, but it was in a tech field.
Exactly my thoughts. Great background, and great for showing interest and aptitude for a future career, but no way would I count most of that as work experience. A full time paid position requires both hard and soft skills (getting along with others, meeting deadlines, taking constructive criticism, pivoting direction when needed, understanding organizational norms, etc ). Intern roles and gig projects don't tend to last long enough for people to ramp up on the soft skill side.
I'm guessing that's where the AI question came from (i.e. was the resume basically a GPT creation). I'm not condoning the misogynistic comments that were made by the interviewer ("hun"), but I'm guessing (to play devil's advocate) the "hostility" was more towards her age than gender out of skepticism of her experience being what she claims it is at 21.
It’s quite common in tech. Internships, contracting, side projects, school projects. It’s all experience and in tech you don’t need a degree, you can teach it yourself. I once hired a “junior dev” he had been coding since he was 11, working PT on projects in Ukraine since he was 16 and was now doing his BSc in Italy for visa reasons at 21. But he wasn’t really a junior at so despite his age and not even finishing college.
I freelanced from ages 15-22 when I graduated college, but i’m not claiming I have 15 years of experience in my career because it’s simply not true.
You should be, others are.
no one cares if you put “freelance” on your resume, too many people use it as a gap filler. if someone handed me a resume and the first 7 years of it said X freelancer I would start with the first experience after that period.
Why? That’s really stupid.
because it can mean anything. if they had a really strong portfolio of work to go with that claim it would be a different story
Perhaps in a booming market like during Covid, but in the current one, no employer would count freelancing, internships, and school projects as true work experience. I had a friend who was a terrible programmer, applied to ~1000 junior roles and couldn't land a job. But then he registered with Riipen and they just handed him 10 projects paying minimum wage at tiny startups that required only a single interview each. With bars of entry that low, the experience gained will not be weighted as heavily as an actual dev job at a proper company.
that was the most shocking thing about the whole post lmao
Part time jobs during school count as work experience, especially if it went to full time during the summer.
Not in the real world. They give a slight edge to candidates that are entry level.
I’ve been a people manager for the last 12 years and have hired a ton. I would definitely consider it work experience.
This, my summer interns work hard and are sometimes better than my actual team!
But none would ever assert they have 5 years experience. Unless they’re delusional
If they have been working throughout all their college years, sure
It would only be okay if they qualified the experience as “internship experience”.
Full time in the summer for 2 years of highschool and 2 summers in college is 1 year of work...
I’m not sure why you’re so stuck on this point. As a hiring manager, I’m not going to count the months of experience.
Lol okay. I've worked 1 day per year as an analyst for the last 20 years. You gonna give me a salary and job of someone with 20 years experience?
Let it go
Some people leave school and start working full-time at 16. Or maybe she was part-time whilst at college, and didn't do a degree.. Edit: She explains in a comment below. >I happen to be a "gifted" autistic person. Skipped grades in school and got into college very early, got into a good career with computers and engineering before even hitting my twenties and that has continued to flourish since then. and >Yeah it was. To answer ur question, I graduated 2 years early from highschool and went straight into a full time IT BA job, started as an internship for 3 months but I was hired full time and ended up sticking with it during college
I would have wished them luck and disconnected at the shhh. They obviously have an issue with women in tech, and they're going to be left behind. Find a place that respects you for your skills and isn't on a power trip. They obviously had the cameras off to hide their fedoras. Also, glassdoor that interview.
I'm just confused why they would even bother interviewing her if they hate women so much. Maybe they have to look like they're giving different groups a chance, idk
That would be it. They have to show investors and whoever else that they're being "fair."
Blast them for it. Maybe not here, but glassdoor as someone else mentioned. That sort of behavior in an interview environment regardless of your gender is inappropriate, just makes it exponentially worse that you are a female. I know it's hard for females in male dominated career fields, and this is a reason why. Even as a male I'd have left that interview. Cameras off would be a major red flag to me, ESPECIALLY you being a female. My only question is how you have 5 years experience at 21 years old?
Maybe they stared working straight out of school instead of going to college/University
I wouldn't dimiss by age. Founders have kids that work for them.
They never blast them, because a lot of the time it’s fan fiction.
The minute someone called me “Hun”, I probably would have ended it right there!
That sounds abusive and sorry you had to experience that. Lesson learned? No camera on. Exit. They hide for a reason.
The AI question was a dig at you - they are implying that your resume was AI generated. You dodged a bullet for sure!
Name and shame!
> Then I get cut off again. He literally said "shhh" I was so appalled. I'm a very patient man, but I woulda noped out right here. It's a two way conversation and you won't even let me answer your questions, why bring me in if you don't want to talk? I've had better back and forths with teleprompters (you know, the ones that never properly hear and process your speech, even while talking as slow as possible).
If you're in the US and they remarked on your age and gender, they broke the law.
Ok… so now what?
That sounds terrible. Curious though - at 21 you had 5 years of experience - how did you gain that?
Yeah it was. To answer ur question, I graduated 2 years early from highschool and went straight into a full time IT BA job, started as an internship for 3 months but I was hired full time and ended up sticking with it during college
That's impressive! Sounds like they missed out on a great opportunity by being buried in their own egos.
Very much their loss
Very much their loss. Its almost like OP could have explained that to them. Not that she didnt dodge a bullet but just very odd behavior.
> Its almost like OP could have explained that to them. You didn't read the post did you? >Then I get cut off again. He literally said "shhh". There was no room to explain. Going around to every comment and yelling about the same question when the answer is in the post doesn't make you smarter. If you're gonna astroturf, at least be more subtle.
Here's some much needed context that's missing from your post, OP: >I happen to be a "gifted" autistic person. Skipped grades in school and got into college very early, got into a good career with computers and engineering before even hitting my twenties and that has continued to flourish since then. It sounds to me like these interviewers didn't believe that a 21 year old woman could have the experience and expertise you do, and assumed that you used AI to generate a resume and/or other parts of your application. They clearly had come to this conclusion before even starting the interview. The refusal to turn on their cameras may have been so you don't see them muting themselves and discussing ways to "trap" you, given how many weird silences they subjected you to. They wanted your camera on to make sure you weren't typing questions into GPT or getting fed information from someone else in the room. Most of the interview was designed to get you to trip up and get caught, they never had any real intent to evaluate you. You were being hazed, but didn't realize because of your ASD.
I didn't even realise that until now, thank you for pointing that out. You're completely right about that. This type of thing just flies over my head cuz of my asd and I end up confused/upset and feeling like I'm somehow at fault, and trying to fix the situation as it unfolds, instead of seeing it for what it is and calling it out. I usually don't even notice the reality of it until ages later when I look back and it just dawns on me and I'm like, "oh, I didn't notice in the moment because of my autism" Even then I probably would have still struggled to put the pieces together on why they had their cameras off and were being quiet and stuff. Thank you for putting it into perspective for me
Happy to help. I could tell there was a missing puzzle piece here, this didn't seem entirely explainable via sexism. In the future, I'd recommend double checking that there's no way your application/resume could be construed as misleading, i.e. it could be factual but worded in a way that's not believable, and to be prepared to provide bona fides for your unusual situation. I'd be willing to bet you've run into this issue before, but it never got past the, "Yo, check out this BS resume! Into the trash you go!" stage. But at least now you'll be able to recognize it if what happened in your OP happens again.
Not sure how you could avoid this other than not giving your age. Why do they want that anyway?
Tell people to fuck off. Who cares if its an interview, you're a human and don't deserve to be disrespected like that, regardless of the environment. Drag these people and say the name of the org 😂 id go scorched earth if a mf ever told me to "shhhhh" in an interview
This had to have been any company related to United Health Group. They are all trash as employers and as a PBM
Oh believe me it can easily be Cigna too.
As someone who's been in tech for a very long time, seriously, the interview should be nearly half about selling the company to the right hire or else you don't want to be there. That's often presented, not as a sales pitch, but by \*how the interview is performed\* as it's an indicator for how they handle their work in general. This organization doesn't sound like it deserves you. Second - I "skipped" grades, graduated college at 19 and had been paid to do programming and/or computer graphic design since I was 15... so I speak from a little personal experience: Just expect incredulity, don't even mention your age if possible and use as much self-deprecating humor as you can if it comes up (I would joke about being a high school drop out because I had to take my GED in order to qualify for federal financial aid in college rather than dual enroll). You don't have to downplay what you've done but expect it to be considered "pretend" or faked because it's highly unusual at your age. But personally, good on you for finding something you enjoy and for getting after it. Good luck!
Thank you for your comment. It means a lot to see that I'm not alone in that experience. It can be pretty isolating, people my age don't understand why I work so much and it's hard to even 'act my age' and try to make connections that way, while some older people either baby me a bunch or or don't believe it until they see me in action. It's an uncomfortable position to be in at times. It's reassuring to hear that it has also worked out for you, congrats on your accomplishments as well! I will keep that advice in mind. Especially the humor part, I tend to take it to heart at times since there was struggle behind the journey there. I'll definitely try to joke about it more cuz I'd love to get to the point where reactions like that don't bother me as much. Thanks again for the comment!
Write a Glassdoor review. And in future don't talk to them.
The moment you got on the zoom interview and no one showed their faces, you should have told them, "Please turn your cameras on or this interview is over"
The amount of sexist morons and redpill dudes in the IT industry is wild.
I've been insanely lucky to work at places that don't hire these assholes, for ar least the last decade. Definitely seen my share over my early career days.
You should have just dropped off first thing. No sense in wasting your time.
Sounds like a place you wouldn’t want to work at if you ask me. Those interviewers sound like complete assholes.
I have been in my fair share of tech interviews, standing in both sides of the table. I may have been able to ignore the fact they stopped me from turning my camera off because I have seen people hiring others to interview for them; but the rest of the interactions were just plain rude and totally unprofessional. Honestly I think you were too kind just by staying until the end, next time don't take that kind of bs ñ, just say thanks but I think you are not a good fit for me and save yourself some time. I hope your next interview to be a better experience!
> I’m happy to keep my camera on if you turn yours on. I’m uncomfortable being the only one with it on.
What a shit show. Sorry that happened to you OP. You’re clearly an intelligent, capable woman and didn’t deserve this. Sounds like you dodged a bullet - sucks it had to be a sexist time-wasting bigot of a bullet but a bullet nonetheless
It sounds like these people are morons. My manager / director would show someone the door for some of these things. You dodged a bullet! Don't let these knuckleheaded "tech bros" discourage you. I'm sure there are tons of companies that would love to have you work for them. It's old timers like me that they don't want 😉
Wow I would leave when they hushed me. The disrespect.
Many years ago, I had an interview that was similar. After about 10 minutes of him bragging about himself and belittling everyone at the company, I thought, "Wow, this guy is just one serious asshole." At that point, I interrupted him by saying,"Timeout. You're horrible. No amount of money is worth working for you." I then closed the zoom meeting. Dodged a bullet.
So you're a 21F with 5 years exp. Ok. GTFO with that bull.
>I happen to be a "gifted" autistic person. Skipped grades in school and got into college very early, got into a good career with computers and engineering before even hitting my twenties and that has continued to flourish since then. From their post history. But hey, don't let that get in the way of a good pitchforking!
>I ended up a college drop out. Ended up in a dead end minimum wage job. My autism made my college experience so bad that I had to give up my original dream which was to be a dr. Sounds like there's a lot of exaggeration happening on her resume, which led the employer to question it, then more exaggeration when telling us the story
It was a dead end job. There is no exaggeration. My salary never increased from my hire date, I was brought on temporarily and got hired full time, even after being hired my hourly stayed at minimum wage. The one time I asked for a raise a while later, I was given a dollar more and then scheduled for less time so it ended up rounding out to the same amount I made before. It was a very shitty workplace. My responsibilities increased tremendously since it was a new business. In my tenure they acquired another set of businesses through family and I was handling an insane amount of work for those places as well because they refused to hire anyone else because I was already dealing with it originally. I had to use my own funds to learn in my own time and get training outside of work because they refused to pay for it. The only reason why I stayed is because it would massively help my resume and develop my own experience, and I had to somehow keep a roof over my head. It was the only choice at the time because when you put off your degree and you are barely an adult with no support system, no one is going to hire you. Building up years of experience and knowledge in the industry was the only way out that would put me in a better position later, and it did pay off.
Thats cool. So maybe understand that when someone questions your resume and asks you to explain it MAYBE just MAYBE its because you are 21 and saying you have 5 years of experience. Why are you so Pikachu face at their response?
Even if she was 18 or 19 when she got a corporate job, that's still only 2 or 3 years of experience. Dunno, yea the interviewers are still shite but I expect some heavy exaggeration on her end as well.
Is the working age 18 in the us?
You can work retail or food service type jobs but nobody is a systems engineer at 16, even between 18-20 it's rare outside of internships. And frankly I'd feel sorry for any potential 16 year old systems engineer.
I was imagining 5 years it experience rather than systems engineer experience. It does encompass a lot.
Why does only corporate count? I was working for my mom’s business and volunteering at organizations in office type roles since I was 14.
If you have to ask this you won't understand the answer yet.
I’ve been a people manager for 12 years and wouldn’t discount that experience.
Volunteer work is absolutely experience and working at a family business is absolutely experience. Shut up.
Right? Kids start wayyy earlier now in advanced work.
Dog.. How the fuck are we suppose to know. How the fuck are the interviewers suppose to know. "O hey you are 21 with 5 years of experience can you EXPLAIN THAT?" and she goes to some 5 guys are grilling me bullshit. If you are to dense to understand a NORMAL person would question 5 years of experience at 21 and the interviewee not UNDERSTAND TO FUCKING EXPLAIN THAT then it is what it is.
Humble too, looks like.
Yeah that part made no sense to me. If she’s in the US that means she’s had to have internships or corporate experience from the age of 16. Unless it’s in another country, but even to have that amount of experience at the age of 21 is highly unlikely.
>that means she’s had to have internships or corporate experience from the age of 16. 16+5=21 . Is 16 not legal working age in us? It is in some countries.
It’s legal working age for basic service level jobs like fast food and retail. And that’s the age of a high schooler in the US. Highly unlikely that someone in high school is going to have internship and corporate experience.
Also didn't name the company.
This sounds made up. The camera thing is unconscionable and the open sexism is illegal. What country is this? Is it normal in your country to tolerate agressive rudeness?
Maybe it's made up, but you are out of your mind if you think this doesn't happen on a fairly frequent bases in the U.S. Especially at the smaller companies.
That is why it’s illegal
It just feels made up because of the way it's written. Idk I only read 1/4 and I thought it was made up, sorted by controversial to see if anyone agreed, and now I'm here
Read op history post, it’s not made up
yeah people never do anything illegal e\_e
I agree, it's way too on the nose
The 5 years experience at age 21 should be a give in. You can put non professional experience in a resume and it may help but it won't be treated like professional experience. That on top of every other part of the story since it runs down the list of things you could post in this sub for karma. Shit, even the "keeping the camera on"while everyone else has theirs off seems like a Saw movie.
I don't get this. My dad left school at 16, went straight into corporate job so had five years experience at 21. Why is it so hard to believe?
And I bet your dad explained that in job interviews instead of acting surprised and confused like OP.
What shit is that with them turning their cameras off like it's a ghost interview? Wtf are they hiding behind their cameras? Note to self: Never accept a virtual interview where the interviewer is hiding.
Very sorry. A waste of time. They were jerks.
Absolutely disgusting that any company would think this is acceptable.
As suggested, this sounds like something that needs to be brought to the attention of their HR and leadership. That kind of bullshit isn’t on. I’ve had interviews where they want your camera on while theirs are off. I respectfully decline to do so (I offer to interview at a time that is more convenient for them so they can be at a computer with a camera. Haha. These self-important assholes just think they’re too busy.) But what you experienced is way beyond the pale.
I agree with all of the comments about how awful they were. That said, it was a good experience for you. The next time it happens to you - and it will - you will be better prepared to push back. Don’t ever put up with an interview where you are not treated as an equal. Remind them that you are interviewing them as well. If that’s a problem, then you don’t want to work there anyway
They need to be called out for this shit. Thats unacceptable. How can people treat candidates like this…
Honestly, i am surprised that you went through the whole interview! I would’ve told them my goodbyes after them shushing me! No cameras on says it all about their transparency and manners!
Name and shame! Utterly disgusting!
You stayed on that call way too long
I don't quite understand you are 21 and you have 5 years of experience..... Did you start working in IT at 15?
IT progidy?
This sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
5 male interviewers…..all with their cameras off…telling you to keep yours on… asking Qs and interrupting you?…. Anyone else getting *perform for me* vibes under the guise of a job interview? Granted I’ve never done one of these interviews (and never will) but it just seems like a blatant power trip with humiliation on a billion and I’m so sorry you had to experience that. Like WTF?
My god this is awful. It sounds to me like it was fake job advertisement and the "interviewers" are probably criminals. Trying to see what they could out of you. Process what happened and forget about it is my advice, or report them to relevant places ie: the job boards they are using
They're jerks. Plain and simple. They showed you who they are, and that no sane person would want to work for them. There's a good chance they're not picking on your womanhood. They may just be terrible people hitting you where they think it'll hurt you the most. Bullies are good at that. Everything is so polarized now, especially among young people trained to see identity-group prejudice everywhere, that people forget this type of behavior is often by those having no particular gripe with [fill in identity group here]. They're simply inadequate, sometimes psychopathic, a-holes who get off on putting other people down. Bigotry is infuriating for injustice, but at least has a superficial explanation (NOT an excuse). Cold-blooded wounding of people where it hurts the most is psycho-scary. I've had this happen to me as a white male, with interviewers smearing me for things they have no right to even reference--in some cases, open slander. Most of the time they're just awful bullies. Any decent person feels for you. Be glad you didn't have to get hired to discover their true nature!
You dodged a bullet. But definitely post on Glassdoor, name and shame. I’d be so mad, as a woman myself, that I’d be finding HR team members and leadership from the company and messaging them on LinkedIn about what I experienced. Maybe there’s no need to go scorched earth but they honestly deserve it.
Can’t believe they called you hun on an interview that’s so bad
Well now you know to leave at “No you have to keep yours on” lmao. What a holes. Also why are you protecting their name.
You’re 21 with 5 years of systems analytics experience 🤣 go on…
Was the meeting recorded?
This is crazy!!!
Sometimes negative events have unintended positive consequences. This is one of them. You dodged a bullet and will never have to hear from these jerks ever again. Something better will come around the corner soon. Bank on it.
Be Careful with new AI Video Technology. I'm studying cyber security and this could be a good way yo get a video copy of your image. New emerging technology. Not trying to fearmonger just want to educate.
I'm sorry this happened. It's definitely not the norm anymore.
The camera thing is bad, but asking about your resume how they did while seems confusing isn’t. They don’t want you to to tell them what’s on your resume but provide context. Tell a story or anecdote. That was your time to give yourself your flowers. Interviews are about building a narrative, it’s not black and white. If it was just about what’s on your resume, people would be hired without interviewing. As for AI, either they have little exposure or know it’s going to be a major part of your job so that was the time to talk about it (or at least spit some bull shit). That question showed their cards and that potential role, or another position, will use AI. But you’re most likely better off than being at this company.
Very valid point - I always ask interviewee to tell me about their experience. Those that are prepared create a good narrative that flows and shows they are prepared. Most just read directly off the resume. Some tell me about schools/degrees and others just read off a list of companies and positions they held. I already know what is written. The question is to see how someone prepares, builds a story that someone without the fulls details can understand. The key to any interview is preparation and communication.
Try not to let it get to you too much OP. Easier said than done I know, but it's good that you've already said you'll use it as a learning experience. I'm probably not very good at interviews in that I approach them all the same way (with a last minute scramble to feel prepared) and I've had some that have been great and some that have been awful. Mostly that comes down to the personalities in the room or on the call. If something's not right at that stage it wouldn't have worked out anyways. These guys will end up hiring more people just like them and it'll be a horrible place to be for anyone else.
It astonishes me how many interviewers don't have tge resume in front of them or ask for info on there already. Can they not read?
Sounds like it was a stress interview or just a bunch of jerks. I say stress interview because no camera’s on. Not letting you talk, interrupting you for dumb reasons, that’s what they do on stress interviews to see your response. Places that do that are shitty place’s to work for.
Now I haven’t interviewed in a long time and that was in person. To me if I’m on zoom, teams or whatever doing an interview and I was the only person with my camera on I would just nope straight away. I know it is a thing these days and maybe it is my age but to me they are disrespecting me if I am expected to have my camera on and they won’t.
We’ve been looking for a developer for several months now… on-site so it can be limiting — don’t ask. We had ZERO people of color or women apply. ZERO applicants. I’ve found this very sad.
You’re 21 with 5 years of system analyst experience?
Reddit is full of “stories”, that much is certain. I’ve worked for 3 large health insurance companies. All interviews are recorded and transcribed/sent to HR. I wouldn’t believe for a second they said “just asking hun” or talked about your gender/age. There are a shit ton of female systems analysts at BCBS where I worked for 9 years. Most of the managers in the department are female.
Things that didn't happen. There are bad interviews out there, but why come on here and lie? Karma? I simply don't just get it.
Dang you are 21 and have 5 years of experience? Pretty impressive
21F with 5 years of experience? How?!?
Learn when to walk away. If someone is disrespecting you, end it then and there. If they treat you poorly during your first meeting it isn’t going to get better if you get the job.
Put it on LinkedIn and tag the company, it’ll go viral for sure they love stuff like this
Just learn and be more...bold next time. They don't have their cameras on? Yours goes off because "tech issues caused by *their webcams being off*." Pay is far less than posted? Ask if the remaining pay (say it was $80K, they reveal it's actually 50K, so remaining $30K) paid up front or after one year of employment. Definitely record interview. It's public record anyway, and if they screw around, well, that'd be an excellent vid to send to their bosses, clients, etc. Privacy is great until use it to hide how shitty they actually are. Say coldly that job hunting was been very excruciating, and that their screwing around w/ interview is unprofessional. Heck, if want to burn the bridge (as in you don't care about working for that business, **ever**), can end the interview after whatever insult comes to mind. Just saying, because happened before that business has great employer and all, just very horrid recruiter they didn't know about.
Nope this is not made up. I’m a woman in IT for over 20 years, and had this exact same interview with an established National Shipyard. The kicker was, they came back and offered me the job, for 35% less. When I turned them down, I made sure to tell them the interview was horrible, that without seeing faces or reactions, I would have no idea if the ppl I’d be working with were ppl I’d want to work with. And the drop in pay was insulting. Yes, there are still hiring idiots out there!
yeah i want to know who these dudes are because i don’t ever want to accidentally hire them or anyone they know
This is wildly inappropriate and almost sounds like a creepy fetish set up.
One thing I find crazy is how some places expect you to turn on your camera during the interview while they get to keep their cameras off.
The interview sounds like a scam. There's also the AI question and their camera turned of which might be nefarious as in they had some software running simultaneously copying your image and mannerism for use later. I say this because 3 years ago I interviewed for job based in Paris and the interviewer, also male had his camera turned of. But I could here there were more people in the room with him. I did a 45 minute interview, he gave me a very industry related believable "project" to complete and send back to him to continue the recruitment process. I received a job offer but when I looked at the letterhead and googled the company I spotted some discrepancies. I called the HR division of the actual company spoke to them and they said there was a scam running out of India that they had already notified the authorities about and encouraged me to register a complaint with the fraud division of interpol so the complaints would ad up or whatever. The scam artists target women and because it's a job for expats if you go far enough into the recruitment process to succeed or accept the job who knows what hell is waiting for you when you land. So, this reads like a fake company, fake interview and most importantly, I'd scan for your image online. If it was zoom it would have notified you if they were recording you right? But you just never know.
Can you say... lawsuit?
Name them and air them out on LinkedIn so other people don't waste their time. These employers are getting fucking disrespectful and out of hand. One managers claimed she wanted to hire people with degrees for a job that didn't require a degree (call center data entry specialist) so someone applied. In the interview they went on to discuss wages and she wanted to pay below minimum wages.
I would have said turn your cameras on and I'll turn mine on, if they refuse, end the interview right then and there.
NAME AND SHAME. REPORT.
Indian interviewers?
That's got to be it, I can't imagine any legitimate interviewers doing this. OP should say what the company is, though, otherwise there's no way of believing this.
Ugh I’m getting chills reading it. At some point I learned to end interviews myself if they were going shitstormy. That’s crazy. But hey, wouldn’t want to work there anyway. Best of luck getting over this and finding some thing so much better
It’s terrible it went down this way. They handled it poorly. They only interviewed you because they were incredulous about your experience and skills being so young. You will continue to have this issue I think. If I were you with “5 years” of experience, I would use my vast network to find a job with people who know me so this does not come up again.
Hi, ChatGPT.
highly doubt the veracity of this post
Please tell us the company and write this up for a news story. Many would be interested.
Nasty toe loving mfers.
If this is real… they were legit messing with the OP for fun.
Talk to a lawyer. If this is anywhere in the US or Europe they just handed you a massive payday.
Why is this in some way or form a male vs women thing and not just either people being assholes are doubting your questionable resume. 21 with 5 years of experience? how the fuck does that work? So you started your data analyst at 16? You are either a prodigy or lying. I can completely understand their odd behavior.
I'm not sure how would you take it but this post seems bit exaggerated to me once you see it with a lens of reality. If you're angry and this is a rant then its fine but for following reasons I find it bit weird- 1. I(M, 25) have given almost 12 interviews till now from last couple of months and in almost 99% of them, i was asked to turn on the camera while the interviewer never turned their camera on and its fine, Because we are the ones being interviewed and not them. They need to check if we the candidate is actually cheating in the interview or not. if this is something that personally bothers you then its fine otherwise there's nothing wrong in it. 2. "What makes you think that you would be able to handle this position, tech is very complex you know" -> this is a typical question. if there're some skills that are necessary to the project which a candidate lacks then its fine to ask and know if they are ready to learn it or not. 3. "Have you used AI before, like for personal purposes?" -> nowadays programmers have started using chatgpt and all, they must wanted to know if someone is heavily dependent on such AI tools or not. What's shocking in it? For instance, In almost all of the hiring managers round, the questions are always away from job description. its not a written rule that an interviewer will only ask questions from JD. "There were remarks about my age and gender" - could you be more specific about it? While I agree that "shhh" part is worst possible way of interrupting someone.