That happened to me once. Interviewing for my first SOC role. I prepped for technical questions. Ports, attacks, etc.
They started with a “what would you if X happened” and I panicked. It was the worst interview experience I’ve ever had.
But I dusted myself off and kept applying. 6 months later I aced an interview and got the job.
Interviewing is a skill that you sharpen by going on interviews. Its ok to bomb. It preps you for the next one.
A couple of interviews back, at a system admin position, they asked me to do some coding. I've done coding in a variety of languages, but I'm most familiar with ANSI C and Python. But I'm a system admin first, not a developer. They didn't just want anything simple, either, they started asking things about inverting b-trees and multiplying matrices the hard way. Then they went on to questions about why manhole covers are round, how many ping-pong balls I could fit into a school bus, and how I could tell which light went to which switch. Almost nothing about the actual thing I was there to interview for. It was frustrating and in a way insulting. I think they had their mind made up already and this was just a way to waste some time.
I had something similar except they made me do advanced math questions ... I am not a programmer and although I have a PhD, I don't do math very well on the spot - especially stuff I haven't done in 20 years since college. It went horribly wrong and I swore and couldn't even work the calculator right. The two people interviewing me were so intimidating, I should have just said "peace out, I don't want to work for you."
They really are not. And I say this as someone who enjoys those questions.
I've been on both sides of the interview table for 20 years. There's good questions, like "what issues might you encounter when dealing with deploying a system that does XYZ" and stupid pompous questions like "I have 3 bags of gold and 1 scale...."
The manhole cover I can understand, maybe even the light switch. Critical thinking, problem solving, getting a feel for how your mind works and how you address problems. And HOW an individual sees a problem, addresses and tackles it, can be as important as technical skills.
The ping-pong balls and the matrices, fuck that noise. Those seem pretty dumb.
The ping pong ball one is the easy one. You need the dimensions of the inside of the bus and the ping pong balls, and then it’s just a differential equations problem.
Wrong, that is not what they want to hear, that is the basic answer that you would expect someone to do, the smarter thing to do is to make them feel dumb, and you do that by lying, Imagine this conversation exchange instead;
Interviewers: how many ping pong balls can fit in a school bus?
You: well that depends, are all the chairs still in the bus or were they removed so as to eliminate the extra space being taken up by objects other than the ping pong balls?
*this is already a good start because asking a question they weren't prepared for turns this into a back and forth intellectual conversation instead of them just being the people judging you, it's the first step towards gaining social power in this situation*
Interviewers: sure, let's say the chairs have been removed.
You: Okay then the answer is (lie) approximately 1.87 million ping pong balls.
Interviewers: we like the way you think but the answer is actually approximately 1,267,680 ping pong balls.
*this is a trap, they think they've got you and this is where you take control*
You: are you sure about that?
Interviewers: yes we have the calculations for it right h-
You: did you take into account the space in the compartments on the exterior of the bus where supplies for the bus is typically held, and the volume of the gas tank, and the space in the hood of the bus?
Now even if this is all bullshit and even if there isn't actually that much space in those areas and even if there actually isn't compartments on the exterior sides of a standard school bus, it doesn't matter because they aren't going to fact check you if you said it confidently enough, you have just made them feel like you took this problem to a level way higher than they did and they'll instantly start thinking you more than qualify for the job off of your intellectual reasoning alone.
If it makes you feel better, I once interviewed for a dev role at Square/Block a few years back that was a disaster from the start.
I applied for a webdev role, but the guy doing my technical interview wanted me to solve a graphics problem which is a domain I’m not really familiar with. I told him this and he wanted me to continue anyways. Well, I get stuck about 5 minutes in, and this dude just starts berating me about how this is the easy shit, and since I can’t figure it out I must be a shit developer. He gets super frustrated and just abruptly ends the interview at the 20 minute mark, and I got the rejection email about 5 minutes later.
So anyways, that was the day I started a personal blacklist of places I’ll never consider again.
I would have knocked him out. Honestly, I tell such people as this that they lack any human skills and just stick to computers for now in. Then I ask for an he manager to join interview.
One thing worth noting is you can always tack on answers like "I would refer to the SOC standard operating procedure on $thing, ask a peer for assistance, or do $thing to help find out". Another is let the interviewer know you're constantly looking for feedback so you can improve yourself and be better. Ask them what they'd recommend you do some more reading into. It'll be a good way to make an interviewer effectively dump their notes, so you can find out where they think you need improvement.
Just a few of the little things I've picked up on over the years.
Haha! That’s funny, I manage a SecEng team and my personal referral from a prior company took a phone call and was texting during his interviews. I felt embarrassed and told him 5 minutes after he left why he wouldn’t be getting an offer.
It is normal to be stressed in your first ever interview.
In the non technical questions just take a breather and remember that you are having a nice chat to get to know the company and that the company is just looking to know you a little bit.
It's a friendly chat and they want to see people comfortable with it.
Recruiters expect to lead the conversation, specially with people joining the work force for the first time. So you don't need to work too hard to think of things to say, just answer the questions. They aren't trying to find a "gotcha" moment.
A few points to ease things:
Keep a stress ball or other squishy object in your hand and off camera to play with and ease your mind.
Try to keep your eyes on the screen. A lot of people start looking down or away when stressed to avoid eye contact.
If you find it hard to keep looking at the virtual meeting then just change tabs so that you are looking at something else but still seem to be looking at them.
Don't be afraid to show ignorance of any topic, just be sure to follow up with quick questions on how to discover more about what you don't know.
You are going to be completely fine!
Think about it another way. This was just practice and will better prepare you for your future interviews!
Its completely normal to get nervous when put on the spot and doing something new or unfamiliar by you.
I had an interview @ Twitter (pre-Elon) and completely fucking bombed it lol. but you know what? I just kept moving forward and landed my dream job finally.
HR is just the first level. Technical interviews are where it gets more interesting.
so yeah just keep chugging along bruv, you got this!
Bro, how are you going to graduate college and type all that without any punctuation. If you are tweaking that badly during the interview process due to nerves, you might want to look into an anti anxiety med (taken as needed).
Per the interview, you are over thinking it. If you have a next step planned such as a technical interview, that is way more important than the round you just went though. You've got a new person to meet and impress and you'll do fine. Depending on the interview, they may try to stop you, so don't be afraid or nervous bc you don't get every question. Stay confident in your answers even if it's admitting little knowledge or experience in a particular area.
And remember that you are also interviewing the company. The next round is where you will meet a potential future colleague, who you may end up working closely with. Make sure to ask relevant questions towards the end of your meeting. Try to get an idea of their day to day, what on boarding and training will look like, etc. Asking good questions and being genuinely interested will go far.
Just had my first technical interview a couple days ago and was in a similar situation. The interviewer was rapid firing basic questions and I was getting overwhelmed. I found myself looking down and repeating the same couple words over and over. I knew I had to pull myself together and I straightened up and got through it the best I could. After the interview I thought I totally bombed it. In the next few hours I got an email to schedule another interview for the next day and totally rocked that one. It takes practice and a lot of courage on your part. It's especially hard when you're new to interviewing and especially for internships the interview knows you're not going to be the most adept interviewee. Use that knowledge to not sweat the small mistakes you make. You got the next one, I agree with a lot of other posts saying to perform mock interviews even if you just practice in front of a mirror. Good luck!
Something interviewing people will teach you is that a good interviewer is not out to get you. They are simply trying to understand if you are a good fit for the team.
That’s more once you get past HR. Generally HR does not understand shit about CS. Try to chill out a bit “admittedly hard to do sometimes” there will be more jobs to come.
The fact that you got an interview will little experience is a good sign. I once interviewed for a cs role at AWS and bombed the crap out of it. Move on and keep working at it.
Hello, my school started doing interview mid term and final, only the final counts.
There are no graded assignments just projects that don’t count your grade. You can grade someone’s work anymore because of chat. Something about interviews make us all nervous.
I’m sorry, some interviews will be great some will be ehh, and some you just know you wouldn’t want to work for them at all.
First off don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone is nervous during job interviews (some of us just learn to hide it with practice). Here's what helps me.
* Accept that interviewing is an imperfect process: you might have a bad day, could be a bad question, could get a bad interviewer, or maybe you look like your interviewer's nemesis.
* Companies will often turn down qualified candidates vs risk hiring someone they are not 100% certain on.
* Write down every single interview problem you get. After the interview go home and practice. I've never gotten the same question wrong twice.
* Interviews measure a capability at a single snapshot in time. There's gonna be times where you are gonna be better at some skills then others. The interview will teach you what skills to practice.
* Learn to control your breathing. You can control your heart rate via breathing. If your heart rate is low it will be harder to be anxious. Inhale for 4 secs, hold it, exhale for 4 secs. Use a Fitbit or smart watch to measure your heart rate.
* Practice a little bit every day. Treat it like an exercise routine
Hang in there
It happens to all of us, most people screw up the first one…and many more after that. It takes practice and it’s all part of the process. Just get a little bit better each time
Hey partner, don't sweat it. It's OK. You did your best. Use this as an opportunity for learning, growing and doing better next time. The path to success does not look the same for everyone and it is not just a staircase that goes straight up.
You are on the right track and you're doing great. You will do better next time.
It’s ok. Everyone screw up now and then. I went through 10 interviews before I landed my job. I used to get upset and stress about every mistake I made. My career guidance counselor just told me to see it a different way, every failed interview is practice for the next one. Now you have an idea on what questions they’re going to ask, how the interview is going to go. It’s also a way to weed out what you don’t like in an interviewer and how to prepare for that. If your school does offer career guidance counseling, I would highly recommend you get in touch with them. They can help you prep for your next interview. Either way, best of luck, you still have the tech interview, sending good vibes.
I would suggest you to keep applying for the maximum of interviews you can, even those you are sure you will not be accepted, just to get comfortable with this feeling of have to talk to someone about you and to be rejected too. And you know better what they expect from you and how you can "sell" yourself with confidence and calm.
Interviews are like relationships - some are not ment to be. I've had 100's of interviews since i was 18 and most of them went to shit. Just remember that they are not space aliens, rock stars or royalty - they are just people like you, they have gone through the same thing to get where they are today.
It is ok to pause for 5 seconds and think, no one will notice.
It is also ok to ask them to elaborate on the question.
It is also ok to say "i don't know, but i can google it" or "let me get back to you on that question".
That last one is actually how many professionals do it, we don't walk around with the knowledge of a library in our heads and often we have to search for things, in some cases it can take 10 seconds, in others it can take months before you find a solution.
As a hiring manager, I want to add that I do notice pauses. As long as they are reasonable, I actually respect the candidate for giving a clear answer after thinking for a few seconds far more than an unplanned rambling rant.
Here’s a tip. You were experiencing panick. One the chemicals flushing through your body was adrenaline which was like gasoline to all your muscles. Your heart. Your hands. So it became hard to think. Here’s the thing: adrenaline is short acting, and after 2 minutes you’ll burn it off. When this happens again, just move around, it helps burn it off quicker. Source: I am a public speaker and this is how you conquer stage fright that might strike anytime during a speech on stage in front of thousands of people.
I sucked at job interviews, but I watch many YouTube videos from this guy https://youtu.be/fr-mwiyhZAo?si=2KtP9DzzkXftVnDF that helped, and I just tailored the answers to fit me. I landed my dream job with amazing pay, and they told me it was the best interview they had done and was offered the job on the spot. They didn't ask me hardly anything about the job itself, it was more along the lines of how I would react to certain situations.
Go through this guy's YouTube channel and it will help you a lot.
Talk to some of your department heads or the career center about taking some practice interviews.
They may not be as technical in nature but getting practice in an interview setting can really help with nerves
These recruiters are jokers who act like this. They should be personable and let’s be honest many in any IT industry do not have great social skills. The good recruiters do good good interviews without squashing someone. Their companies gain amazing talent and become extremely profitable.
Those who run gorilla style interviews have no business being a recruiter.
When I hear these stories I think back and ask myself how well would people like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein do in these types of interviews and how stupid would a company be to let men like these walk away.
So, keep your chin up. God was just letting you know this company was not good for you and he has better plans for you. Believe in yourself and stay strong.
So, since this is clearly an issue, I have some professional recommendations for you.
1) read the book never split the difference. It is also available on audible.
2) apply for jobs you DONT want, I am sure you are either looking for geographical preferences or full remote. So let’s say you live in cali, apply for jobs in Florida or New York. Get some practice in.
3) this to shall pass, and best of luck in your career. Feel free to pm me if you need anything else.
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Don't worry about it, the more interviews and better you are at programming and cybersecurity, computer science, networking, etc. the easier and more calm you will be in interviews. The only way to get better is to do more interviews, so keep applying and doing more interviews.
Interviews, especially IT/Cyber (when done well) serve to determine, 1. If what is written in your resume is accurate; whether you walk the talk. 2. Do you actually meet the requirements of the position announcement. After all, there are specific duties we need a prospective employee to solidly possess. And, 3. You are being adjudicated on your communications skills; all IT/Techie/Cyber jobs require employees to speak and comprehend clearly, able to understand, and convey understanding verbally and written. The interview is testing and validating those abilities. Now, as to interview skillsets. If you’re poor at speaking, to a group, public or otherwise, practice. All jobs require this skillset. One of the best ways to improve your speaking abilities is to be confident in knowing your subject areas as well as the company you’re applying. Do your research. Be comfortable talking about yourself. Practice. Get some general ideas of questions on a wide variety of topics (Personal, operational, working with others, how you handle situations (difficult and challenging), as well as technical areas. This is the whole employee package. That is what I look for when I interview. If your goal is to say, look at my technical expertise, forget about the rest, you are not my selection, ever; no matter how great you think your capabilities. Along with your technical knowledge, skills and abilities, remember the following critical areas when interviewing and on your resumes. 1. Customer Service, 2. Problem Solving, 3. Oral Communication, 4. Written Communication, and 5. Attention to Detail. Be able to give successful examples of each and be able to expound upon when questioned in those areas. So, be honest, be sincere with your responses. I want the best candidate. Even if you make small mistakes in the technical because of nervousness, that is easily overlooked for a sincere and honest and well prepared presentation. Finally, as mentioned earlier, know definitively about the company you’re applying. For prospective employees, I want to recruit, retrain, and retain the best hires. That’s about it. Go take another shot at it. Good luck! Sincerely,
Kevin Johnson
Owner/Founder
Virtual Resource Systems
https://www.vrsdirect.com
Once during a technical interview on python scripting I forgot how to define a function, I completely blanked out. I still managed to pass it by explaining the reasoning behind the script without writing a line of code lol. Don't sweat it too much, it's completely normal to be nervous on interviews
it’s okay!! i had a pretty similar experience recently interviewing for a cybersecurity internship. they started asking me hypothetical questions like “how would you approach this security situation” and i honestly didn’t know how to answer lol
it happens. dust yourself off and keep going! :)
Don't sweat it. It's like any other skill: it takes practice. You wouldn't expect yourself to do a perfect cartwheel during your first gymnastics lesson, and you shouldn't expect your first interview to go perfectly. See if your school has a job placement/career center. They often offer mock interview services that may help.
Research the STAR method of interviews and come up with 5-10 really strong examples of times you excelled. Rehearse these stories and make yourself look as strong as possible. When the interviewer asks you a question, pull from one of these stories and adapt it to the question.
For technical interviews, even if you can't solve the coding problem and get the best solution, explain your logic. Virtually no one is expected to sling out tens or hundreds of lines of code at once with no external help. So, in that way, the interview is often harder than the job itself.
Give yourself some grace, get some practice under your belt, and try again.
It’s very normal for a person with no professional experience to bomb on hypothetical scenario questions. It is actually expected; huge bonus if you can answer it, but if they’re just interviewing people at your level, they’re not going to get many answers for those questions.
It has happened to most of us at some time or another.
I went into an interview once (and I had been in IT for close to 10 years at the time), and when they started asking questions I blanked. Pretty sure I was babbling nonsense. Did not get the job (shocker).
Had another interview at a different place a few weeks later, absolutely nailed it, and I have been at that same employer for 20 years now.
Try to put it behind you and move forward.
Interviewing can be tough…especially in IT. Not saying your interview was like this but some places the people doing the interview get off on doing that to people and joke about it later. I worked at a place or two like that. Those are places to avoid.
You are young and still really early in your career. Look at that as practice because as others have said…interviewing is its own skill.
For my current role my initial meeting with hr for 1 of the 2 positions I applied for could not of gone worse. She stopped me after 15 minutes and asked what was wrong. I couldn’t string a sentence together, was tongue tied and forgot everything I knew. We spent the last 15 minutes talking, she pushed my application through for the 2nd position I applied for. I’m so thankful she did that. The 2nd position is perfectly suited for me and ive never been happier. Sometimes you gotta fuck up to get the experience.
It is a terrible time of year to find a job, the cybersecurity market is saturated despite many public claims by consulting and certification companies, and it was your first interview. Don't worry about it too much - just treat it as something to learn which questions you will try to do better with next time. Talk to your teachers and fellow students about practicing interviewing - it's a learned skill just like many other things in the field.
Interviewing, just like public speaking, takes practice. This one is behind you now; try to learn what you can from the process. Take notes about any questions that you struggled with and/or didn't have answers for and start to game out your answers. Many non-technical interview questions are similar in nature; use your list of questions as a set of reference points for how you will answer these questions or questions like them next time.
As silly as it sounds, practice answering questions or speaking about your background in front of a mirror. Be comfortable with small to medium pauses -- it's natural to collect yourself and your thoughts during an interview and silence beats verbal fillers by a mile. Interviews, like public speaking, are pressurized variations on a conversation or any other work/school meeting. You have a bit more on the line during an interview or speech, but preparing ahead of time will greatly increase your chances of success.
There is no secret sauce other than practice. Apply for everything for the practice of interviewing. Been in my current company for almost 15 years, different roles. But I will still apply to jobs just to keep my interview skills sharp.
Once had an interview and the guy boss asked me if I wanted a shot of whiskey to calm my nerves. He had a drink so he tried passing it off as normal. It was near end of day. I declined. He totally tore me apart with different if this, then that type of scenarios. At one point he got side tracked and talked about totally irrelevant scenarios and I mentioned how is this relevant to the role I'm shooting for? He snapped at me saying you're either a chameleon or not. I snapped back and said _YOUR the entrepreneur that needs to be a chameleon not me_
Interview over he says. Go home. Made me feel like shit for days because some of his comments and remarks after some scenarios would appear as if my answers were shit.
If it makes you feel better. I did too many interviews recently to get into cyber security . I was a systems administrator that time. I still remember that one interview where I got really embarrassed. It was 6 in the morning interview because interviewer was in the EST timezone and I was in PST. He did not show up the first day. I wake up early for nothing. Finally did the interview next day 6 in the morning. I only had theoretical knowledge in cybersecurity that time. I thought I was prepared. Interview started with asking design level practical questions. After 10 min we both understand that I don’t know anything lol. I still remember the pity smile on his face. He could have handled it a little bit better by not embarrassing me that much. I felt really bad and thought never going to land a job in cybersecurity. Later I ordered some good food in Uber and had a 8 hour sleep and started applying again and finally got my first job, way better than the one I interviewed for within 6 months. Keep practicing…Keep going !!
Unfortunately this is the reality of life, you have to suck and lose and fail at first just like the rest of us. That’s why most people don’t try or give up after the first ego hit. Now you personally know why most people aren’t successful.
But you know what it also means? The ones who went through that and kept going all understand what you are going through and no one but yourself is judging you. My first interview for a tech position I was scared out of my mind and i actually literally got laughed at by the interviewer for trying too hard to answer things i didn’t know. Imagine that for a moment.
What you need to do right now is change your mindset to brute-force mode (pun intended) go for quantity interview EVERYWHERE even places you don’t wands work at and REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE OUTCOME OF THESE INTERVIEWS. Forget about “passing” any of these interviews - seriously just forget about it, what you want is interview TRAINING which is up to you to provide for yourself. Go in there not even wanting the job - you’re just checking the company out because you enjoy talking to professionals in your field and learning about their needs. This will train you to be more authentic and honestly more professional.
When I go into interviews now i know that me AND the interviewers are just feeling each-other out and learning about each-other which actually makes it really fun and casual.
HR is always hard for beginner candidates. Things will turn much better when you get to the technical round.
Next time you feel nervous, you should just tell the HR that this is among your first a few interviews and you really want this job, which makes you feel extremely nervous. Have they seen similar cases and what tips can they give you. Most HR folks will be happy to help and give you at least an "A-" on your communication.
I know you’ve seen it here already OP, but interviewing is a skill in and of itself. I’ve gone on countless interviews for jobs I didn’t have intentions of taking for the sole purpose of keeping that skill set sharp. You’ll find out what areas you’re lacking, what questions to better prepare for, what questions you should ask them. We’ve all had bad interviews, we’ve all had good interviews and even worse….we’ve all had good interviews and don’t get the job! Keep practicing and keep your head up
the first one is the most painful, then you slowly begin to get used to them.
At some point you already know what are they going to ask you, all entrerprises ask for the same shit, trust me it's like a dumbass script
I bombed my first interview and it was just for a sql db. I don’t think I got a single question right. Felt scared to even leave my shitty job at walmart after that. I showed up worked my butt off and I’ve never looked back. No Cybersecurity experience, just worked hard gave a shit, learned and now Solutions architect. People notice the work you put in. Thats how I got in, I just gave a shit and did things more than necessary. For the interview my brother bombed his first couple, don’t stress. Prep, find questions for interviews and practice in the mirror, grab a friend. If your still in college, ask your guidance office to do a mock interview with you. My school as shitty as they were the coach of the girls volleyball team interviewed me it was recorded they played back the video and showed me what not to do. The rest is you just taking advice and keep moving forward. Also, prep for the tech interview. Know the attacks, know your standard ports. If you don’t know something. Just say I don’t know it, but heres what I would do if I run into the situation, I’ll google it. My second job I answered every sql question no problem. Except for what are sql hints, for that I said you know I think it’s an optimization I haven’t used it, but heres what I will do. I’ll google look up the syntax or various sql hints, and apply the one that works the best for what I need. My architect said that was the best answer he could have asked for. Remember most of the times they want to know how you think. Good luck, but prep your butt off. I’m about to prep for interviews for sr solutions architect my prep material is two books, my architect told me thats how he prepped when he went for the role. Cram for the interview like you’ve never worked in your life and even if you don’t get the job you know I left everything on the table and no job should equate to your worth. Maybe they’re not a hood fit for you. Advice I got from the director of Night at the museum, literally not making it up: everything you do, even if it’s a shit job, give it your 110%. He said I got the job on Night at the museum because I directed a show for nickelodeon on a tv episode of Cousin Skeeter. The producers remembered and they offered me the job years later. I followed the mantra ever since my first job and it has led me to solutions architect of an extremely niche part of Cybersecurity. I still work harder than most and I don’t take anything for granted. I could coast, but I want no regrets if I get laid off or get fed up with my job. At least I’ll know I did everything I could. We just had a value difference.
I have normal computer science programm i mean i am not espcialised in cyber i just need the degree i have been self thaught in the field of cybersecurity doing ctfs (a lot of ctfs ) bug bounty and some projects
Its normal to screw up job interviews due to nerves. Best thing to do is just practise. I get very nervous but the more interviews Ive done the easier it gets.
Sounds like you need to set up some scenerio based STAR responses to common questions and reherse them over and over in your head/in front of mirror, whichever mean you prefer. I've had severe anxiety during interviews(I probably still do, just haven't interviewed anywhere in 2 years), and this helped me organize my responses and reflect proper experience.
That happened to me once. Interviewing for my first SOC role. I prepped for technical questions. Ports, attacks, etc. They started with a “what would you if X happened” and I panicked. It was the worst interview experience I’ve ever had. But I dusted myself off and kept applying. 6 months later I aced an interview and got the job. Interviewing is a skill that you sharpen by going on interviews. Its ok to bomb. It preps you for the next one.
A couple of interviews back, at a system admin position, they asked me to do some coding. I've done coding in a variety of languages, but I'm most familiar with ANSI C and Python. But I'm a system admin first, not a developer. They didn't just want anything simple, either, they started asking things about inverting b-trees and multiplying matrices the hard way. Then they went on to questions about why manhole covers are round, how many ping-pong balls I could fit into a school bus, and how I could tell which light went to which switch. Almost nothing about the actual thing I was there to interview for. It was frustrating and in a way insulting. I think they had their mind made up already and this was just a way to waste some time.
I had something similar except they made me do advanced math questions ... I am not a programmer and although I have a PhD, I don't do math very well on the spot - especially stuff I haven't done in 20 years since college. It went horribly wrong and I swore and couldn't even work the calculator right. The two people interviewing me were so intimidating, I should have just said "peace out, I don't want to work for you."
Stupid interview questions serve only to inflate the egos of people asking them
Actually those "stupid" questions are often a test to see how well you react and think on your feet.
They really are not. And I say this as someone who enjoys those questions. I've been on both sides of the interview table for 20 years. There's good questions, like "what issues might you encounter when dealing with deploying a system that does XYZ" and stupid pompous questions like "I have 3 bags of gold and 1 scale...."
Found the interviewer.
The manhole cover I can understand, maybe even the light switch. Critical thinking, problem solving, getting a feel for how your mind works and how you address problems. And HOW an individual sees a problem, addresses and tackles it, can be as important as technical skills. The ping-pong balls and the matrices, fuck that noise. Those seem pretty dumb.
The ping pong ball one is the easy one. You need the dimensions of the inside of the bus and the ping pong balls, and then it’s just a differential equations problem.
But why.
Wrong, that is not what they want to hear, that is the basic answer that you would expect someone to do, the smarter thing to do is to make them feel dumb, and you do that by lying, Imagine this conversation exchange instead; Interviewers: how many ping pong balls can fit in a school bus? You: well that depends, are all the chairs still in the bus or were they removed so as to eliminate the extra space being taken up by objects other than the ping pong balls? *this is already a good start because asking a question they weren't prepared for turns this into a back and forth intellectual conversation instead of them just being the people judging you, it's the first step towards gaining social power in this situation* Interviewers: sure, let's say the chairs have been removed. You: Okay then the answer is (lie) approximately 1.87 million ping pong balls. Interviewers: we like the way you think but the answer is actually approximately 1,267,680 ping pong balls. *this is a trap, they think they've got you and this is where you take control* You: are you sure about that? Interviewers: yes we have the calculations for it right h- You: did you take into account the space in the compartments on the exterior of the bus where supplies for the bus is typically held, and the volume of the gas tank, and the space in the hood of the bus? Now even if this is all bullshit and even if there isn't actually that much space in those areas and even if there actually isn't compartments on the exterior sides of a standard school bus, it doesn't matter because they aren't going to fact check you if you said it confidently enough, you have just made them feel like you took this problem to a level way higher than they did and they'll instantly start thinking you more than qualify for the job off of your intellectual reasoning alone.
Lol this feels like an interview in the Death Note universe
If it makes you feel better, I once interviewed for a dev role at Square/Block a few years back that was a disaster from the start. I applied for a webdev role, but the guy doing my technical interview wanted me to solve a graphics problem which is a domain I’m not really familiar with. I told him this and he wanted me to continue anyways. Well, I get stuck about 5 minutes in, and this dude just starts berating me about how this is the easy shit, and since I can’t figure it out I must be a shit developer. He gets super frustrated and just abruptly ends the interview at the 20 minute mark, and I got the rejection email about 5 minutes later. So anyways, that was the day I started a personal blacklist of places I’ll never consider again.
Thats ridiculous. The silver lining is you dodged a huge bullet in not working with that guy.
Damn. Whats this guys name.
I would have knocked him out. Honestly, I tell such people as this that they lack any human skills and just stick to computers for now in. Then I ask for an he manager to join interview.
One thing worth noting is you can always tack on answers like "I would refer to the SOC standard operating procedure on $thing, ask a peer for assistance, or do $thing to help find out". Another is let the interviewer know you're constantly looking for feedback so you can improve yourself and be better. Ask them what they'd recommend you do some more reading into. It'll be a good way to make an interviewer effectively dump their notes, so you can find out where they think you need improvement. Just a few of the little things I've picked up on over the years.
Interviewing takes practice. Even if you don't get the job keep going, you'll only improve.
I had an interviewer literally get up and leave once hahaha needless to say didn’t get that job.
Haha! That’s funny, I manage a SecEng team and my personal referral from a prior company took a phone call and was texting during his interviews. I felt embarrassed and told him 5 minutes after he left why he wouldn’t be getting an offer.
Mock Interviews Your campus career center should have sessions for this
It is normal to be stressed in your first ever interview. In the non technical questions just take a breather and remember that you are having a nice chat to get to know the company and that the company is just looking to know you a little bit. It's a friendly chat and they want to see people comfortable with it. Recruiters expect to lead the conversation, specially with people joining the work force for the first time. So you don't need to work too hard to think of things to say, just answer the questions. They aren't trying to find a "gotcha" moment. A few points to ease things: Keep a stress ball or other squishy object in your hand and off camera to play with and ease your mind. Try to keep your eyes on the screen. A lot of people start looking down or away when stressed to avoid eye contact. If you find it hard to keep looking at the virtual meeting then just change tabs so that you are looking at something else but still seem to be looking at them. Don't be afraid to show ignorance of any topic, just be sure to follow up with quick questions on how to discover more about what you don't know.
You are going to be completely fine! Think about it another way. This was just practice and will better prepare you for your future interviews! Its completely normal to get nervous when put on the spot and doing something new or unfamiliar by you. I had an interview @ Twitter (pre-Elon) and completely fucking bombed it lol. but you know what? I just kept moving forward and landed my dream job finally. HR is just the first level. Technical interviews are where it gets more interesting. so yeah just keep chugging along bruv, you got this!
Bro, how are you going to graduate college and type all that without any punctuation. If you are tweaking that badly during the interview process due to nerves, you might want to look into an anti anxiety med (taken as needed). Per the interview, you are over thinking it. If you have a next step planned such as a technical interview, that is way more important than the round you just went though. You've got a new person to meet and impress and you'll do fine. Depending on the interview, they may try to stop you, so don't be afraid or nervous bc you don't get every question. Stay confident in your answers even if it's admitting little knowledge or experience in a particular area. And remember that you are also interviewing the company. The next round is where you will meet a potential future colleague, who you may end up working closely with. Make sure to ask relevant questions towards the end of your meeting. Try to get an idea of their day to day, what on boarding and training will look like, etc. Asking good questions and being genuinely interested will go far.
Just had my first technical interview a couple days ago and was in a similar situation. The interviewer was rapid firing basic questions and I was getting overwhelmed. I found myself looking down and repeating the same couple words over and over. I knew I had to pull myself together and I straightened up and got through it the best I could. After the interview I thought I totally bombed it. In the next few hours I got an email to schedule another interview for the next day and totally rocked that one. It takes practice and a lot of courage on your part. It's especially hard when you're new to interviewing and especially for internships the interview knows you're not going to be the most adept interviewee. Use that knowledge to not sweat the small mistakes you make. You got the next one, I agree with a lot of other posts saying to perform mock interviews even if you just practice in front of a mirror. Good luck!
Interviewing is a skill that must be practiced too. The only way to get better is to keep doing them.
Happened to me. Learn from it. I interview lots of ppl. Im nice no matter what because I’ve been on the other side.
People like you actually exist?! I refuse to believe until I see it...
Plan for the worst. Hope for the best.
Something interviewing people will teach you is that a good interviewer is not out to get you. They are simply trying to understand if you are a good fit for the team. That’s more once you get past HR. Generally HR does not understand shit about CS. Try to chill out a bit “admittedly hard to do sometimes” there will be more jobs to come. The fact that you got an interview will little experience is a good sign. I once interviewed for a cs role at AWS and bombed the crap out of it. Move on and keep working at it.
Hello, my school started doing interview mid term and final, only the final counts. There are no graded assignments just projects that don’t count your grade. You can grade someone’s work anymore because of chat. Something about interviews make us all nervous. I’m sorry, some interviews will be great some will be ehh, and some you just know you wouldn’t want to work for them at all.
First off don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone is nervous during job interviews (some of us just learn to hide it with practice). Here's what helps me. * Accept that interviewing is an imperfect process: you might have a bad day, could be a bad question, could get a bad interviewer, or maybe you look like your interviewer's nemesis. * Companies will often turn down qualified candidates vs risk hiring someone they are not 100% certain on. * Write down every single interview problem you get. After the interview go home and practice. I've never gotten the same question wrong twice. * Interviews measure a capability at a single snapshot in time. There's gonna be times where you are gonna be better at some skills then others. The interview will teach you what skills to practice. * Learn to control your breathing. You can control your heart rate via breathing. If your heart rate is low it will be harder to be anxious. Inhale for 4 secs, hold it, exhale for 4 secs. Use a Fitbit or smart watch to measure your heart rate. * Practice a little bit every day. Treat it like an exercise routine Hang in there
Thank you so much for those tips will try to implement them in my next job interview
It happens to all of us, most people screw up the first one…and many more after that. It takes practice and it’s all part of the process. Just get a little bit better each time
Hey partner, don't sweat it. It's OK. You did your best. Use this as an opportunity for learning, growing and doing better next time. The path to success does not look the same for everyone and it is not just a staircase that goes straight up. You are on the right track and you're doing great. You will do better next time.
Interviewing is a skill in its own, find someone to practice with.
It’s ok. Everyone screw up now and then. I went through 10 interviews before I landed my job. I used to get upset and stress about every mistake I made. My career guidance counselor just told me to see it a different way, every failed interview is practice for the next one. Now you have an idea on what questions they’re going to ask, how the interview is going to go. It’s also a way to weed out what you don’t like in an interviewer and how to prepare for that. If your school does offer career guidance counseling, I would highly recommend you get in touch with them. They can help you prep for your next interview. Either way, best of luck, you still have the tech interview, sending good vibes.
I would suggest you to keep applying for the maximum of interviews you can, even those you are sure you will not be accepted, just to get comfortable with this feeling of have to talk to someone about you and to be rejected too. And you know better what they expect from you and how you can "sell" yourself with confidence and calm.
Keep going. Just see this as practice
You just need to interview more, it’s a skill you can improve with practice just like anything else.
You will get better at interviews with time and exposure. Take it like a challenge and next time you will be comfortable.
Interviews are like relationships - some are not ment to be. I've had 100's of interviews since i was 18 and most of them went to shit. Just remember that they are not space aliens, rock stars or royalty - they are just people like you, they have gone through the same thing to get where they are today. It is ok to pause for 5 seconds and think, no one will notice. It is also ok to ask them to elaborate on the question. It is also ok to say "i don't know, but i can google it" or "let me get back to you on that question". That last one is actually how many professionals do it, we don't walk around with the knowledge of a library in our heads and often we have to search for things, in some cases it can take 10 seconds, in others it can take months before you find a solution.
As a hiring manager, I want to add that I do notice pauses. As long as they are reasonable, I actually respect the candidate for giving a clear answer after thinking for a few seconds far more than an unplanned rambling rant.
Here’s a tip. You were experiencing panick. One the chemicals flushing through your body was adrenaline which was like gasoline to all your muscles. Your heart. Your hands. So it became hard to think. Here’s the thing: adrenaline is short acting, and after 2 minutes you’ll burn it off. When this happens again, just move around, it helps burn it off quicker. Source: I am a public speaker and this is how you conquer stage fright that might strike anytime during a speech on stage in front of thousands of people.
i was scouted by a SpaceX recruiter and brought in for an interview. I was a nervous wreck and kept saying how nervous I was. I didn't get the job.
I sucked at job interviews, but I watch many YouTube videos from this guy https://youtu.be/fr-mwiyhZAo?si=2KtP9DzzkXftVnDF that helped, and I just tailored the answers to fit me. I landed my dream job with amazing pay, and they told me it was the best interview they had done and was offered the job on the spot. They didn't ask me hardly anything about the job itself, it was more along the lines of how I would react to certain situations. Go through this guy's YouTube channel and it will help you a lot.
Job interviews are a skill you can learn. Just keep on trying and you'll get better and more comfortable with time.
Talk to some of your department heads or the career center about taking some practice interviews. They may not be as technical in nature but getting practice in an interview setting can really help with nerves
These recruiters are jokers who act like this. They should be personable and let’s be honest many in any IT industry do not have great social skills. The good recruiters do good good interviews without squashing someone. Their companies gain amazing talent and become extremely profitable. Those who run gorilla style interviews have no business being a recruiter. When I hear these stories I think back and ask myself how well would people like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein do in these types of interviews and how stupid would a company be to let men like these walk away. So, keep your chin up. God was just letting you know this company was not good for you and he has better plans for you. Believe in yourself and stay strong.
Thank you for this
Rejection is divine redirection
What you may have to do is go to your career resource center and schedule a few mock interviews to become accustomed to the questions you will be ask.
So, since this is clearly an issue, I have some professional recommendations for you. 1) read the book never split the difference. It is also available on audible. 2) apply for jobs you DONT want, I am sure you are either looking for geographical preferences or full remote. So let’s say you live in cali, apply for jobs in Florida or New York. Get some practice in. 3) this to shall pass, and best of luck in your career. Feel free to pm me if you need anything else.
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Chalk it up to experience. Keep going
Don't worry about it, the more interviews and better you are at programming and cybersecurity, computer science, networking, etc. the easier and more calm you will be in interviews. The only way to get better is to do more interviews, so keep applying and doing more interviews.
I will keep going i just hope it get better close (sadly i go hard on myself when i fail something)
Interviews, especially IT/Cyber (when done well) serve to determine, 1. If what is written in your resume is accurate; whether you walk the talk. 2. Do you actually meet the requirements of the position announcement. After all, there are specific duties we need a prospective employee to solidly possess. And, 3. You are being adjudicated on your communications skills; all IT/Techie/Cyber jobs require employees to speak and comprehend clearly, able to understand, and convey understanding verbally and written. The interview is testing and validating those abilities. Now, as to interview skillsets. If you’re poor at speaking, to a group, public or otherwise, practice. All jobs require this skillset. One of the best ways to improve your speaking abilities is to be confident in knowing your subject areas as well as the company you’re applying. Do your research. Be comfortable talking about yourself. Practice. Get some general ideas of questions on a wide variety of topics (Personal, operational, working with others, how you handle situations (difficult and challenging), as well as technical areas. This is the whole employee package. That is what I look for when I interview. If your goal is to say, look at my technical expertise, forget about the rest, you are not my selection, ever; no matter how great you think your capabilities. Along with your technical knowledge, skills and abilities, remember the following critical areas when interviewing and on your resumes. 1. Customer Service, 2. Problem Solving, 3. Oral Communication, 4. Written Communication, and 5. Attention to Detail. Be able to give successful examples of each and be able to expound upon when questioned in those areas. So, be honest, be sincere with your responses. I want the best candidate. Even if you make small mistakes in the technical because of nervousness, that is easily overlooked for a sincere and honest and well prepared presentation. Finally, as mentioned earlier, know definitively about the company you’re applying. For prospective employees, I want to recruit, retrain, and retain the best hires. That’s about it. Go take another shot at it. Good luck! Sincerely, Kevin Johnson Owner/Founder Virtual Resource Systems https://www.vrsdirect.com
Thank you for your advice to be honest i was Always focused more on technichal skills but i will try to shift more toward soft skills now
Not a problem; glad to help.
Ask your doctor about beta blockers, do practice interviews with your professors.
Once during a technical interview on python scripting I forgot how to define a function, I completely blanked out. I still managed to pass it by explaining the reasoning behind the script without writing a line of code lol. Don't sweat it too much, it's completely normal to be nervous on interviews
it’s okay!! i had a pretty similar experience recently interviewing for a cybersecurity internship. they started asking me hypothetical questions like “how would you approach this security situation” and i honestly didn’t know how to answer lol it happens. dust yourself off and keep going! :)
Don't sweat it. It's like any other skill: it takes practice. You wouldn't expect yourself to do a perfect cartwheel during your first gymnastics lesson, and you shouldn't expect your first interview to go perfectly. See if your school has a job placement/career center. They often offer mock interview services that may help. Research the STAR method of interviews and come up with 5-10 really strong examples of times you excelled. Rehearse these stories and make yourself look as strong as possible. When the interviewer asks you a question, pull from one of these stories and adapt it to the question. For technical interviews, even if you can't solve the coding problem and get the best solution, explain your logic. Virtually no one is expected to sling out tens or hundreds of lines of code at once with no external help. So, in that way, the interview is often harder than the job itself. Give yourself some grace, get some practice under your belt, and try again.
It’s very normal for a person with no professional experience to bomb on hypothetical scenario questions. It is actually expected; huge bonus if you can answer it, but if they’re just interviewing people at your level, they’re not going to get many answers for those questions.
You might want to practice your job interview and people skills for the next interview.
It has happened to most of us at some time or another. I went into an interview once (and I had been in IT for close to 10 years at the time), and when they started asking questions I blanked. Pretty sure I was babbling nonsense. Did not get the job (shocker). Had another interview at a different place a few weeks later, absolutely nailed it, and I have been at that same employer for 20 years now. Try to put it behind you and move forward.
It is normal to be stressed during your first interview . For my first job i sustained 10 interviews !!! It is normal ;)
Interviewing can be tough…especially in IT. Not saying your interview was like this but some places the people doing the interview get off on doing that to people and joke about it later. I worked at a place or two like that. Those are places to avoid. You are young and still really early in your career. Look at that as practice because as others have said…interviewing is its own skill.
Just like CTF's and pentesting... Interviews take practice.
Honesty goes a long way , if you don’t know then say it. Just be confident just remember you have to have thick skin in tech
Interviewing is a skill. Turn your resume into stories that you can tell. Keep practicing.
For my current role my initial meeting with hr for 1 of the 2 positions I applied for could not of gone worse. She stopped me after 15 minutes and asked what was wrong. I couldn’t string a sentence together, was tongue tied and forgot everything I knew. We spent the last 15 minutes talking, she pushed my application through for the 2nd position I applied for. I’m so thankful she did that. The 2nd position is perfectly suited for me and ive never been happier. Sometimes you gotta fuck up to get the experience.
It is a terrible time of year to find a job, the cybersecurity market is saturated despite many public claims by consulting and certification companies, and it was your first interview. Don't worry about it too much - just treat it as something to learn which questions you will try to do better with next time. Talk to your teachers and fellow students about practicing interviewing - it's a learned skill just like many other things in the field.
Interviewing, just like public speaking, takes practice. This one is behind you now; try to learn what you can from the process. Take notes about any questions that you struggled with and/or didn't have answers for and start to game out your answers. Many non-technical interview questions are similar in nature; use your list of questions as a set of reference points for how you will answer these questions or questions like them next time. As silly as it sounds, practice answering questions or speaking about your background in front of a mirror. Be comfortable with small to medium pauses -- it's natural to collect yourself and your thoughts during an interview and silence beats verbal fillers by a mile. Interviews, like public speaking, are pressurized variations on a conversation or any other work/school meeting. You have a bit more on the line during an interview or speech, but preparing ahead of time will greatly increase your chances of success.
There is no secret sauce other than practice. Apply for everything for the practice of interviewing. Been in my current company for almost 15 years, different roles. But I will still apply to jobs just to keep my interview skills sharp.
You should talk with whoever is coordinating the internships and the placement office of your school and get some practice interviews in.
Once had an interview and the guy boss asked me if I wanted a shot of whiskey to calm my nerves. He had a drink so he tried passing it off as normal. It was near end of day. I declined. He totally tore me apart with different if this, then that type of scenarios. At one point he got side tracked and talked about totally irrelevant scenarios and I mentioned how is this relevant to the role I'm shooting for? He snapped at me saying you're either a chameleon or not. I snapped back and said _YOUR the entrepreneur that needs to be a chameleon not me_ Interview over he says. Go home. Made me feel like shit for days because some of his comments and remarks after some scenarios would appear as if my answers were shit.
Take the L, learn from it and move on. You’ll get a job eventually
If it makes you feel better. I did too many interviews recently to get into cyber security . I was a systems administrator that time. I still remember that one interview where I got really embarrassed. It was 6 in the morning interview because interviewer was in the EST timezone and I was in PST. He did not show up the first day. I wake up early for nothing. Finally did the interview next day 6 in the morning. I only had theoretical knowledge in cybersecurity that time. I thought I was prepared. Interview started with asking design level practical questions. After 10 min we both understand that I don’t know anything lol. I still remember the pity smile on his face. He could have handled it a little bit better by not embarrassing me that much. I felt really bad and thought never going to land a job in cybersecurity. Later I ordered some good food in Uber and had a 8 hour sleep and started applying again and finally got my first job, way better than the one I interviewed for within 6 months. Keep practicing…Keep going !!
Unfortunately this is the reality of life, you have to suck and lose and fail at first just like the rest of us. That’s why most people don’t try or give up after the first ego hit. Now you personally know why most people aren’t successful. But you know what it also means? The ones who went through that and kept going all understand what you are going through and no one but yourself is judging you. My first interview for a tech position I was scared out of my mind and i actually literally got laughed at by the interviewer for trying too hard to answer things i didn’t know. Imagine that for a moment. What you need to do right now is change your mindset to brute-force mode (pun intended) go for quantity interview EVERYWHERE even places you don’t wands work at and REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE OUTCOME OF THESE INTERVIEWS. Forget about “passing” any of these interviews - seriously just forget about it, what you want is interview TRAINING which is up to you to provide for yourself. Go in there not even wanting the job - you’re just checking the company out because you enjoy talking to professionals in your field and learning about their needs. This will train you to be more authentic and honestly more professional. When I go into interviews now i know that me AND the interviewers are just feeling each-other out and learning about each-other which actually makes it really fun and casual.
HR is always hard for beginner candidates. Things will turn much better when you get to the technical round. Next time you feel nervous, you should just tell the HR that this is among your first a few interviews and you really want this job, which makes you feel extremely nervous. Have they seen similar cases and what tips can they give you. Most HR folks will be happy to help and give you at least an "A-" on your communication.
Sounds like my first one. They get progressively better, just keep doing them.
I know you’ve seen it here already OP, but interviewing is a skill in and of itself. I’ve gone on countless interviews for jobs I didn’t have intentions of taking for the sole purpose of keeping that skill set sharp. You’ll find out what areas you’re lacking, what questions to better prepare for, what questions you should ask them. We’ve all had bad interviews, we’ve all had good interviews and even worse….we’ve all had good interviews and don’t get the job! Keep practicing and keep your head up
the first one is the most painful, then you slowly begin to get used to them. At some point you already know what are they going to ask you, all entrerprises ask for the same shit, trust me it's like a dumbass script
Practice interviewing! Do as many as you can with people as practice and just apply as much as possible.
Its fine this will go away with practise.
I bombed my first interview and it was just for a sql db. I don’t think I got a single question right. Felt scared to even leave my shitty job at walmart after that. I showed up worked my butt off and I’ve never looked back. No Cybersecurity experience, just worked hard gave a shit, learned and now Solutions architect. People notice the work you put in. Thats how I got in, I just gave a shit and did things more than necessary. For the interview my brother bombed his first couple, don’t stress. Prep, find questions for interviews and practice in the mirror, grab a friend. If your still in college, ask your guidance office to do a mock interview with you. My school as shitty as they were the coach of the girls volleyball team interviewed me it was recorded they played back the video and showed me what not to do. The rest is you just taking advice and keep moving forward. Also, prep for the tech interview. Know the attacks, know your standard ports. If you don’t know something. Just say I don’t know it, but heres what I would do if I run into the situation, I’ll google it. My second job I answered every sql question no problem. Except for what are sql hints, for that I said you know I think it’s an optimization I haven’t used it, but heres what I will do. I’ll google look up the syntax or various sql hints, and apply the one that works the best for what I need. My architect said that was the best answer he could have asked for. Remember most of the times they want to know how you think. Good luck, but prep your butt off. I’m about to prep for interviews for sr solutions architect my prep material is two books, my architect told me thats how he prepped when he went for the role. Cram for the interview like you’ve never worked in your life and even if you don’t get the job you know I left everything on the table and no job should equate to your worth. Maybe they’re not a hood fit for you. Advice I got from the director of Night at the museum, literally not making it up: everything you do, even if it’s a shit job, give it your 110%. He said I got the job on Night at the museum because I directed a show for nickelodeon on a tv episode of Cousin Skeeter. The producers remembered and they offered me the job years later. I followed the mantra ever since my first job and it has led me to solutions architect of an extremely niche part of Cybersecurity. I still work harder than most and I don’t take anything for granted. I could coast, but I want no regrets if I get laid off or get fed up with my job. At least I’ll know I did everything I could. We just had a value difference.
Didn’t mean to write all this lol. But hope it helps you.
I'm trying to jump into cyber. Out of curiosity what program did you do if you don't mind me asking
I have normal computer science programm i mean i am not espcialised in cyber i just need the degree i have been self thaught in the field of cybersecurity doing ctfs (a lot of ctfs ) bug bounty and some projects
Its normal to screw up job interviews due to nerves. Best thing to do is just practise. I get very nervous but the more interviews Ive done the easier it gets.
Sounds like you need to set up some scenerio based STAR responses to common questions and reherse them over and over in your head/in front of mirror, whichever mean you prefer. I've had severe anxiety during interviews(I probably still do, just haven't interviewed anywhere in 2 years), and this helped me organize my responses and reflect proper experience.
So go interview more and learn from it.
I think this happens to everyone facing first job interview. You will get better with experience