How not to do a culture fit interview: An engineer's worst job interview story
By
oliverio
5d ago· 3 min readenOpinion
65/100
Toasty
Bagelometer↗
Crispy enough to crunch, soft enough to enjoy. A good bake.
Score65TypeopinionSentimentnegative
Summary
An engineer recounts their worst job interview experience, which wasn't a technical failure but an uncomfortable, unsolicited psych evaluation. The article reflects on the importance of cultural fit in small startups and how not to conduct a culture fit interview, emphasizing that human connection matters even when hiring highly skilled engineers.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThe worst job interview I ever had wasn't a knowledge meltdown, coding assessment failure, or a complete language misunderstanding with the interviewer.
No, the worst job interview I had was something I can only describe as an unsolicited psych evaluation.
At a less-than-10-person company, especially in the earliest days, cultural fit is of singular importance.
Even if you hire a cracked engineer, it's probably not gonna be a good experience all-around if you can't make a human connection.
Or how not to do a culture fit interview
