So, Etsy...

I applied several times before getting an interview. The recruiter interview went great, and we set up a time for the technical screen.

The recruiter told me that the interview would be in Python only, so I spent the few days I had before the interview studying Python, which I'd never used before. I get to the interview, and the interviewer explains that there's a small web app with a bunch of files, and there are issues with the code that my job was to solve.

She says, "You can use PHP, JS, or Python." So first off, I was thinking, "What the heck did I spend all this time on Python for?" So I said, "Great, I'll do JS," that being my strongest language.

She starts hedging and saying, "Ohhh, well, I don't really use JS. I really can't help you if we use JS..." So now I feel compelled to change my language choice.

I have a history with PHP (which is one of the reasons this job was such a good fit for me), so I said I'd do it in PHP. But what I didn't realize was how rusty I was at it. Plus, the PHP I'd done was WP-based, so it's different.

Anyway, I didn't get very far in the debugging process because I was trying to remember how to code in the language I was FORCED to use. Also, the HackerRank terminal kept erroring out, and she also preferred I use the browser preview panel inside the HackerRank IDE, instead of in another tab, which made it really hard to see everything on my small MacBook.

My interviewer spent more time trying to figure out how to fix the terminal than she did "helping" me code. So, basically, she was completely fine allowing me to flounder, as long as SHE was comfortable with the language I was floundering in.

So I emailed the recruiter after the interview and explained what had happened and requested a new interview. I at least expected a response from him, but no, he ignored my email. All I got was a form letter rejection five days later saying that I was such a strong candidate, blah blah blah, it was such a hard decision, blah blah blah.

Yeah, Etsy, whatever. How you earn such high ratings is beyond me. I will certainly stay away from them, despite the form letter saying that Etsy would be a great destination for me in the future. No thanks.

Debug a small web app in JS, Python, or PHP.