I was referred by a company's employee. This is a contractor position.

A week later, I was put in a 1/2 hour technical interview via the phone. The questions included Java multithreading, singleton design pattern, server-side JSP, HTTP protocols, XML, etc.

I was then called in for the face-to-face interview. I was told it was supposed to be a group/panel setting, but when I arrived, there was only one person sitting in the conf. room and the other person was on the phone (I guess he was working from home that day!!!).

The first face-to-face interview lasted for one hour. They threw more questions at me first (adding cookies, more Java threading, serialization, etc). The guy who was on the phone had a very heavy accent, therefore, I constantly struggled with understanding his questions.

Next hour, I was interviewed by two engineers from Boston via the phone again. They did not ask any questions but asked me if I had any questions. I asked them about what project they were working on. How was the product being tested and supported? Most questions I asked were process-related. I cannot believe I was the one who tried to fill that one hour interview.

Finally, I was interviewed with the Director. The first question was "Do you have any Java experience?" I thought, "My god, didn't you read my resume? Java was the major programming language I have been developing in for the past 12 years," but I answered (with a smile), yes.

Before I left the company, I was told, "You will be contacted no matter what."

I have never heard from the company, despite I wrote a thank-you email and asked to be notified as soon as the final decision is made. I tried to call again. I got the answer that the decision had not been made. I then heard from my friend that they had hired someone else who is "younger".

My conclusion is: they did not want me in the first place. Because my friend submitted my resume, therefore, they had to do something about it. There was no reason they could reject me, therefore they did not even bother to let me know the decision.

What is the Singleton design pattern? Give me a recent example you have implemented.

What is the HTTP protocol? What is the difference between the POST and GET methods?