A sad experience. I was offered an interview but got rejected before I had a chance to speak to anyone. Let me preface this by saying this was due to an error on my part.

Because the job spec was so general, I wanted to make sure my skillset was understood by their hiring manager. So I responded to the invite with a clarification of what skills were in my domain and what skills weren't.

In describing my coding style, I typically say that "I tend to find elegant solutions to complex problems" or "I strive towards minimal code that delivers maximum results." There's never been an issue with this.

However, in my letter to Jane Street, my wording was admittedly off. In trying to communicate the same notion, I wrote, "I like problem solving, usually with minimal code if possible." Suffice to say, their recruiting specialist took this in a negative light. Her response was as follows:

"If you're not interested in doing a lot of work with code, this probably isn't going to be a good match for you. It seems it's best we don't proceed with an interview at this time."

I followed up with a polite letter attempting to repair the miscommunication, but it fell on deaf ears. Live and learn.