Applied through the website. I was contacted fairly quickly by HR and, a week later, by the hiring manager. The phone interview went great.

I was called in for an on-site interview. The first portion went fine. The second interviewer was clearly not prepared or had no interview experience, as his questions were vague and he did not seem to have a clear goal. He asked me a question about a project I worked on and then claimed that the technology I used for that project did not exist. I used it for over three years with success, and he flat-out denied its existence. I tried to remain polite but was stunned and could do little more than explain that it really did exist.

The third interviewer was something special. It consisted of the most senior engineer and the hiring manager. The engineer came in with an attitude. After reading a two-sentence project description of a different project, he concluded that my design for that project was completely wrong. Again, I tried to explain, but it felt like I was talking to a six-year-old.

The worst part was that the hiring manager just sat there and let it happen. I looked at him for any reaction or help, but it was clear he was afraid to disagree with his engineer. So, we have an anti-social, arrogant engineering lead and his weak department manager, which is a recipe for disaster. Within ten minutes, I lost all interest in the position. The engineer then proceeded to ask obscure questions involving a lot of syntax and nit-pick every little mistake. By this time, I could not care less, so I stopped trying.

Still, I would not call the entire experience negative. I talked to some very friendly people, and all follow-ups were prompt and professional. I won't let one (or two) bad apples spoil it and would consider applying for a position in a different department, as the one I interviewed for is likely going to be in deep trouble.

Tips for the company:

• Give your people interview training. I have interviewed a lot of engineers over the years and have my routine down pat.
• Questions that can be answered by a 5-second Google search are terrible interview questions and teach you nothing about the candidate.
• Fire your lead before it is too late.
• If you demand perfect syntax during an interview, you should probably leave the interviewing to someone else.

An unexpected question: "Write a class."

Uhm, excuse me? After asking for more details, that was all the direction I was going to get. So, I wrote a class declaration. Bizarre.