[JoblessWonder]

When I was in my early-mid twenties and trying to make the internal jump from top-tier Help Desk to SysAdmin I had a Director who did this.

The earlier interviews were fine. I was fairly green, but I seemed to get the basics of the position, was very eager to learn, and had the recommendation of my (large) department's management up to VP. They asked me technical questions which I did pretty well on. Then the Director comes in and immediately starts blasting my resume, my lack of real-world experience, asked why I was wasting his time and literally questioned whether I was worthy of being on the Help Desk at all.

I was shaken to my core. I spent the next three days questioning my abilities and feeling like I was letting the company down somehow. On the fourth day someone told me that this was his "interview style" and he was doing it to "stress test" interviewees. At that point I was pretty thrilled I didn't get the job and left the company shortly after for an entry-level SysAdmin job. I couldn't believe he would lay into a coworker (even a very subordinate one in a different department) like that without at least telling them why at the end.

I'm still shaken up by that interview to this day. Technical interviews scare the shit out of me.

[caminante]

Staying calm and speaking during confrontations is a learnable skill. I humbly recommend reading the book Crucial Conversations, if you haven't read it, then practicing the techniques.

I tell my "underlings" to breathe (with their diaphragm), to take their time, and to carry their voice.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-S...

[kriro]

Good book recommendation but my personal reaction if I ever encountered this during an interview would simply be standing up and excusing myself due to the lack of "cultural fit". Sure sometimes you need a job but compromising during job interviews is a pretty bad thing imo. You'll spend a good chunk of your time at a place, just walk if it smells funny.

[jazzyk]

Agreed, and that's why it pays to have some fuck-you money set aside, so that you can survive a few more weeks while looking for another job.

IT is so pervasive now, there is almost always another job.

[chris_wot]

Yeah, but another valuable skill is knowing that if you are treated this badly in an interview that even if you really want the job, sometimes it's best to walk away.

[Mendenhall]

I would probably politely ask the person if they were acting like a clown as an interview technique or if they were in fact an clown. No need to bother with disrespectful people.

[caminante]

Good point

...and that's in the book! ;-)

edit: I think the key is that there's a dominant technique, regardless of whether you're getting trolled.

[mathattack]

It seems pretty bad to do this on an internal transfer.

[JoblessWonder]

Yeah... that was what really got me. I could see doing it and then at the end being like, "Ok, here's what the deal is. I came at you like this because this job is high stress. When things go down, we lose millions of dollars. If you can't handle that type of pressure, you won't succeed here. [Insert meaningless compliment about having great potential or something if you really feel like not being an asshole, leave it out if you do.] However, it seems like you might not be a great fit for this position at this time."

Or... at least e-mail the internal candidates afterwards (there were 3 of us, none of us got the job) and let us know why. Or tell our managers and let them tell us. Something besides beating us down and letting us flap in the wind.