[casralad]

Years ago, I was a J2ME developer. There were very few candidates with my skill set and not many jobs either. I don't remember the company I was interviewing for, but they were really excited to find me because I had the experience and skill set they were looking for. And I was excited because my current employer was circling the drain.

I failed the technical screen interview.

They asked me some softball questions about Java and J2ME, thanked me for my time, and then I didn't hear from them for a week when the interviewer's manager called me. He diplomatically explained that I bombed the tech screen, but that he was giving me another chance because it didn't make any sense based on my resume. So I answered some more technical questions, and I could tell by his voice that he was not impressed by my answers. Not quite wrong, just not demonstrating the technical mastery he was expecting.

Anyway, I didn't get the job. They ghosted me after that. I've never been particularly good at the technical side of interviews, but I have always made it through the technical phone screen (if there was one). Extra humiliating to get filtered on the phone screen (twice!) for what was my area of expertise at the time.