[kropson]

I wish more companies knew what they really wanted before asking people to come in. I am at the point where I am getting sick of sitting through three hours of clown questions that having nothing to do with the type of coding that I would use in production only to find out weeks later that it was all a waste because I am not what they were looking for. I understanding perfectly that I will not always be a good fit for the job, but go bother someone else if you want someone to jump through three levels of interviews only to decide that you want a different skill set.

PS Thanks for indulging me in this rant. This just happened last week and I am still a bit annoyed that I wasted that much time at a company only to find they wanted someone with a completely different skill set (ie RPG).

[toomuchcoffee]

Not to try to temper your frustration (which is quite legitimate), but in this context, "we're looking for a different skill set" is almost certainly a foil. Quite often companies will say things like that when really they mean they were just fundamentally disappointed in you for reasons X or Y they would find too awkward or risky to disclose to you.

[ChuckMcM]

Have to agree here. If you got to the onsite interview then there is a high likelyhood they thought there might be a fit.

This has been discussed before but basically telling a candidate that you passed on them for a specific reason is seen as an invitation to argue the point, so people say something like 'wrong skill set.' Easier just to move along and not worry about it too much.