[smoyer]

One more anti-pattern to avoid during interviews - don't be the naysayer during your interview!

If they say they're going to be trying "technology/algorithm/framework X", don't immediately say "that will never work!". Sure you've got 30 years of experience and you've tried that and failed with it 15 times but they're young and impressionable and they can do anything. Plus they might be right in this instance!

Instead, you're the flexible guy who balances his experience, intuition and caution with the realization that while X might have failed you in the past, there might be situations where it's the right fit. So play the wise sage and say something like "that's an interesting idea, I'd be careful about Q, R and S but if it's implemented correctly that might be exactly the right plan (for instance, sometimes people really do need a NoSQL database, but often it should be put next to an RDBMS ... don't just choose one!). And you'd certainly like to be on the team working with X right? (you are presumeably at the job interview to get the job).

So the right play during the interview is to look like you'd be a valuable member of the team. Once you've joined the team you can help guide them to a proper solution - whether or not it includes X.

Bonus: Do not in ANY CIRCUMSTANCES get drawn into flame wars during your interview. Editors, IDEs, editors versus IDEs, languages and frameworks are tools - your position is that you use the one that best fits the project and maximizes productivity.

[MichaelCrawford]

I often get into flame wars during my interview. If the hiring manager says something that indicates he is a jackass, I will quite bluntly inform him of that fact.

For example, Apple's CoreEdit is profoundly nonportable, as well as clearly designed to implement vendor lock-in. There are all manner of ways to store structured data that are quite portable.

So if my interviewer asks me if I have experience with CoreEdit, I will quite emphatically tell them "No, because it's nonportable," then supply some portable solutions such as SQLite.

I don't want to work for a bad manager.

What I have a problem with is someone making assumptions about me, just because they see my grey hair, and the wrinkles in the skin of my face.

[devopsproject]

> I get lots of interviews, but quite commonly I find that my interviewer starts finding reasons not to hire me

> I often get into flame wars during my interview. If the hiring manager says something that indicates he is a jackass, I will quite bluntly inform him of that fact

Do you see the correlation? If you said this to me in an interview it would be over immediately.

[MichaelCrawford]

No.

I get lots of interviews with managers who use technologies I'm quite happy with.

When I say I am discriminated against because of my age, it's because I can tell they don't want to hire me, the very instant they look at me.

Do you know the term "code word", with reference to discrimination? With me, I am often told I would not "fit the company culture".

My ex-wife was one a motel manager. She was specifically told not to rent rooms to First Nations people (ie. Native Canadians).

A friend once interviewed to be an apartment manager. She was specifically told not to rent to black people.

However, the owners of that hotel and that apartment, did not specifically come right out and say so. They used "code words", for example the apartment owner told my friend to inform people that spoke in a certain way, that there were no apartments available.

[steven2012]

Just from your responses in this thread, I think it's more your personality rather than your age. It probably a lot more of a factor than you believe.

[MichaelCrawford]

In meatspace, I am in reality quite mild-mannered, reserved and polite. As I said, the consummate professional.

Quite likely you and the others who raise objections, have never been subjected to age, racial, religious or sexual discrimination. Those who have know what I'm talking about.

When was the last time you met a Mexican-American computer programmer? One who actually had a job?

The education in Mexico, I understand, is very very good.

Even born and raised American citizens don't find much work in technology, if they are of Hispanic heritage.

That's not just me saying it - I am an Anglo. I've observed that to be the case everywhere I have ever worked, I've also read about it in the trade press.

[steven2012]

lol I'm in my 40s, work at a YC startup, and we have 3 Hispanic engineers out of 15. So, in short, you're wrong.

I'm pretty sure that you believe you are mild-mannered, but you probably aren't. Your opinions and the things you say betray the fact that you are likely hard to work with. You said that you would not respect people based on their choice of technology. That itself is a red flag about your personality. So I'm telling you, it's probably not your age, it's your personality. You sound like someone who is very hard to work with if they dare to say something you disagree with.

[trcollinson]

I realize from your comments below that you would like to fight this idea that there are no Mexican-American computer programmers. But the census says otherwise, and they are known to be relatively accurate. These numbers may seem quite low, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that approximately 6.4% of computer and mathematical occupations are made up of Hispanic or Latino populations. If we extrapolate that out to the data on how many software engineers are in the US from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ~600,000, we will find that there are ~36,000 hispanic and latino software engineers. There are also quite a few female engineers of various races, and of course, other races besides hispanic and latino.

Oh, and anecdotally, I know quite a large number of hispanic and latino software engineers. They actually have jobs.

[1] http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.pdf [2] http://www.bls.gov/oes/2002/oes_nat.htm

[devopsproject]

"not fit the company culture" has many meanings. Again, if you started any type of flame war in my interview, you would be gone instantly

[MichaelCrawford]

If I start a flame war in your interview, it's because I don't want to work for you.

But before we part ways, I aim to set you straight, so that you stop making such mistakes as, for example, using CoreEdit.

I regard that as a public service to the community.

Apple's vendor lock-in is a particular sore point with me, as I have experienced it with many vendors, but Apple worst of all.

Quite commonly I interview to work on a client's very first Mac or iOS product, after they have experience with some other platform. For example I do a lot of Mac ports of successful Windows products. Also quite commonly, the client wants to make use of some really, really ill-advised Apple technology, perhaps as a result of Apple's Developer Evangelism, or having attended an Apple World-Wide Developer Conference, without the understanding that those conferences are specifically intended to enable vendor lock-in.

So I regard it as my duty to the client to advise them not to use Apple-only technologies when a suitable portable technology already exists.

[MichaelCrawford]

I don't start flame wars in meetings. That's because I don't accept offers from companies that I don't respect.

What I'm saying is that hiring managers often tell me I won't fit the company culture, as a direct result of seeing me in person, rather than communicating via email or telephone.

[devopsproject]

> I don't start flame wars in meetings

> I often get into flame wars during my interview

Make up your mind and then get back to me