

Ask HN: Ever quit an interview? - 1fdc0f893412ce5

Never before have I ever quit an interview until today. I&#x27;ve always been grateful for the opportunity and, even when they don&#x27;t go that well, I consider them practice for the <i>next</i> interview.<p>Today, however was different.<p>I was being interviewed by the third junior-level employee in a row. I still had not met a manager of any kind; this is a bit of a red flag in my opinion. I had gotten on really well with the first two interviewers, but the third guy was like my friggin&#x27; arch enemy. I felt it the second he walked in the door. It was obvious that he didn&#x27;t want to be there and didn&#x27;t like me. No sense of humor, no human qualities of merit... ugh.<p>A technical question was presented to me and instead of attacking the problem like usual, I stumbled. Then, I got distracted by the interviewer. Rather than caring about the problem, I was totally fixated on the interviewer&#x27;s responses (huffing and puffing, showing impatience, being generally adversarial). I stopped caring about the problem and actually found myself sitting back in my chair staring at this guy.<p>After 5 minutes of this, I stood up and explained that I was no longer interested in the company and was ending the process. I <i>knew</i> that the company was not a fit for me and I&#x27;m sure he agreed (I didn&#x27;t ask; he seemed pretty shocked actually).<p>For the record, I&#x27;ve been interviewing like a madman for the past two months. I like technical questions (and generally rock them). I have a couple great offers to show for it. Every interview (except for today) has been a positive experience and, regardless of outcome, I&#x27;ve left every company with new contacts and even a few friends. Today broke my streak.
======
davidsmith8900
\- I might have left a phone interview but never a face interview. Still, I
wish you the best.

