What are people's worst experiences applying for programming jobs?

As I'm still a student I only really have one but here it is:

I applied to a company for a uni placement role working on the Game that first got me interested in Games Programming, they said I'd get a response in about a week, just over a month later on my birthday of all days I got an email to say my application was in fact unsuccessful.

I really hate when companies ask code questions face to face. I would rather do a 10 hour skills assessment than have you ask me about a concept I've never had to explain out loud or on the spot before

The cool thing about job hunting is you only need one 'yes' and you win. Good luck.

As a general rule, if you don't hear back in up to 10 days (usually it takes less than a week), it means they are not going to move forward ( even if I've been interviewing with companies where it took them even 3 weeks for a yes). It usually also takes long with big companies, so take also this into consideration.

Ah, and sometimes no one will ever answer you so don't wait forever.... I suggest you sending an email after 7-10 days to be updated about the hiring process, specifying always that you are moving forward with other companies.

If you submit a resume and do not hear anything call the hiring manager directly. Often resumes go into the HR black hole or are discarded by an algorithm gone bad.

I applied for my current job and did not hear for a week. I data mined the hiring managers phone number and called him twice. We hit it off and he told me HR never got him a resume. I sent it directly to him and in 10 days had a Director position offer. 99% of candidates will not do this - so try it. Be different.

Personally I hate when interviewers have you code something right there while they are watching over you and then obsess over every little thing.

I'm nervous, on some random computer using some random IDE or even notepad that I'm not comfortable with. Yes, I'm going to fuck things up either doing something stupid or missing something big.

Yes- companies should test your coding skills but let it be take home where you can take your time and get it right.

@YankeesRule - very much agree with you.

Last interview I went on, the interviewer jumped on me because I didn't realize Integer isn't mutable (in Java). Possibly lost the job because of it.

You know what would happen if that occurred while working? I would see Integer didn't have a set or increment method, realize it's not mutable, and I would either find a mutable integer class or write my own. Problem solved in 5 minutes.

But that's worth losing a job over of course.

It makes me happy seeing their site still being a POS

I was once asked to draw a diagram of C# on a whiteboard. I still have no idea what they expected

@BernzSed:

http://classicalguitar101.org/image...

There it is.