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Sharky

Shark Tank

So did I get the job?

Pilot fish is hiring for a web development position, and this particular candidate has an excellent skill set on his resume.

"The only problem is that the last site the guy built is one that I use regularly and is a huge pile of crap," grumbles fish. "I know that projects can be train wrecks for a variety of reasons, so I give this guy a chance."

Fish's first major question in the interview: What would you have done to this last project to make it better?

The candidate's response is to talk about a few odd features he wanted to implement -- but not a word about the glaring problems the site has.

Fish tries again: What obstacles did you face in this project? Response: "Everything went smoothly."

Baffled fish sits for a moment, trying to figure out how this guy is confusing "smoothly" with "unfinished and broken." But he keeps trying -- and soon his questions are bordering on rude as he completely confirms that the candidate is proud of his work.

"Finally I just come out and show him a whopper of a bug that has been ticking off me and probably every other user of the site," fish says.

"He tells me that nobody probably uses that feature. It's a feature probably equivalent in importance to a friends list in Facebook.

"Then, as an interview-ending coup de grace, he tells me that the only part of the site that he doesn't like is the finance part, which someone else built. That's the only part that works like a clock."

Now is a good time to send Sharky your true tale of IT life at sharky@computerworld.com. You'll get a stylish Shark shirt if I use it. Add your comments below, and read some great old tales in the Sharkives.

The Best of Shark Tank includes more than 70 tales of IT woe submitted by you, our readers, since 1999. Which all goes to prove, conclusively, that hapless users and idiotic bosses are indeed worldwide phenomena. Free registration is all that's needed to download The Best of Shark Tank (PDF).

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