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Comment by zhxiaoliang

16 hours ago

The author’s memory is remarkable. I hardly remember my own name that far back, LOL. Back then, I knew I would always struggle with those types of interviews, so I always carried a floppy disk with me to them. The disk contained a few programs I had written, and I would simply tell the interviewers, “Don’t give me a quiz. I’m terrible at it, so if you do, I’m out.” However, if they were willing to look at my capabilities, I would share a few of my programs. That approach actually worked most of the time and got me the jobs. The good old days!

Memory is a funny thing.

I also take months to learn new names, but I can tell you that my second interview ever was for a company which did low level SCADA work. Even though I never took that job or worked in any such related field I can still tell you what it stands for.

  • Names disappear instantly, but some oddly specific technical acronym from one interview decades ago gets burned into ROM

A small floppy full of actual programs probably said much more about your ability than a whiteboard quiz ever could

I can tell this is from forever ago by floppy disk.

  • That's an IRL save icon for anyone who's wondering.

    • 3D printed to the finest details, heck it can even store like half a picture.

      I fondly recall pirating Strike Commander on 35 floppies, it took quite a few sessions to transfer this since there was quite often some data reading error... good memories, feel like from 5 centuries ago

Why did that approach change?

  • I’m not sure if that strategy still works in today’s job market. It might still be, but I’m not the one to answer since I haven’t been on a job interview in quite some time.