This was one of the most socially awkward events in my life.
Applied via the website, and soon thereafter got scheduled to have a call with the founder, Nick.
First half of the conversation was him telling me about how awesome MojoTech is. Little odd, but whatever, I get it -- he loves his company, and is proud of it. I listened intently, hoping to glean some insight into the culture.
A conversation should be half from one side, half from the other. A normal conversation volleys back-and-forth between parties. At this point, I figure that he decided to do his entire half at the beginning, and the next half is all me. Odd, but not unheard of.
I was wrong though. The first half was dedicated to Nick talking about MojoTech. The second half was dedicated to Nick talking about Nick, and how awesome he is.
Did you know he was a tri-athlete? Because he was a tri-athlete. I guess it was super important for me to know he was a tri-athlete, because being a tri-athlete is awesome, and he is awesome.
He told me about his background, his experience, his hobbies, his code, etc. -- you know, all the things you're normally supposed to ask the person you're interviewing.
14 minutes into the 15 minute conversation, he tells me that we're almost out of time. He's a very important and busy guy, and it's very important that he ends the call at 15 minutes, because he's busy, with important things, because he's an important person.
With the 30 seconds I've got left, he asks me if I have any questions. I'm beyond stunned at this point, but shoot one off anyways about the company culture. He gives me half of a response, then ends the call.
I can not understate how awkward this whole conversation was. It was a stunning display of insecurity, combined with mediocre success; kind of like a Donald Trump speech, but Nick's ability to feign confidence was way worse.