applied internally to a role thatd be a nice pay pump. its a data role with a strong emphasis on python and sql skills. i studied my ass off on data concepts anticipating questions like “how would you start solving xyz problem” or “how would you find business insights on zyx” and the first question is “whats the difference between a dict and a list in python?” or hell, even a leetcode-like question. i like to think im decent at USING python and sql, but not having used them in a current role in ~2 years, these google-search-esque questions threw me off guard. i fumbled making up answers for a few but some i straight up had to say i have no fkn clue. so todays been a bit of a demeaning experience! has anyone else ever had an interview where they asked questions like that?
Sounds to me like the failure wasn’t yours, but the interviewer’s; you came prepared for questions relevant to the role, and they went all out-of-pocket on you.
Like if you show up for a tech job and they start going “paint me a word picture… tell me about your personal philosophy…”
Like you said, if they just googled some BS to ask you, or followed the corp-approved “starting questions”, that’s their fault.
Maybe you could reach out to them (or HR?)and go “hey, I was surprised by some of the interview questions, but I really do think I’m a strong match - can we get together and come to an understanding on the relevance of those questions?”
Naaah, difference between list and dict is fundamental. If you don’t know that then you’ve never coded Python at a professional level. It’s an ok interview question although it would only weed out the most nooby juniors so not really that good depending on what they’re hiring for.