Data Analyst Denied Job Opportunity Due to a Missing Comma, Labels Job Market as a ‘Joke’
Data Analyst Denied Job Opportunity Due to a Missing Comma, Labels Job Market as a ‘Joke’
It was a simple oversight, not a lack of knowledge, but I still got rejected for it, says his post on Reddit.
A data analyst was shocked to be turned down after a job interview, not because of any lack of ability or qualifications, but due to a small grammatical mistake. This candidate had already passed the initial round for a data engineer position at a prominent company with a name similar to “quantity.” However, during the second round, the candidate was eliminated because of a missing comma in a SQL query created in Notepad.
Feeling frustrated, the individual turned to Reddit to recount their experience and ask for guidance on moving from a data analyst (DA) role to a data engineer (DE) position.
“Had my second-round interview for a Data Engineer role at a well-known company (The name has a resemblance to ‘quantity’). I cleared the first round, and in the second, I answered everything correctly – except I forgot a comma between two column names while writing a SQL query in Notepad. The interviewer went off on me for 20 minutes about relying on AI tools and IDEs, completely dismissing my experience working with complex analytical queries and building ETL pipelines at a leading CDP,” the engineer writes in his post.
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The post has garnered more than 700 upvotes on Reddit since it was shared, and the number continues to rise. Numerous users have also taken to the comments section to share their thoughts.
A full-stack developer reflected on what a CEO might convey to investors. “We are actively looking to hire, but candidates have no skills and it would be a waste of funds to train these candidates, and we don’t want to burn investors’ money.”
“The interviewer did you a solid. I once got lectured because I used interchangeable words, the interviewer was expecting a textbook answer, and this was for a SDE2 role,” was yet another response.
An online user proposed that they should have left the room as soon as the interviewer began to “whine.” In response, the original poster expressed. “I’m kind of scared to have walked out of an interview like that. I’ve never done something like this before. I even thanked him for his time and wished him a good day.”
Further, another user questioned whether the interviewer really took a 20-minute ‘lecture time’ just because of a comma. In response, the Redditor said, “My interviewer had plenty of time. He went on and on about how, when he started his career, he didn’t have access to advanced IDEs and debugging tools. Then, he ranted about how AI tools are ruining this generation of developers. He also claimed to have never used a debugger and insisted that I should develop the same habit. I’ve never experienced anything like this. If I had already made my decision as an interviewer, I would have simply ended the interview.”
However, some users supported the hiring decision. One person wrote, “Attention to detail is critical in data engineering. A missing comma can break an entire script. Maybe the interviewer was testing how he handles pressure.”
