18 Years of Interviews: Fails, Wins, and Wild Moments

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In this post I'll talk about my experience having interviews since my first job to the latest one, also I'll try to explain the fails, the wins and and some of the wild moments I’ve encountered along the way.

My first interview ever - Softtek in 2010

If you read my last post, you might remember that my first job was with Softtek in Aguascalientes. At the time, I had about 4 years of experience working with PHP, HTML, CSS, and a bit of JavaScript. That first interview, which took place at the end of 2010, was one of the worst I’ve ever had, but surprisingly, it ended really well.

It was a phone interview with a manager from Softtek (I don’t remember his name), and it went something like this (translated from Spanish):

Manager: Hi Carlos, how are you?

Me: I’m good, thanks for asking. How about you?

Manager: Good, thanks. Alright, let’s get started. Can you give me a bit of background on your experience?

Me: Sure, I have 4 years of experience with PHP. I developed a framework called ZanPHP and worked on other projects, blah, blah, blah...

Manager: Great. So, this position is for frontend work. We don’t use PHP, we use Backbone.js and Node.js. Do you know anything about them?

Me: No, I’ve never heard of them.

Manager: Okay, no problem. How about Git? Do you know how to use it?

Me: Not really. I use FTP to upload my files to the server (back then, Git was just starting to become popular).

Manager: Mmh, alright. Well, that’s it. Thanks for your time!

Me: (Thinking to myself: I’m definitely not getting this job.) No problem, thank you!

After that, I waited a few weeks while still working at my own company. Then out of nowhere, I received an email saying, 'You have been accepted to work with us at Softtek!'

Interview with Internet Brands in 2012

My second interview was with Vangtel (now Intugo) for a Senior PHP position at Internet Brands. If I remember correctly, the process started with a phone call where they asked basic questions to test my English, which was quite limited at the time. They also sent me a link for an interview quiz. A friend of mine had applied for the same position a week before but was rejected. Fortunately, he told me what kind of questions they asked, so I spent the week studying hard before taking the quiz.

The quiz had over 50 questions on PHP, HTML, and CSS. Most of them were basic to medium difficulty—nothing too hard.

After passing the quiz, I had a Skype interview with the client (Internet Brands). This was my first ever interview in English, and it was a big challenge. I had to ask the interviewer several times to repeat the questions because I didn’t understand.

A few days after that interview, they sent me an email saying I was accepted! They sent over the contract and everything. Two wins in a row!

My first big fail, interview with TechnoSoft Corp to work in the US (2013)

I wouldn’t call it a failure because of how the interviews went, but more because of the outcome. As you might remember from my previous post, I passed all my interviews with them, but a week before I was supposed to start, they canceled my position. To make matters worse, I had already quit my job at Internet Brands by then.

The interview process started with an HR lady who came to Guadalajara for an in-person interview. After that, I had to complete a quiz with over 100 questions about JavaScript and PHP. The final step was an interview with one of their developers. However, I never had an interview with the actual client, which felt a bit strange.

After a few weeks they called me to say I was accepted, they got me a TN visa and everything but just a week before the start date they canceled everything and I was like we said in Spanish: Vestido y alborotado (all dressed up and nowhere to go).

Interview with HCL (2013)

After my failed attempt to work in the US and finding myself without a job, I needed to find something quickly. So, I applied for a Senior PHP position at HCL.

I went through three interviews with them. The first was an initial HR call, followed by an interview with a developer who tested my English and asked basic questions about PHP and JavaScript. By that time, my English had improved a lot, so I didn’t have any issues. The third interview was with another developer, who focused more on situational questions, like how I handle stress and work under pressure—nothing too difficult.

This turned out to be another win in my career, as I landed the job pretty quickly.

Lots of Interviews with Globant (2013)

The interview process with Globant was one of the toughest challenges I’ve faced. I had to go through 5 or 6 interviews with different people, both in English and Spanish, all over the phone. The funny part was that I had to sneak out to the balcony of my current job at HCL to take these calls.

One time, while I was in the middle of an interview, my boss came out to the balcony. Luckily, he didn’t speak Spanish, so I had to quickly say to the interviewer, 'Hey, can you call me back in 5 minutes? My boss is standing right next to me!' lol.

There were also times I had to take interviews in my car, sometimes lasting over 2 hours, while still being at work. It was a pretty stressful situation, but I managed by doing my work quickly so no one would notice I was gone for a few hours. Looking back, it was quite the juggling act!

After all those interviews, Globant finally accepted me and even sent me tickets to travel to the US. It was a bit odd that I traveled as a tourist the first time, but I didn’t think much of it at the time.

My first day at Globant was really strange. I arrived at the office at 10 AM, as instructed, and met my manager and another developer from Mexico. The manager took us out for lunch, and while we were eating, he told the other developer, 'Get ready, you have an interview with the client at 12 PM.' I immediately felt a chill, thinking I was already selected for a position. That's when it clicked—why they didn’t get me a TN visa right away. They wanted me to go through some client interviews first, and once a client picked me, they’d start the legal paperwork.

I asked, 'What about me? Do I need to prepare for an interview? When is mine?' To my surprise, he said, 'Don't worry, you don’t need any more interviews. You've already been selected by one of our clients.' Huge relief! So I asked if I could go to AT&T to get a phone and a US number, and he said, 'Sure, go ahead.'

I went to AT&T, had lunch, and did all the typical first-day things you do when you arrive in the US. I returned to the office around 3:30 PM, only to find the guy stressed and looking for me. He said, 'Carlos, the client wants to interview you today at 4 PM.' I was like, 'What?! In just 30 minutes?! That’s why I asked earlier if I needed to prepare!' Apparently, the client had requested the interview last minute. So there I was, with only 20 minutes to study—talk about stressful! ??

So, I went into a small room with one of the client’s developers, and everything started off pretty normal. They asked me basic questions about JavaScript and CSS (you know, the classic ‘how to center a div’ ?? and other common tricks). Things were going really smoothly until suddenly, another person joined the room.

At first, I thought he was just there to ask the interviewer something, but then the interviewer said, 'Hey, by the way, this is Carlos, and I’m interviewing him. Do you want to ask him some questions too?' Omg, from that moment on, everything started going downhill.

To make matters worse, this new guy looked exactly like the villain from the first Spider-Man movie—Green Goblin! ??

I'm not sure if it was a communication issue or something caused by the rush of the interview, but I remember they didn’t even have my actual resume with them. All they had was a paper with a list of technologies, each one marked with 5 stars. The interviewer glanced at it and said, 'Oh, I see you're an expert in YUI.' And I was like, 'In what?' He responded, 'Yes, YUI, the Yahoo UI Library!' I had to tell him, 'Sorry, I’ve never heard of that technology before.'

Then he said, 'Okay, tell us about your experience with Ember.js. It says here you’re also an expert in that.' At that point, I had to explain that there was clearly a mix-up and the paper they were looking at wasn’t my resume. I told them I came in as a Senior PHP developer with some knowledge of JavaScript, jQuery, etc., but definitely not those frameworks.

They exchanged looks, and it felt like I lost their trust right then and there. But honestly, this wasn’t my fault. In any in-person interview, they must have your real resume, not some made-up sheet claiming you’re an expert in everything.

As you can guess, I didn’t get the position. The story got even crazier after that, but if you want to hear about it, drop a comment below.

Long story short, I ended up living for a month in an apartment that Globant paid for while they tried to place me with a new client. During that time, I studied like crazy—about 10 hours a day—and I made sure to let them know that I wanted something focused more on PHP, my strongest skill.

A month later, they finally found me another client—this time it was Disney in Seattle. But again, something seemed off. I’m not sure if it was an HR issue or just growing pains for the company, but they messed up the time zone for my interview. As a result, I missed the interview, even though it wasn’t my fault.

To make things worse, they asked me to email the interviewer directly, apologizing and saying it was my mistake, and to ask if we could reschedule. I wasn’t too happy about it, but I sent the email anyway, knowing full well the mix-up wasn’t on me. Thankfully, the next day, they replied and agreed to reschedule. The interview happened the following day.

The day of the interview, I was extremely nervous because I knew that if I didn’t get the position, I’d have to return to Mexico and start over from scratch. At that point, I was also almost out of money. I took the initial interview over Skype, and I was so nervous that I forgot to turn on my camera. So, while I could see the interviewer, he couldn’t see me.

Thankfully, all the PHP questions he asked, I answered perfectly. After studying 10 hours a day for a month, it felt like I had every answer memorized. The interview went great!

Then, the interviewer went on vacation and couldn’t give me feedback for an entire week! That whole week, I was expecting the worst ??. But when he finally sent the feedback, it was positive, and they scheduled a second interview with another developer.

For the second interview, I clearly remember the interviewer saying, 'Please turn on your camera this time.' I wasn’t sure if he didn’t trust me or was just being thorough. Either way, I turned it on and nailed that interview too.

After a month and a half of suspense, I finally got the position!

Interviews with Beachbody (2016) - Wild one

After nearly three years at Globant, I decided it was time to move on, so I applied for a position at Beachbody. They sent me an email with instructions for the in-person interview. As usual, I just skimmed through it and noted the name of the person I needed to meet.

The day of the interview, I opened Google Maps and searched for Beachbody's office. Naturally, the only result was their main office in Santa Monica. My interview was at 10 AM, so I arrived 20 minutes early, feeling good. At exactly 10 AM, I went to the lobby and asked the receptionist for the interviewer. She checked her computer and said, 'Hmm, he’s not in my system, that’s strange.'

Then she asked, 'Are you sure they told you to come to this office? Or could it be the office in Westlake?' I opened the email again, and to my horror, I saw the correct address at the bottom—it was in Westlake, a full hour's drive away! And it was already 10 AM!

I jumped in my car and started driving as fast as I could. But then I missed an exit, which added even more time to the trip. I called my wife, telling her I was done and ready to give up. But she said, 'Just go. You’ve got nothing to lose.'

So I kept driving. Five minutes later, I missed another exit, which pushed my arrival time even further. I called my wife again and said, 'This must be a sign. I’m not going.' But she insisted, 'Focus, relax, and go to the interview. If they don’t accept you because you’re late, then it’s not the right company for you.'

Long story short, I finally arrived at 11:45 AM—an hour and 45 minutes late! When I got there, I met Reza Javidi , who had been waiting for me. While driving, I had even sent an email explaining the situation, but they never saw it.

Once I arrived, everything started off normally. I went through one interview after another, and no one mentioned me being late. I had four interviews in total: a coding interview, a behavioral interview, one with the manager, and the final one with the director. Thankfully, all of them went well, and a few days later, I got the job.

This experience taught me that you should never give up on what you want. The moment you give up, you lose everything.

Interview again with Globant for Disney ABC News (2017)

The second time Globant called me back, the process was much faster since they already knew me. They skipped the usual steps and directly set up an interview with the client.

I had a 1-hour interview with Adrian Aguirre and another manager. The questions were focused on React, how to improve app performance, functional programming, my experience leading teams, and how I organize my tasks and manage my time.

It was a quick and smooth process, and they wanted me on board right away. The whole transition happened fast.

My fail interview at Facebook (Meta) - 2017

While I was applying to Globant, I also took the opportunity to apply to Facebook. The initial phone interview was a 1-hour coding challenge, and it went well. They even covered my flight and hotel to visit their office in San Francisco.

When I arrived, I had five interviews in total. They were all really challenging, filled with algorithms, data structure questions, and React topics. I nailed the first three interviews, but then came the one with Sophie Alpert. That interview felt strange. We didn’t seem to click, and she never made eye contact, which made the whole experience more stressful.

The interview was about a basic React question—how to handle an autocomplete input—but instead of coding, I had to explain everything using drawings and words. I’m not sure if it was the environment or the lack of connection, but the interview didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, and I wasn't sure what answers she was looking for.

Interviews with Mindbody (2018)

As you may have read in my previous post, Globant suddenly fired me without any warning. I had to return to Mexico for two months while searching for a new job. Luckily, I got the opportunity to interview with Mindbody, and the entire process was online.

During the first interview, something strange happened. We were using Zoom, but suddenly the call got disconnected. After trying for about five minutes to reconnect with no success, I quickly created a Google Meet room and sent the interviewer the link, saying, 'Hey! I'm here in this room.' Thankfully, she agreed, and all the remaining interviews continued in my Google Meet room. They later told me there was a strange issue with Zoom, but they really appreciated how quickly I fixed the situation.

In the end, I got the position, and I was able to come back to the US.

Interviews with Snap (2020)

Back in 2019, my wife got a job in Los Angeles while I was still living in San Francisco. We were separated for 8 months, visiting each other every weekend and living out of Airbnbs. Toward the end of the year, just before the pandemic hit, I did several interviews in LA, including one with Snap.

The interesting part is that I had applied for a Software Manager position, but on the day of the interview, I brought all my React books with me. Plot twist—they liked me, but as a Software Engineer, not a Manager! ?? Even though most of the interviews were about management, there was only one basic technical interview.

Interview with APM Music (2022)

With APM Music, I only had one interview, and it was mostly focused on explaining my experience and understanding their project's needs. By the end of the interview, it was clear that the technologies they used aligned well with the ones I specialized in. With my background and expertise, they offered me the Principal Engineer position.

Lessons Learned Over 18 Years

1. Adaptability is Key

Technology evolves rapidly. From PHP frameworks to JavaScript libraries, staying adaptable and continuously learning new skills is crucial to staying relevant.

2. Never Give Up

Challenges and setbacks will come, like missed interviews or unexpected job terminations. But the moment you give up, you lose. Persistence often leads to success, even in the most stressful situations.

3. Problem-Solving is Everything

Whether it’s fixing a Zoom issue during an interview or quickly adapting to new client needs, being a proactive problem-solver sets you apart and leaves a lasting impression.

4. Communication Matters

Good communication—whether with a hiring manager, client, or team—is essential. Clear, honest conversations can prevent misunderstandings and build trust, both in interviews and in the workplace.

5. Be Prepared, But Expect the Unexpected

You can prepare all you want, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Missed addresses, unexpected interviewers, or odd technical setups happen. The key is staying calm and thinking on your feet.

6. Your Reputation Precedes You

The second time I was called back to Globant, the hiring process was faster because they already knew me and trusted my work. Building a strong reputation can open doors later in your career.

7. Leverage Your Strengths

Know your core skills and don't hesitate to focus on roles that align with them. It’s great to explore new things, but your strengths will always be your greatest asset.

8. Flexibility in Roles

Sometimes, the position you apply for isn't the one you end up getting. Being open to opportunities outside your initial goal, like transitioning from management to engineering, can lead to rewarding experiences.

9. Embrace Change

Whether it’s moving cities, starting over, or shifting career paths, change can be a good thing. It can lead to new opportunities and growth.

10. Teamwork and Leadership are Vital

From leading teams to working under pressure, good leadership skills and the ability to manage your time effectively can define your career’s trajectory.

Closing Thoughts

Looking back over these 18 years, it’s clear that every challenge, setback, and unexpected twist has been an opportunity to grow. From awkward interview moments and last-minute client meetings to the triumph of securing key roles, each experience has shaped who I am as a developer and leader today.

The journey hasn't always been smooth, but that's where the real learning happens. Whether it was facing the uncertainty of new technologies, navigating the stress of job changes, or balancing personal and professional life across cities, each step has reinforced the importance of persistence, adaptability, and embracing the unknown.

If there’s one takeaway from my story, it’s this: don’t let setbacks define you. The key is to keep pushing forward, learning, and staying true to your strengths. After all, every ‘no’ brings you closer to the ‘yes’ that will make all the difference.

Thank you for following along on this journey. I hope my experiences, both the wins and the missteps, can offer you insight or inspiration as you navigate your own path in the tech world. Stay curious, stay resilient, and keep moving forward.