I once interviewed with a company that loved the interview I gave them. I specifically asked “Do you have any question of my ability to do this job?” and he said no.
So I was surprised that weeks later the recruiter came back to me and said “Bad news. They don’t think that you have the skills”. I thought this was interesting.
I told the recruiter thank you and it wasn’t bad news. Its ok if they didn’t believe that I had the skills. I am not everyone cup of tea. I wished him good luck like I do for every recruiter because some companies are hard to please.
The reason that the person said that I didn’t have the skills is that after that interview he wanted a Statement of Work how I would complete the job. I used ChatGPT to give him one. He said that because I used an AI and didn’t specify exactly how I would solve it that he didn’t believe that I knew.
Which is interesting isn’t it? If I didn’t know, then why did he tell me that he was impressed with my knowledge. Should you provide a free answer in an interview? No. Nothing in this world is free in business.
Would he work for free? I don’t think so. People ask of others what they wouldn’t do themselves. I have had interviews ask for free advice and work. I tell them no. If a company doesn’t respect your time in the interview process, they won’t respect it once you work for them.
I was glad I didn’t get the job. Clearly it was someone who wouldn’t have respected me. Respect your time and experience and don’t work for free.