This is a pretty weird one, as I've been programming for a while and haven't heard it yet. I have been interviewing w/ a local Bay Area startup that I was introduced to via a friends recommendation. It's a bit of a strange situation as I had just spent the past year working as a co-founder on a startup, and I made it clear that there was a strong chance that I would be applying to a startup incubator over the winter to work on a problem that I find frustrating and would love to see solved, so it might not be a long-term thing. They were understanding, so we met, and after a few good face-to-face meetings we had talked about a reasonable short-term engagement. At this point I usually ask the other side to think it over a bit and send me an email with an offer to start really coalescing the process, and to open up some space for any questions that might not occur during an interview.
After a few days, I got an email, and while it was very positive on my technical/engineering abilities, ultimately they thought I was "too mature" for the team and might not be a good fit. I was somewhat disappointed, as I liked these guys and thought they had an idea that I could really dig deep into, but I can understand the need to make sure the team is clicking at close to optimal efficiency as possible. I just have never had the "too mature" reason used before. My thoughts at this point are that either:
A) They felt that was an easy way to say they weren't really interested. Strange, but that's ok.
B) They were not happy with the potential for me to leave after a few months. Very legitimate, but there's always some flexibility and we could have talked some more about it and changed plans.
C) I just was too serious during the interview process, and didn't seem like I could work comfortably with the team. I think this is very possible, but usually when interviewing it seems hard to get too comfortable. There's a lot of evaluation going on from both sides, and you want to put your best face forward. For me that usually means trying to look capable and professional.
Anyway, I think they're a great company and will blow up in the next few years, but this just struck me as a strange one, so I thought I would cheer myself up and see if anyone else had any funny or weird stories about interviews.
