Job interviews are rarely fun, no matter which side of the desk you're sitting on. As one IT executve said, "The traditional interviewing process is two people pleasantly lying to one another for an hour or two and then making a really big decision that they will live with for years to come."

But I'm not talking about making an interview work, when you're looking for a full-time or contract-job, and convincing each other that this is a perfect fit. I'm talking about the moment when you know that the interview has become a waste of time. Because we've all had those moments: when you realize this is absolutely not the right candidate, or when you recognize there's no way you'll get—or want—this position. It's not an experience exclusive to software developers, but it's certainly one that's familiar to technical people, as are the signs that a software project is doomed.

So I asked several IT professionals to share with me their worst, eyes-rolling moment. These are all real experiences, with identities carefully filed off to protect the... well, to protect someone.

I'm sure you can out-do these situations. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

From the interviewer's side of the desk

• The interviewee does not know the difference between a process and a thread.
• As the first question, you ask the developer how to write response.write in VBScript. He brings up family and God... without answering the question.
• In reviewing the candidate's resume, you see that he had worked with someone else you'd managed. The person managed the candidate for four days before letting him go.
• When the interviewee explains that a non-functional requirement is a situation where the software is not working and he needs help to fix the issue.
• When the Dean's List student at a major engineering school, with self-proclaimed "mastery of all Microsoft programming languages," cannot identify—in any programming language—more than four data types.
• You require candidates to fill in a technical questionnaire. The interviewee pushes the form back to your side of the table. Three times. It's like a ping-pong match.
• The interviewee grossly misrepresents the grades he received in college, despite signing a release to permit you to request this information. Perhaps that might not be that big of a deal, except he is applying for a position at the university where he got those grades.
• When the candidate blows his nose into his bare hand and wipes the result on his slacks.
• When your gut tells you to step away from the conference room to look at the candidate's personal website. In one respondent's experience: "After I quick scan his site, I considered shooting him with a tranquilizer dart and calling for mental health professionals to take him away."