I check my website logs frequently, I also have a script that shows me all of the search terms people use to find my website, and a list of reverse DNS lookup for each of the queries so I can see which companies are making use of my resources.

Very useful data mining which can lead to actual paying clients. “Hey, your programmers are making use of my website, tutorials and information to do their job, how about hiring me? You know, the person that is teaching your guys how to do what they do.”

So when I do interview with a potential future client, it irks me:

1. Having been contacted by a recruiter or the hiring manager at the company to later be informed that I didn’t even get an interview because they didn’t feel I was qualified or didn’t have enough experience. Yet you came to my website to search for specific interview questions on the subject you’ll be asking about. My website — good enough to mine for interview questions, not good enough to get me hired, apparently.

But what really, really irks me:

2. Being informed that I didn’t get the job after a reasonably successful interview because you felt that I wasn’t knowledgeable enough on a particular subject but mentioning during the interview that you knew about me because you have downloaded tools, source code and tutorials from my website to do the very tasks and job you are hiring for. I mean, how big do your balls have to be to tell me I am not good enough to work with you, yet you admit during the interview that I taught you what you know and you use the development tools that I wrote to do your job.

Stay classy!

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