> In one case, they asked me to debug some Ruby code despite the fact that I told them well in advance that I have never worked with Ruby.
Were you applying to a place that writes a ton of Ruby?
Were you applying to a place that writes a ton of Ruby?
That particular interview was a complete disaster from beginning to end, and not just because they started out by asking me to debug Ruby code after telling me that they were perfectly OK with me not knowing Ruby.
(And, just for the record, I actually succeeded in finding and fixing the bug.)
That's a bit of an overstatement, chances are there was a miscommunication and the person interviewing you did not know that you had been told there would be a know ruby questions. Seriously, its just an interview, they're not going to go out of their way to accomodate your every request, just roll with it. Since you were able to debug the ruby code, its sounds like you could have gotten the job if it wasn't for your attitude. IMO the right attitude is more important than raw technical skill, you might pass the "Can he code in ruby?" part of the interview, but fail the "Can he handle things not going his way?" part.
I recently had an interview for a developer job where I was asked lots of devops questions, even though it wasn't a devops-heavy role and I don't have much devops experience listed on my CV. I wasn't able to answer many of the questions but I drew on what little knowledge I did have to try and come up with answers. In the end I got the job because the interviewer said he appreciated how I tried to reason out answers to his questions even without much knowledge in the area. If I would have gotten all annoyed and started acting like I was being lied to and cheated then I doubt I would have gotten the job.
With all due respect I think I'm in a better position to judge that than you are. But there are two things you should know. First, I haven't told you the whole story (and I'm not going to). And second...
> the person interviewing you did not know that you had been told there would be a know [sic] ruby questions
The conversation went something like this:
Him: Welcome, the first thing we want you to do is debug this Ruby code. (Actually, the first thing he wanted me to do was copy-and-paste some shell commands from an unfamiliar text editor into a shell window, but that's another story.)
Me: Um, OK, but I've never worked in Ruby, and I told that to everyone I spoke to on the phone screen because I know you're a Ruby shop.
Him: Yeah, I know. But this is what we want you to do.
Me: OK, I'll give it my best shot, but don't expect too much.
[1] Actually, it was only half a day because they cancelled the interview after two hours. Like I said, I have not told you the whole story, and I'm not going to. But the whole thing was a train wreck from beginning to end.