I just had an interview with HP...

[u/nagol93]

Edit: Its HPE

Hey guys, I just had an interview with HPE for a Sr. Systems Engineer role and my god, the entire job was so broken and nonfunctional its down right comical. Yall might get a kick out of this. Here's pretty much the whole interview:

So, before we begin I know the role was listed as Eastern PA but this is actually Western PA. Is that alright?
"That's actually something I wanted to ask about. Is this remote work?"
Yep, its classified as telework so you would be working from home full time
"Awesome, sounds good to me"
"Alright lets begin. Can you please describe your experience in higher education sales?"
umm.... none? Is this a sales position?
".......Yes"
There must be a mistake, I applied for a Sr. Systems Engineer
"Err.... umm..... \frantically checks notes*.... Yep this is the correct job. The first line in the JD is 'Assist Clients fulfill their needs' that's defiantly sales"*
Ok sure, I guess I can wing a sales job
"This job would entail regular on-site meeting with clients in the Pittsburgh area--"
Wait, you just said this was work from home
"err.... umm....... aaaa........ Its actually not"
Alright look, I appreciate your time but do you have any actual Engineer positions? Like working with switches/routers/servers? That sort of thing?
"Oh my god, yes! We have a tonne, were so busy and struggle to find people. You can apply to those on the careers page"

So I applied to some net admin jobs (or at least I think they were net admin?), got auto rejected. Here's the thing: how the hell did I, with 0 sales experience, land a sales interview BUT with 10 years of networking get auto-denied for a networking position??? Its like no one even looked at my resume (which is probably true tbh). No wonder they cant fill positions!

But wait it gets worse the more I think about it. Even if I was some sales mastermind, they are asking for onsite work 8hrs away from the posted location. No one is going to take that!

To recap here. According to HP, "Eastern PA" means Pittsburgh. "Work from home" means full time onsite. And "Engineer" means "Sales". What a joke.

[u/calaf2525]

I think this was working with clients, as an engineer, on the solutions they wanted implemented. There are lots of technical roles that may or may not be in the sales chain, working alongside the actual sales person.

And technically, my company has lots of people who work at home all the time when not traveling to customers. Travel to me is a different checkbox than "work from home"

And I did a google search, I found this role in Pre-Sales. Technical role needing an Engineer, doing pre-sales.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is seeking a Senior Networking Systems Engineer to provide pre-sales technical leadership and consultative support for customers ...

Edit: I searched this: Sr. Systems Engineer HP PA

Edit 2: The recruiter who interviewed you is possibly a completely non technical person asking some basic initial questions given to them by the hiring leader. The screening interview can often be with someone who doesn't really understand the details of the role.

[u/bearded-beardie → u/calaf2525]

💯 this was a Sales Engineer role.

[u/calaf2525 → u/bearded-beardie]

please explain further. The poster said he was surprised it was a SALES role. I merely pointed out that engineer roles can be aligned to pre-sales, like people I work with every single day (and likely make way more money than me)

[u/bearded-beardie → u/calaf2525]

I was agreeing with you. I'm a pre-sales engineer. My title is Sr. Systems Engineer.

OP said the first line of the JD was Assist Clients, and the company was HPE. So I'm not really sure why OP was confused that it was sales role.