Most of the questions were standard interview questions, but I did receive one comment from the hiring manager that likely doomed me. I told the hiring manager that I typically prepare my software user acceptance test cases using the available “documentation” explaining the software functionality being tested. User acceptance testing (UAT) is testing which tests that software works as intended from the end user’s perspective. The hiring manager seemed strangely miffed that I used the term “documentation.” She said that in an Agile Software Development Methodology environment, that I should have used “user stories” instead of “documentation” as the source material for my test cases. A user story is simply a particular format for writing the documentation for software updates and releases. It is written in narrative format and explains how the end user would use the software. Software functionality documentation can also be presented as requirements, design specifications, and release notes in addition to user stories. It seems odd that the hiring manager was so bothered by the terminology that I used since user stories are simply a subtype of documentation. Also, in my previous experience, I used all of the available documentation types to create user acceptance test cases. I didn’t have any control over what type of documentation was provided to me. I couldn’t help that I didn’t always have user stories provided to me. The form of documentation used was the employer’s decision, not mine. Sometimes, I didn’t even have any formal documentation at all and had to ask other people or figure out the software items being tested myself. Almost all companies are bizarrely obsessed with Agile in a creepy lockstep sort of way. This particular hiring manager was so ingrained with the Agile concept of user stories that hearing that I didn’t always use user stories in my previous work and that I use the term “documentation” instead of the term “user stories” set her off. I consider it a blessing that I didn’t get this job as this hiring manager seems like a pedantic type of person who would gladly engage in petty arguments over how other people phrase things. I wonder what her take on "tomayto" versus "tomahto" is. It’s a distinction without a difference as far as I’m concerned.