Ask HN: I got rejected because i don't know number theory, is that fair?
It depends - you&#x27;ve told us nothing.  Who rejected you and why do you think they think number theory is relevant?<p>A few years ago when we were hiring we took enormous efforts to be welcoming and to put interviewees at ease.  We know that going for an interview is stressful, so we honestly did everything we could to make the candidates perform well enough to show us what they could do.<p>After a couple of weeks we got a call from the agency saying &quot;What are you doing to these people?&quot;<p>The agency debriefed the candidates after they were interviewed by us, and every one of them was saying &quot;Holy F* - those guys are <i>scary!</i>&quot;<p>But we&#x27;re not, honest we&#x27;re not, we just needed to know what the candidates knew, what they could <i>do,</i> and how we could build on their abilities to help them become useful.<p>So, what were you applying for, and why do you think they rejected you for not knowing Number Theory?  Why would Number Theory be relevant?<p>Speculate.