DANGER DANGER DANGER I have been writing software in the corporate world for 15 years. There is a common, though not universal, pattern I have noticed in inte

DANGER DANGER DANGER I have been writing software in the corporate world for 15 years. There is a common, though not universal, pattern I have noticed in interviewing. When you interview like Bill Gates you are set up for success... at least during the internet. Most of the time there are more people competing for a given position than there are positions available, which suggests competition. I interviewed once for a position where 22 people interviewed and got the job. Another time, current job, I was one of 79 people hired for 9 available positions and was the only senior developer hired (the rest came in as juniors). It's not because I'm awesome. It's because of practice. I'm old and I do this outside the office. When you are competing for a position you want to sound like an excellent developer with tremendous potential. You need to beat the competition to attain the job. You need to be on your A game and focused to perform like an elite rock star, though not arrogant. There is a difference between performing like a rock star and bullshitting. Any half competent interviewer can easily tell the difference. Either you are the best, you are pretending to be something you aren't, or you are exactly what you are which isn't the best. There in is the problem. In the corporate world rarely is there any place for test best. Maybe on some experimental research team or advanced product pioneer for the fashionable FAANG things are different, but for everybody else there is the mediocre corporate standard. In most large companies there isn't a need for elite developers. In most cases there are frameworks and tools that do most of your job for you. You only have to wire a few conventions together. Mediocre. This has numerous second and third order consequences from tenure, pay, motivation, cohesion, and so forth.