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If you’re making jokes like this in an interview, you shouldn’t be an interviewer. There is a clear power imbalance between interviewer and interviewee that nee

by Cyph0n 5y ago

If you’re making jokes like this in an interview, you shouldn’t be an interviewer. There is a clear power imbalance between interviewer and interviewee that needs to be understood clearly. A somewhat comparable analogy is your manager joking about firing you and then evaluating you negatively when you don’t like the joke.

Swizec 5y ago
As an interviewer, I sometimes make comments like that and it isn’t negative or even a joke. Just trying to make the interviwee feel comfortable “Oh hey jumping between languages is hard, looks like you’re thinking in Swift right now, no worries about fumbling on syntax happens all the time”
- Cyph0n 5y ago
  That sounds completely fine to me. At the end of the day, how you phrase things makes a huge difference, and even more so in stressful situations imo.
  - gkop 5y ago
    Would you spell out for us what is unambiguously Wrong about "you must be writing a lot of Swift"? A charitable interpretation could be this is a shallow joke about semicolons, that could be safe for lightening things up in an interview, especially when the audience is known to be familiar with Swift. My impression from the OP is that they were out of sync with their interviewer, they didn't "click". This is something that happens with humans. The interviewer may have detected this dynamic, and made the joke to break the ice. Obviously it backfired, but with another candidate perhaps it could have saved the interview? Separately, what do folks thinks about the importance of humor on teams, and the degree to which it's acceptable to screen for sense of humor as part of interviews?
    - Cyph0n 5y ago
      Can you explain how making this joke would have saved the interview? Here is how I see it. At best, you interrupt a candidate in the middle of a technical interview to make a joke. At worst, you ruin the interview experience for the candidate. To me, the cost/benefit is clear cut. During a technical interview, you are evaluating the candidate’s technical knowledge. You are not there to become friends. There will be time for that after the candidate goes through the interview process.
      - gkop 5y ago
        First, would you respond to my question? :) In the case of the other commenter's suggested joke, you said "That sounds completely fine to me", so I genuinely want to know why one joke is completely fine and the other falls into the bucket "If you’re making jokes like this in an interview, you shouldn’t be an interviewer". Anyhow, to answer you, on both sides of interviews, I've experienced bad chemistry early in the session. Could be any number of factors, even just one of the two of us getting out on the wrong side of bed that morning. I sometimes will make a joke to lighten things up and get things back on track. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not, but I like to feel over time I am learning better how to interact with humans, and improving my odds, leading to more positive interview experiences and less wasted time. Things are never "strictly technical" with humans. (all that said, to be clear, I have never brought up the candidate's sense of humor in providing feedback, although I don't see a problem doing so if humor is in the team's values manifesto or the job description, and we've agreed on a legitimate way to screen for it (seems hard!). Curious to learn others' thoughts on this subject!)
        Cyph0n 5y ago
        Sure! We only have the candidate's perspective, but it appears that the candidate: 1) felt that the tone of the interviewer was negative 2) was in the middle of writing their solution 3) did not actively ask for feedback on syntax Point #1 is subjective, but an interviewer should err on the side of caution when making curt remarks like this. Taken together, points #2 and #3 are important too: as an interviewer, you should know when (or even whether or not) to provide feedback. As for why I believe the comment above phrased it better: 1) the interviewer is clearly acknowledging that it can be challenging to use a different language in an interview 2) the interviewer is clearly stating that the syntax mistakes being made are minor and nothing to worry about Personally, I would still avoid making this kind of comment unless prompted by the candidate - e.g., in reply to "I think I might be making a few mistakes with syntax here". I would also avoid providing any feedback. I also agree that an interview is not purely technical: there are other _passive_ signals you can use to build a better picture. I don't see how you would be able to judge sense of humor reliably in an interview setting, though.

by Cyph0n 5y ago

Swizec 5y ago

As an interviewer, I sometimes make comments like that and it isn’t negative or even a joke. Just trying to make the interviwee feel comfortable “Oh hey jumping between languages is hard, looks like you’re thinking in Swift right now, no worries about fumbling on syntax happens all the time”

Cyph0n 5y ago
That sounds completely fine to me. At the end of the day, how you phrase things makes a huge difference, and even more so in stressful situations imo.
- gkop 5y ago
  Would you spell out for us what is unambiguously Wrong about "you must be writing a lot of Swift"? A charitable interpretation could be this is a shallow joke about semicolons, that could be safe for lightening things up in an interview, especially when the audience is known to be familiar with Swift. My impression from the OP is that they were out of sync with their interviewer, they didn't "click". This is something that happens with humans. The interviewer may have detected this dynamic, and made the joke to break the ice. Obviously it backfired, but with another candidate perhaps it could have saved the interview? Separately, what do folks thinks about the importance of humor on teams, and the degree to which it's acceptable to screen for sense of humor as part of interviews?
  - Cyph0n 5y ago
    Can you explain how making this joke would have saved the interview? Here is how I see it. At best, you interrupt a candidate in the middle of a technical interview to make a joke. At worst, you ruin the interview experience for the candidate. To me, the cost/benefit is clear cut. During a technical interview, you are evaluating the candidate’s technical knowledge. You are not there to become friends. There will be time for that after the candidate goes through the interview process.
    - gkop 5y ago
      First, would you respond to my question? :) In the case of the other commenter's suggested joke, you said "That sounds completely fine to me", so I genuinely want to know why one joke is completely fine and the other falls into the bucket "If you’re making jokes like this in an interview, you shouldn’t be an interviewer". Anyhow, to answer you, on both sides of interviews, I've experienced bad chemistry early in the session. Could be any number of factors, even just one of the two of us getting out on the wrong side of bed that morning. I sometimes will make a joke to lighten things up and get things back on track. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not, but I like to feel over time I am learning better how to interact with humans, and improving my odds, leading to more positive interview experiences and less wasted time. Things are never "strictly technical" with humans. (all that said, to be clear, I have never brought up the candidate's sense of humor in providing feedback, although I don't see a problem doing so if humor is in the team's values manifesto or the job description, and we've agreed on a legitimate way to screen for it (seems hard!). Curious to learn others' thoughts on this subject!)
      - Cyph0n 5y ago
        Sure! We only have the candidate's perspective, but it appears that the candidate: 1) felt that the tone of the interviewer was negative 2) was in the middle of writing their solution 3) did not actively ask for feedback on syntax Point #1 is subjective, but an interviewer should err on the side of caution when making curt remarks like this. Taken together, points #2 and #3 are important too: as an interviewer, you should know when (or even whether or not) to provide feedback. As for why I believe the comment above phrased it better: 1) the interviewer is clearly acknowledging that it can be challenging to use a different language in an interview 2) the interviewer is clearly stating that the syntax mistakes being made are minor and nothing to worry about Personally, I would still avoid making this kind of comment unless prompted by the candidate - e.g., in reply to "I think I might be making a few mistakes with syntax here". I would also avoid providing any feedback. I also agree that an interview is not purely technical: there are other _passive_ signals you can use to build a better picture. I don't see how you would be able to judge sense of humor reliably in an interview setting, though.