Sorry that you feel I was obtuse - it's a quirk and my editor side doesn't always step up. Poor communication aside, I was attempting to make a finer point tha

Sorry that you feel I was obtuse - it's a quirk and my editor side doesn't always step up. Poor communication aside, I was attempting to make a finer point than you read to it. Stress is an extremely broad term medically, and used broader still colloquially. Medically defined stress may include anxiety, but frequently will not. Anxiety, or technically in this case "performance anxiety" is a much more narrowly defined state with significantly more understanding about causes it, what it causes, and effective treatments. It's know pretty commonly as "stage fright" - that's what you eliciting in some individuals when you put them in front of people they just met to prove that they are smart. I think we'd all agree that most programmer jobs shouldn't be withheld from someone who has trouble with public speaking. I chose to use neuro chemical terms not to attempt to confuse anyone - but to make the point that this is a biological process triggered by hormones and not anything related to raw intelligence or a weak personality. As an aside, it's extremely likely that they wouldn't have any trouble at all at the interview if they took a 80mg of propranolol hydrochloride (a beta blocker) an hour before the interview. It's probably used by 50% or more of public speakers and musicians playing big rooms. Unfortunately it's expensive, on patent and that's an off label use. If you're not looking for someone to do regular public speaking then detecting what you consider "stress" probably has little bearing on their job applicability.