First time I became an interviewer, my peers made jokes on how to make super weird interview questions

Before I graduate, when I was working at Coc Coc, one day my team lead asked the team whether any of us want to try to interview candidates. I have plan to interviews when I graduate so I volunteered, to know what it is like on the other side of the table. That’s when all my colleagues came wowed and started making jokes on what types of questions to ask to make it hell for the interviewees. It was kinda fun to joke, but it later dawned me, everyone has a vague sense of “we vs them” when talking about interviewees and interviewers.

When I interview my first interviewee, I’m actually trying hard to help him instead

He was a student at the same university I was studying. He struggled to solve the problem. Looking at him stressing himself over it, I felt the sympathy. I had been there, cursing my powerlessness because I always screw up at important moments. I knew the pressure he’s going through. And I also knew how much a great job could mean to a student’s future career. I couldn’t resist my urge to help him.

But it was difficult to help

He was silent most of the time. He never mentioned any thought directions he’s having, I had no ideas what he was thinking. “Which direction are you thinking on?” I asked. And I got “No, I haven’t thought of anything”. He obviously thought of many directions to solve and discarded most of them, but he didn’t mention any. The only way I could have helped was giving some very generic hints while trying not to blurt out the full solution. How else could I have helped?

So give your interviewer a chance

Speak out. Share what you are thinking, even if you think that was a bad idea. The interviewer can give you a lot of points on your thought process even if you cannot solve the problem. If you mentioned something close to solution, the interviewer can help you drill it down the right place. And even better, when you stray too far, the interviewer can notice early and lead you back to the correct path.

Not all interviewer are good though

It would be great if everyone is so nice, but there are surely lazy interviewers out there who just want to finish this interview as quick as possible. They hate all the talking in fact.

But the odd is worth the bet

Don’t be discoraged. A good company is made of good people. If you’re interviewing for a good company, you’ll know the chance of getting a good interviewer is damn good. Just hope he’s not having a bad day. Anyway, the odd is very good if you interview for a good company, so don’t hesitate to give your interviewer a chance to help you.

Summary

It is not said out loud, but there is a feeling of fighting against interviewer somewhere in us. Don’t fight them, we are interviewing to join them. Create oppurtunities for them to help and watch the fortune happen.