Discussion on "There's a million articles on interviews, here is my two cents."

Joseph S Stevens · 2019-04-06T00:16:03.575Z

Now, I am only a software engineer, so don't talk my word as gospel or anything. But, I've done a dozen interviews in my life, and I've learned a few things about how to do them better, most of these tips I am sure you have heard before, but I still ...

"...if you don't know, just freaking give it a go."

Best remote phone interview I ever had - and that got me the job - included my confession of ignorance about a particular technology. "Best Interview" status was reported by both the consulting shop trying to place me, who were eavesdropping on the call, and the hiring shop.

Be willing to be honestly ignorant when you ARE honestly ignorant.

What's your software expertise level? I'm think Mid/Senior level?

My level at that point was Senior (10+ years) - now, it's over 25+ more - whatever level of senior THAT means.

If you were asked something you don't know anything about, Wouldn't it be better to say "I heard about it but I don't exactly know what it is" instead of BSing the whole answer ?

The teacher/employer analogy is a poor one. The teacher is not offering to pay you to provide services that support his company's reputation. Also, any teacher that you believe wants you to suck up by pretending to learn is not a teacher you want.

Mark's remark about not fooling some who knows the answer is dead-on.

Really, reconsider the idea that BSing during an interview is good strategy. It ain't.

I agree with the other comments... this is really bad advice. If I'm doing an interview and somebody starts to BS instead of looking for more detail or admitting ignorance it shows a complete overconfidence in programming.

Doing that kind of thing will only lead to a few things:

them knowing you BSed and lost a chance to get the job
you being tasked on things you pretended to know but don't and you'll likely be fired.

Honesty while showing you're trying your best is a way better approach.

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There's a million articles on interviews, here is my two cents.

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