This could basically be a checklist to determine “is this person not autistic”?
When are we going to reckon with the fact that job interviews are designed to keep the neurodiverse out?
This could basically be a checklist to determine “is this person not autistic”?
When are we going to reckon with the fact that job interviews are designed to keep the neurodiverse out?
Oh, if only things were this easy. This doesn’t reflect reality at all, which is far worse. The actual checklist is:
If the person who mattersTM vibes with you, you can pretty much break every single rule and still get hired. You’ll ace the technical questions because the person who mattersTM will practically give you the answers. Every single one of your stupid jokes and attempts at being funny will land. Any objections by other interviewers will get shot down by the person who mattersTM. The interview would be best described as you shooting the shit with the person who mattersTM while other interviewers futilely try to keep up the charade by occasionally chiming in with questions that are vaguely relevant to the job position.
If the person who mattersTM doesn’t vibes with you, you can pretty much follow every single rule and still kiss the position goodbye. The person who mattersTM will continuously grill you on technical questions until you inevitably trip up, where they then humiliate you by asking how someone who can’t answer their stupid questions believe they deserve the position. None of your jokes will land. Other interviewers will take the cue from the person who mattersTM to bully and humiliate you as well, turning the interview into an interrogation where they take out their sense of inadequacies on you, the hapless interviewee.
How do you pass the vibe check by the person who mattersTM? It’s literally a dice roll, and your odds improve if you’re an NT cishet able-bodied young white dude because NT cishet able-bodied young white dudes are the people who tend to climb up the ranks where they become the person who mattersTM.
And if you’re none of those? Well, good luck. You’re gonna need it.
I’m convinced that 99% of interviews are just confirming what the hiring manager has already decided. They’ll go in with a preconceived notion of ‘this person is our hire, we’re hunting for things that will confirm that so we can wave them through HR’. If you’re not the confirmed hire, and kf you’re able to establish rapport despite that maybe they’ll finagle something for you later down the track.
Yes, there’s that aspect as well. Even if you could’ve pass the vibe check, a lot of interviews is just people going through the motions because that’s what the onboarding process set up by HR demands them to do. They have already decided on their first choice and second choice applicants and had even given them offer letters, but since the first and second choice applicants didn’t formally accept the offer (slow response, final haggling over salary and benefits), the onboarding process outlines that the hiring manager has to continue interviewing people even though the search is more or less over. Usually for these types of interviews, there’s absolutely no enthusiasm and everything is completely rushed. I’ve had interviews where everyone just reads from a sheet of paper and not even bother looking at me. Well, at least I don’t have to give them eye contact if they don’t bother looking at me lol