Who Cracks in an Interview?

A long & tiresome commute stressed her until she arrived at the destination; she offboarded the cab & looked around. Once she identified the building, she walked up to the gate & handed over a printout of the interview confirmation mail at the security kiosk. While the guard verified the mail & prepared the visitor identity card, she looked up the tall building. She recollected that the last time she had attended the interview was during the campus requirement; it had been ages since then. After college, life & the world had transformed drastically, especially the technological world.

As she stood at the gate, the perception of facing the interview set the anxiety a notch up. She wondered, "How would it go?" Her stomach lurched with a fresh release of acid; she popped an antiacid chewable pill. Once the guard handed over the visitor identity card, she thanked him & walked into the building. No sooner did she enter the lobby than she witnessed a flood of candidates; they filled the hallway, seats & corridors. As she looked around, she felt the generic vibe of candidates being tense. The candidates double-checked the documents to beat the tension and set the shirt right to avoid crease. She smiled at the commonality, "All are sailing on the same boat."

A receptionist guided her to the interview room. As she walked the aisle, her heels clicked hard on the floor & a few heads turned. She felt conscious as eyes pried from feet to face. Despite being tall, she wore three-inch high-heeled formal boots. She dressed in beige pencil pants & a green linen shirt with full sleeves. She had managed to secure her long straight hair into a tight high bun, which screamed 'no-nonsense.' She found a vacant seat & occupied it & lightly tapped her feet to beat the pressure.

While she waited, she recollected the conversation with her friend, who had referred her for the job. The friend had mentioned that the interview panel would consist of her manager & technical leader. The manager was likely to go easy in the interview while the leader would grill. Though she was well prepared, the waiting fueled her despair, which in turn made her hungry. She checked the wristwatch & speculated, "I should grab a bite after the interview. Otherwise, by the time I get home, I will be ravenous."

Another 15mins passed & the panel called for her. She swallowed hard & entered the room with a poised smile that camouflaged her concerns. The manager & technical leader introduced themselves; she did the same & all shook hands. She handed over the resume & sat across the men. She sat upright with both elbows resting on the armrest, ankles crossed & clasped hands. The technical leader's stern eyes looked through the glasses & poured at the resume. The manager seemed chill & looked over at the resume. She was confident that it was a terrible idea to attend this interview & positive that they would reject her profile in 10mins.

The leader placed the resume on the table, leaned forward, looked straight into her eyes & questioned, "What was the most complex piece of code that you have built?" His intimidation made her feel parched & it occurred to her, "Begin with a big gun?" She wrote down the complexity of the problem, data & explained the resolution assuredly. The manager looked up at her & smiled; she relaxed a bit & returned the smile. One glance at the leader & it was evident that he was not onboard. She explained it several times, but his eyebrows remained knotted. She recalled, "He is supposed to be a genius. Really? He does not understand this?" The leader continued to gawk & challenge the solution. She helplessly looked at the manager. Although the technical leader was not ready to move on, the manager broke the vicious cycle of repeated explanation as he posed another question to her. From then on, alternatively, the technical leader & the manager posed queries to her; she responded to the best of her knowledge.

During the interview, she could not decide if she was doing well or not. While the technical leader was relentless & proceeded to beat her up with issues/scenarios/subjects, the manager had stopped. She grew tired of being seated for a while & resented answering. In the act of setting the wristwatch strap right, she checked the time. She was startled that it had been 40mins & the interview was still on. She wondered, "How long is this guy going to beat me? If he isn't happy with my talent, he should let me go. Why chew my brains?" Although the question-answer saga stretched simultaneously, her heated head hastened for a plan, "How do I get out of this interview?"

A query by the technical leader stumped her, "What is the cause of the code not executing?" While the panel waited for an answer, she quietly evaluated. Her mind raced, "After 45mins you are asking an experienced candidate this kind of query. Where are you going with this?" It dawned on her, "The interview was not going to end anytime soon." She relaxed & sat back in the chair, resting her right elbow on the armrest with arms crossed. She coolly responded, "Code to be triggered only on save or commit." The lead sternly replied, "No, code was on commit; still not executing." She sighed, raked her brains & answered, "Maybe the server was not assigned."

Again the lead stated, "No, the server was assigned, code was not executing." She was at the edge of the cliff. Still, She managed to hold her temper down & responded, "The code may have completed execution before the output window opened." The technical leader stated, "The output window was open & yet the code was not running." Now the technical leader had pushed her off the cliff. She decided, "That's it! This guy has breached my patience & tolerance levels. I may not crack the interview, but him..." She replied with grit, "Then I do not know the reason." He enjoyed the triumph & grilled, "So you haven't encountered this issue?" She coolly stated, "I have." He inquired with curiosity, "So, how did you do to resolve it?"

She completely leaned back in the chair & crossed her leg. She looked straight into the lead's eyes & remarked, "Well, I terminated connection to the server, code repository & application. Then, I went for a chai break of 15mins. On returning, all connections were re-established & triggered code; it executed seamlessly. It has worked each time." She did not flinch or blink, only stared at the lead. The manager burst into laugher; she briefly made eye contact with the manager & smiled. She instantly returned her gaze at the lead. The lead was offended by her audacity & the manager's laugher irked him.

The lead was not going to let her get away & he extended the interview with renewed vigour & anger. She was determined to dodge each topic, irrespective of whether she knew the answer or not. She merely reacted, "I do not know, or have no idea or haven't worked on it." After 10mins, the lead stormed out of the room with pure frustration & a wounded ego. He expressed his emotions by shutting the door loudly behind him. The manager looked at the poor door & picked the interview feedback form along with the resume. Neither the apparent outcome of the discussion bothered her nor what the manager would say next. She was relieved & pleased that the agonising interview had ended. She prepared to leave the room but was astonished by the manager's inquiry, "So what is your expected salary?"

Take Away:

• End of the day, it's only a job or an interview & not the end of the world. In case the world is ending, why worry?

• While a keen-eyed panelist can assess a candidate in less than 30mins, a smart candidate cracks it in 15mins.