> I have a super BS detector, and most other interviewers do too.
I have a good BS detector too. Lots of people do.
Here's the problem: Lots of people are full of BS. That includes interviewers.
Since people are very sensitive to BS either way, a BS impedance mismatch can completely ruin an interview. That means that the BS-appraisal process must complete efficiently and accurately within the first 30 seconds of the interview, which is quite a difficult demand.
Let's discretize the BS axis into two categories: full of BS / hates BS.
So we have 4 situations:
* Interviewer is full of BS, wants to hear BS. Interviewee is full of BS, provides BS. WIN
* Interviewer hates BS. Interviewee is full of BS, provides BS. FAIL.
* Interviewer is full of BS. Interviewee hates BS. FAIL.
* Interviewer and interviewee both hate BS. SUPER WIN.
The problem is that neither the interviewer nor the interviewee are aware of the BS-status of the other individual.
The interviewer, however, is generally in a power position, since we can assume the interviewee wants the job. Therefore it is really up to the interviewee to estimate the BS-status of the interviewer.
So, only two situations are really going to be fundamentally compatible, one of which has much of a chance of landing a good candidate. There is easily a 50% chance of something going wrong at this point just out of luck, or as a result of a misestimated BS status.
If there is a detected mismatch, the interviewee can make a choice: Fake personal BS status (BSer tries to be "real", anti-BSer gives up on personal integrity and provides some BS because that's what is expected by the BS interviewer); or, be true to himself, and either walk out of the interview (politely!), or get down to business and present himself as a serious individual (for the non-BS interviewer).
So, the BS estimate is critical. Moreover, since it's easy to get the impression that most people are full of BS, there may be bias present in the estimator that helps to get things off on the wrong foot.
Notice that _none_ of this has anything to do with whether the interviewee is actually the right candidate for the job. Right off the bat, the BS-status and accuracy and speed of the interviewee's BS estimator is a huge factor in job-getting ability, regardless of other skillsets.
And that is why interviewing sucks, for both parties.
I should mention that in reality things are, of course, more subtle, and this two-category quantization is not realistic. In the real situation you'll not only want to identify the BS-status of the interviewer, but give them just the right amount of BS. Don't be too honest, you have to sell yourself after all. Frankly, it's tricky, especially for people who aren't used to talking about themselves.
I have a good BS detector too. Lots of people do.
Here's the problem: Lots of people are full of BS. That includes interviewers.
Since people are very sensitive to BS either way, a BS impedance mismatch can completely ruin an interview. That means that the BS-appraisal process must complete efficiently and accurately within the first 30 seconds of the interview, which is quite a difficult demand.
Let's discretize the BS axis into two categories: full of BS / hates BS.
So we have 4 situations:
* Interviewer is full of BS, wants to hear BS. Interviewee is full of BS, provides BS. WIN
* Interviewer hates BS. Interviewee is full of BS, provides BS. FAIL.
* Interviewer is full of BS. Interviewee hates BS. FAIL.
* Interviewer and interviewee both hate BS. SUPER WIN.
The problem is that neither the interviewer nor the interviewee are aware of the BS-status of the other individual.
The interviewer, however, is generally in a power position, since we can assume the interviewee wants the job. Therefore it is really up to the interviewee to estimate the BS-status of the interviewer.
So, only two situations are really going to be fundamentally compatible, one of which has much of a chance of landing a good candidate. There is easily a 50% chance of something going wrong at this point just out of luck, or as a result of a misestimated BS status.
If there is a detected mismatch, the interviewee can make a choice: Fake personal BS status (BSer tries to be "real", anti-BSer gives up on personal integrity and provides some BS because that's what is expected by the BS interviewer); or, be true to himself, and either walk out of the interview (politely!), or get down to business and present himself as a serious individual (for the non-BS interviewer).
So, the BS estimate is critical. Moreover, since it's easy to get the impression that most people are full of BS, there may be bias present in the estimator that helps to get things off on the wrong foot.
Notice that _none_ of this has anything to do with whether the interviewee is actually the right candidate for the job. Right off the bat, the BS-status and accuracy and speed of the interviewee's BS estimator is a huge factor in job-getting ability, regardless of other skillsets.
And that is why interviewing sucks, for both parties.