Welcome to the Interview

Job interviews are inherently stressful, because the stakes are so high. After all, getting a job is a life-changing event.

For some reason, a lot of interviewers seem to believe that the stress is somehow beneficial to the process, so they go out of their way to make things even more stressful.

I disagree. I find it counterproductive for both parties because it interferes with memory and reasoning skills, making it harder to answer questions.

That said, let me explain a few things:

1. I am going to interrupt you. It doesn't mean that things are going poorly. It's just that our time is finite. So don't let the interruptions bother you.
2. If something isn't totally clear, ask me to repeat the question or rephrase it. Make sure that you understand my questions. Sometimes I can misspeak, or choose the wrong words. Also, different companies can use different names to refer to the same things. It could be that I'm using an unfamiliar term for something that you know by a different name.
3. If I ask you to write code, it doesn't have to compile. I don't care about syntax, like braces or semicolons. You can use any programming language that you want. You can even write pseudocode. I just want to understand your program's logic.
4. You don't have to answer right away. It's okay to think before answering. And it's okay to pause in the middle of an answer. It's even okay to pause in the middle of a sentence.
5. If you get stuck, it's okay to ask for hints. Sometimes you might need a little push in the right direction.
6. Sometimes your best answer might actually be "I don't know." I may be asking a series of questions to probe the perimeter of your knowledge. It's okay not to know every answer.
7. If a better answer pops into your head later on, go ahead and tell me. We can rewind to a previous question.
8. I don't have a secret question which you must answer correctly. Some interviewers have a pet question that everyone has to get right. If you totally bomb on a question, don't worry. It's not an automatic fail.
9. You're not required to ask me questions. Every interview website suggests that you ask your interviewer questions to show interest. I don't care if you have questions. If you do, that's fine. But let's save them until the end.