I used to feel like you and ask the same questions until recently when I read someone on HN saying these interviews are meant to see how a person handles stress. Then it clicked for me.
I've done pretty well at interviews despite being terrible at white board exercises because my personality is such that I treat these interviews casually. It's not that important in the larger scheme of things that I get this particular job, I'm looking at the interviewers as much as they are looking at me to see if I could work with them and I'll often joke around and keep it light hearted, even when failing a white board exercise.
The interviewers know the work culture and are looking for someone that can fit. In the case presented in this blog post, the writer could not handle a small joke about the Swift language. The interviewer probably knew the team like to joke around and tease, so this person was not a good fit. I think it's really that simple. I really doubt the interviewer thought the person was not technically qualified.
In one case, I was in a particularly light hearted mood and I joked throughout the entire interview. I believe to this day I was hired to lighten up the mood of the team, which turned out to be a very serious and gloomy bunch.
I've done pretty well at interviews despite being terrible at white board exercises because my personality is such that I treat these interviews casually. It's not that important in the larger scheme of things that I get this particular job, I'm looking at the interviewers as much as they are looking at me to see if I could work with them and I'll often joke around and keep it light hearted, even when failing a white board exercise.
The interviewers know the work culture and are looking for someone that can fit. In the case presented in this blog post, the writer could not handle a small joke about the Swift language. The interviewer probably knew the team like to joke around and tease, so this person was not a good fit. I think it's really that simple. I really doubt the interviewer thought the person was not technically qualified.
In one case, I was in a particularly light hearted mood and I joked throughout the entire interview. I believe to this day I was hired to lighten up the mood of the team, which turned out to be a very serious and gloomy bunch.