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Comment by eikenberry | Hacker News Reader

> I went on a rant

I think that sums up why you got rejected. Over the years I've found anything negative said during an interview process works against you. I really noticed this when I had a job I hated and some of that kept creeping into my interviews with me saying something about it (varied from rant to a few comments) and I was interviewing for a few months... I noticed this and consciously edited it out and had 2 offers in the next couple weeks. I've noticed it more subtly after that and have sense tried to make sure I stay 100% positive in my interviews.

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This is an apt observation. Anything negative. Even if true. Even if it doesn't reflect on you. They want someone socially aware enough that they can say negative things without saying anything negative. There's a nuance. "I understand where they're coming from. There's definitely situations where that is preferred", translates to "I disagree totally but it's their prerogative so I'm not going to worry myself too much with that decision."

It shows experience with people and ability to read between the lines.

You're right. I had already got bad vibes from the interview by this point and started acting up a bit.

I was initially really interested in the company and made it clear early on that I really liked what they were doing and how I thought I could add value, but they started shooting me down assuring me the role I was applying for wasn't that interesting and that I'd mostly be a code monkey (obviously not in those exact words).

By the time they started asking about my agile experience and what I thought of scum I figured I didn't have much to lose being honest with them. It would have been in neither of our interest for me to pretend I might have been a good fit.

But yeah, generally I'll try to be mostly positive while finding something minor to be constructively critical about. I think that tends to strike the right balance between showing you can think for yourself without coming across as the type of person who will cause problems. Sounds like you've noticed the same thing.

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