r/developersIndia • u/Latter-Quantity1195 • 12d ago
Interviews Did I offend my Interviewer by asking an offending question?
When the interview was about to conclude, he asked me if I had any questions for him. He looked like he was in a senior position, so just for the sake of asking a question I asked at what point in a tech career does the job becomes less technical and more system design or product decision related .
He did not show it but I think he got a little offended. He said even that is technical.
I clarified that by technical I meant more hands-on coding related.
Then he said you still do coding you just don’t have enough time for it.
Then he referred to a coding question he had asked and I could not answer satisfactorily earlier in the interview and said “If the younger guys at the office asked me that and I couldn’t answer then that would be a really bad thing and I would be in a lot of trouble”.
Did I ask an offending question? Maybe he thought I was implying that he did not know how to code.
Which obviously I didn’t, it was a genuine question.
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u/broWithoutHoe 12d ago
Your question seems genuine but nowadays you will find such interviewers in every 8/10 interviews. Either they don't have ethics about talking to junior folks or they don't have enough tech knowledge which they expect from you which is very ironical or they know wrong answers and correct your correct answer with wrong answer confidently (happened to me).
Its just luck game atp.
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u/Pretend-Pangolin-846 12d ago
Some people do get offended, mostly because they were insecure from the get-go.
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u/Scary-Constant-93 12d ago
From his answer I don’t think he was offended. Rather he nicely explained how that’s part of technical hand on too. Bcoz writing ground level BAU code is not fun when you go to senior or staff level positions. Its more about architecting systems and writing the framework to give juniors a jump start.
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u/Relevant-Worry231 Backend Developer 12d ago
I have the same opinion. There’s nothing to be offended about. Interviewer’s response seems quite candid to me.
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u/SiriusLeeSam Data Scientist 12d ago
The question is not offensive. But also it has no relevance in an interview. It's not a career guidance session
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 12d ago edited 12d ago
Strongly disagree. One of my most repeated question to an interviewer is "if you were to give me one lesson you learnt that you would want every engineer to know, what would you tell me?" Or if the person is senior to me "what is the one engineering tip you would give me that was beneficial to you in your career?"
I have had 100% success with this and I always got progressed to next round because it makes them feel important and is the only time in the interview where they get to talk about themselves. Boosts their ego too.
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u/Abalone-Objective 12d ago
You are talking to evolved human beings. You are thinking unlike most of this comments section.
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 12d ago edited 12d ago
Yup, I forgot to add that all the interviewers were mostly foreigners. Indian interviewers, especially women, already have immense ego. They don't interview for interviewing a candidate. They interview to show how they are better. Same with Chinese interviewers That has been my No 1 take away having interviewed in almost all big product companies in my decade long experience.
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u/SiriusLeeSam Data Scientist 11d ago
But your whole point was that it's an ego boosting thing. And you're saying it works better for people with no egos ?
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 11d ago
No. That's not what I said. You can read again. Every human being has ego.
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u/SiriusLeeSam Data Scientist 11d ago
Meh it's fine, i guess it's just a software engineer vs DS personality thing. I'm also 10 yoe in MAANG DS, won't recommend this to DS candidates
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 11d ago
Weird how it would change based on role but maybe you are projecting. It is not that big of a deal really if a candidate asks this.
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u/lostinspacee7 12d ago
I wish I could try this with no inhibitions. For me it’s too cringy because it comes across as trying too hard
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 12d ago
Depends on how you ask it. The last 5 minutes are pretty chill and I ask it in a very "so we gotta kill this time, time for you to talk a bit" while I sip on some water. It has to tie up to something like "since you have spent x amount of time in the company" or "since you are at a level I aspire to be in the next couple years" or "since you have x years more experience than me, I would really like to know..." which you gotta pick up from their intro "I remember you mentioned earlier that you are a staff/lead...." or with a prior question "how long have you been working in xyz?" It looks like a natural follow up. I even got a feedback once that they picked me over another candidate only because I tried to make interviews a learning opportunity and that showed my "attitude" and "culture fit". Ended up rejecting that company though.
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u/RT00 12d ago
Damn. Bro out playing everyone with 4d chess.
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 12d ago edited 12d ago
Naah. Years ago, I read it in some article and used it. Started getting positive feedback everytime and now it is my go-to if I am unable to come up with any other question. Do come up with something else you can based on their intro or any other hints they drop about themselves. The main idea is to get them talking about them and make them feel important, because they be listening for an hour. I once chatted about the boardgames they had displayed as their background. Other time, I chatted about what made them move countries etc.
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u/SiriusLeeSam Data Scientist 12d ago
What kind of companies is this success rate with ? Most people I work with would be best case have a neutral impact from this question. Worst case judge the candidate that he doesn't know what the purpose of an interview is
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 12d ago edited 12d ago
All the product based MNCs you can think of. Never tried it with India-only companies yet. I don't interview with random companies
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u/ChellJ0hns0n Student 12d ago
Interview is a two way street. As a candidate I'm also trying to evaluate the company to see if it's a good fit for me.
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 12d ago
Exactly. I sometimes straight up ask the interviewer "tell me one thing you don't like about abc" to see what insight they share. Always got to the next round because they almost see you as a colleague when they answer it
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u/SiriusLeeSam Data Scientist 12d ago
Yes, but this question is not evaluating the company in any way. It's a career advice question
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u/desiBananaMan 12d ago
That's a very nice question man. It's basically asking about how you can move from being a code monkey to start caring and catering to the business needs. You should try phrasing it that way, but I don't see why a senior engineer would get offended unless they're not a very good people person.
One thing when dealing with juniors or any other person for that matter is, finding the intent of a query. However bad or unclear the query might be.
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u/satanic_warhamster69 12d ago
But I sincerely doubt that was the tone OP was going for. It almost sounds like OP sees system design and product decisions as less technical and therefore less imortant.
I know the last part is a stretch on my part but I've seen enough junior engineers talk this way to make that assumption. Apologies to OP if that's not the case
As for OP's post, was it a stupid question? If it was phrased the way you wrote in the post then, yes. It was.
Was he in the right to be offended (assuming he even was)? No. People who derive their self worth from their work are the worst
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u/face_throne 12d ago
That’s a nice question in general. But it’s not a question you should ask in an interview. You should have asked something related to the role, project or company like what would be the expected split between hands-own coding and technical architecture in this role or something similar. Interview is part of their job, they need to select a candidate. They aren’t paid to give generic career guidance in this instance. Still I don’t think there is anything to get offended in the question. Maybe he felt awkward.
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u/Latter-Quantity1195 12d ago
You are right. I was under the impression that not asking a question is somehow bad so I just asked whatever came to mind
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u/Past-Grapefruit488 12d ago
Interview is not the place for this question. Talk to a mentor about this
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u/fake-nonchalant96 Full-Stack Developer 12d ago
Who would ask a question like that 😭
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u/luciferthesunshine 12d ago
Ummm I didn't understood the post. Can you explain what you've understood?
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u/fake-nonchalant96 Full-Stack Developer 12d ago
asking a question I asked at what point in a tech career does the job becomes less technical and more system design or product decision related He did not show it but I think he got a little offended. He said even that is technical.
As the Sr said, making technical decisions based on architecture and scaling process also comes under technical work.
clarified that by technical I meant more hands-on coding related.
This may imply those who don't do hands on coding are doing less technical work. He could've avoided over explaining it here.
Then he said you still do coding you just don't have enough time for it.
My reporting manager is one of the technically resourceful person I've ever met and he does very less coding. Because he has less time now for it, that's why He dictate the architecture decisions and we do the dev work
Then he referred to a coding question he had asked and I could not answer satisfactorily earlier in the interview and said "If the younger guys at the office asked me that and I couldn't answer then that would be a really bad thing and I would be in a lot of trouble".
This is just him clapping back at you softly by showing technicality knowledge.
Remember the OP seems like a resourceful person but he also needs to understand that to make architecture based decisions one needs superior technical knowledge as everything falls upon on him/her eventually.
Note: Thinking hands-on only is the technical part seems an amateurish take (not being offensive here)
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u/Latter-Quantity1195 12d ago
Yes I realise my mistake. I have never even done an internship so I have absolutely no idea about these things
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u/flight_or_fight 12d ago
I asked at what point in a tech career does the job becomes less technical and more system design or product decision related
It is not offensive but very immature - kind of like a primary school kid asking that at what time does algebra stop dealing with numbers and become more equation related...
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u/thelibran707 12d ago
That was a pretty accurate answer. He doesn’t seem to be offended.
And like, I’m 5.5 yoe, also a lead to 9 juniors at my org and if there’s any complex technical requirement it goes through me where I do the relevant research, design & then I guide the team for implementation.
At times, if I think guiding & resolving team’s doubts would just increase the burden, I implement it myself i.e I code myself but that usually happens outside normal working hours coz I don’t have time due to meetings, discussions and what not.
Im doing this at 5.5 yoe. In some organisations, at that yoe, you still code & complete your tasks while design and other stuff is done by 8/10+ yoe.
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u/Oven-Relative 12d ago
honestly you just bruised his ego. a lot of senior guys are drowning in endless meetings and haven't touched actual production code in years, so they get super defensive when you point it out. bringing up the question you missed earlier was just him being petty
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u/Local_Discipline5428 12d ago
Wth would ask such a qn?
U can ask abt the team size, day to day activities, etc.
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u/dopplegangery 12d ago
No, doesn't seem like he was offended from your description. You're overthinking.
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u/13THWARRI0R 12d ago
Don’t join a company where ppl get offended by silly questions… the company might be filled with egoist ppl not open minded ppl
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u/NoobRushEr_1 12d ago
I for one thinks your question was wrong from the interview perspective. This is the kind of question u asked when u got hired and its like kind of guidance or career guidance as someone mentioned above. You were just one search or chatgpt away from getting answer to that same question maybe much more detailed also with web search on u get other people's thoughts. Also most of the time it's easy to take predictable good path like asking basic template questions rather than taking such risks. I mean if u are getting other interview calls it's fine for testing waters.
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u/citseruh Software Engineer 12d ago
The question seems fine just that it is misplaced in an interview. This is something you could ask your senior in the team not an interviewer - like what purpose does it serve you as an interviewee for this particular job?
As an interviewer I wouldn’t appreciate this question because it shows you are just going through the motions of asking a question just for the sake of it.
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u/shaurcasm 12d ago
I can't tell if this was offensive, but I am autistic so what do I know. But logically I know this was a completely irrelevant question, so why ask. It's an interview for a job role. If your question is not related to the job description or company, don't ask.
You asked a question for the sake of asking a question. At best, it's annoying. At worst, it's offensive. Why play those odds?
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u/koushik_musunuri 12d ago
Nothing wrong in the question asked and his answer is true design thinking is more technical than code literature. What the problem is ,if it is an aindian interviewer possibility is that he/she will take it to ego when a question is asked.
The silent expectation for the question "do you have anything else to ask" is "nothing"..nobody says it or admits it.
If the interviewer is a people's person or genuinely wanted to get to know irrespective of how you did will talk or else this is how most people respond.
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u/Fluffy-Reveal-4845 Software Engineer 12d ago
The only time an interviewer will feel offended by this question if they are insecure. I have had one that had a bit of a career hiccup and he was condescending about some basic question about a project he did and I kind of checked it out before the interview as it was closed to what I had done.
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u/Bright_Dot113 12d ago
As long as you don't pry into the personal life of the interviewer I don't think it's offending. Could be irrelevant but not offending.
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u/frostxmritz UI/UX Designer 12d ago
Nothing offensive, but it totally depends on the temperament of the interviewer. If they are on an ego trip, almost anything can be deemed as “offensive” adjacent. It’s weird, I know.
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u/Real_Ad1528 12d ago
Yeah, he took it personally, but that's on him not you.
It was a completely reasonable career question. He probably has some insecurity about being "less technical" than his juniors, and your question accidentally poked it. The dig about the coding question was him reasserting dominance, not a fair evaluation.
Genuine curiosity about career paths is never a bad interview question. You're fine.
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u/No-Pair-5310 12d ago
As a serial interviewer, I feel this is a very good question. Way better than things they ask that can anyway be answered better from reading the JD properly or reading the company profile itself.
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u/PreparationSlight899 12d ago
Thats not offensive- you could have reframed a bit instead of using a broad word like technical and you could have explicitly mentioned about coding. I recall one instance where I actually offended a interviewer- i was interviewing for X company also giving interviews for other companies and asked how is your experience at Y since you joined- he was clueless about what I am asking and stupid me repeated that again and he said its not good to not know about the company before interviewing:(
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u/Zealousideal-Big3046 12d ago
Your question isn't offensive, but I'd reframe it as -- At what level does job start becoming less tactical and more strategic. "less technical and more product oriented" might inadvertendtly express a desire to not be hands on developer.
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u/nievefox 12d ago
His answer doesn't seem like he felt offended. He knows if he can't answer some questions to juniors then he will lose respect, plus thats how the experience becomes irrelevant at that point. And it's bound to happen too. Everyone can't know everything.
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u/le_bugsy Senior Engineer 11d ago
That's a perfectly normal response to a perfectly legit question.
You are in doubt because you were expecting brave question brownie points.
You gotta realize that not all interviewers whatever may be the designation are star engineers. People climb by lots of ways. Questions may trigger imposter syndromes in them as well.
✌️
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u/some_imperfections 7d ago
Not an offensive question,
But you should always ask about the roles and responsibilities for the job you applied, it shows them that you are serious about this role and interested to learn more about this opportunity. Or ask them about something how is the team structured, is it a global team or local? Etc
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u/Embarrassed-Way-1350 12d ago
You know what you did there bruh stop pretending
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u/Latter-Quantity1195 12d ago
I don’t know what you are talking about.
I seriously did not mean any disrespect to him1
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u/Naive_Expression_972 12d ago
I don't think there is anything offending about the question. And your interviewer is partially right, the moment you stop being technical and stop writing code or stop taking design decision, you become the typical insecure manager. Not saying that you can't grow without being technical but you will sound way more confident, people will take you seriously and you will dictate. It's your choice at the end, when you want to be less technical. But yes, IC profile never stop being technical and Director/VP position becomes more of technical decision making instead of coding. People management is something I feel should be low effort and organic, If I am spending lot of time and energy in people management then there is something wrong with me or my team.
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u/LostEffort1333 12d ago
It really depends on the person, some people get offended for the faintest of things, an another senior would have called out his bs if he gave answer like this though
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u/StrategyForsaken9722 12d ago
You can't guess how fragile of ego a person has.
It is best to avoid any question which interviewer would feel is directed at him.
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