Interviewer biases

16th Feb 2025

When applying for jobs, it’s important to tell your story so that the interviewer can quickly get a feel for your strengths. But before you can even open your mouth, the interviewer will have their own biases based on the experiences listed on your resume. Interviewers are human, and humans can’t help but see patterns.

It’s important to emphasise your strengths, and cover your weaknesses to break free of their bias.

A few biases from the top of my head:

Background	Positive Assumptions	Negative Assumptions
From big tech	Has seen best practice. Can build for scale.	Prioritises compensation above all else. Will do resume-driven-development. Can’t handle projects without multiple teams of assistance.
From big non-tech	Strong organizational skills. Experience with large-scale projects.	Only knows a single, out of date tech stack. Lazy.
From small companies	Knows how to build from scratch. Good understanding of the business side. Everything-stack.	Writes messy, unmaintainable code. Jack of all trades, master of none.
From academia	Deep theoretical knowledge. Research-oriented.	Lacks practical experience. Struggles with deadlines.
Freelancer	Versatile. Can handle multiple roles.	Won’t work well in a team. Inexperienced at maintaining software.
Many years of experience	Lots of experience to draw from. Knowledgeable on many things.	Hasn’t kept up to date with best practice. Will work slowly. Won’t learn new things.
Young	Energy to learn and improve. Open to new ideas.	Requires constant supervision. Cuts corners. Idealistic.
Self-taught	Highly motivated. Adaptable.	Has big gaps in knowledge.
Career changer	Brings diverse perspectives. Fresh approach.	Lacks basic domain knowledge. Will need a lot of time to adjust. Flight risk if they discover they don’t like this career.