I did not learn this from being interviewed. I learned it from deciding who was worth interviewing.

Before you run 500+ technical interviews, you have to fill them. That means CVs, LinkedIn profiles, messages, and a limited number of hours.

After long enough, something uncomfortable becomes obvious. Some of the engineers who never got an interview were not weaker than the ones who did. Some were clearly stronger. They were harder to read.

And nobody tells them. The rejection at that stage is silence, or a line about other candidates whose experience more closely matched.

The same thing happens later, in the room. A correct answer that nobody could describe afterwards. Four interviewers who each wrote something different about what level you are. A debrief that ends in solid, nothing stood out.

You get the outcome. You never get the reason.

I write about that gap.

Fifteen years building mobile software, currently a staff engineer, and 500+ technical interviews from the hiring side. Experience across Apple, Adobe, Cisco, Mastercard and Visa.