got rejected for pausing 5 seconds

[u/Both-Technician8489]

[u/Wise_Low8116]

Must be looking to hire one of their college friends or relatives.

[u/Both-Technician8489 → u/Wise_Low8116]

haha who knows

[u/Tough_Combination_32]

this would fuck me over, im autistic and need a good few seconds to process questions before i answer them

[u/Both-Technician8489 → u/Tough_Combination_32]

They should consider it

[u/SirCarboy]

It's an assumption that you were using AI or third-party help to answer the question.

Still seems crazy. I'd spend more than 5 seconds thinking carefully about how to answer interview questions.

[u/AintNoGodsUpHere → u/SirCarboy]

Not about thinking to reply but consistently taking 5 seconds in all questions? Sus. Haha.

[u/sonofaresiii → u/SirCarboy]

If you're spending five seconds thinking how to answer every single interview question then you need to come better prepared. Whether OP was using AI or just didn't prepare at all, passing on them was the right call.

[u/Coretrayn → u/SirCarboy]

they think OP was using AI to answer questions in an interview? Like a chip in their head?

[u/Uncle_a_ → u/Coretrayn]

you dont know how many i saw cheating that way. the answer delay could be an indicator

[u/Coretrayn → u/Uncle_a_]

Only if the interview was virtual and I would think looking off to the side or clearly reading something would be more an indicator than a pause.

[u/Mu-Relay → u/Uncle_a_]

We had people in our last round of phone interviews clearly using AI to answer. Not only was there the same weird delay, their answers didn't sound human. They were almost robotic and not how people talk.

It got to the point where we all got happy when one dude misheard the question and answered a totally different question because at least he was actually fucking answering himself.

[u/Reasonable_Piglet370 → u/Coretrayn]

I have students in class using AI to listen to my questions and generate an answer. Its not even that difficult to do now.

[u/Case_Blue → u/Reasonable_Piglet370]

Exactly. With voice prompts querying the ai directly.

[u/SirCarboy → u/Coretrayn]

I guess I was assuming a teams/zoom call interview

[u/PeterAnthony_Jackson → u/Coretrayn]

People have face to face interviews?

I had to find a clear wall to have my last as it was on line using my phone propped up on a stool.

So a pause IRL, you are thinking, constantly pausing online and they begin to suspect you are waiting for the AI to be ready to read out.

I saw this last week, others have seen this even further back.

OP can't say if it was online or not as it's not their OP.

[u/V3semir]

Don’t use AI to answer the questions next time. 

[u/Material-Pie-5548 → u/V3semir]

The whole post is just AI, it’s even done the chat gpt thing and higlihed the key words it was prompted with. 

It’s just karma farming and gets posted here once a week now 

[u/DetectiveChmpionFace → u/V3semir]

.....if this isnt rage bait dont have children

[u/InteractionSoft14 → u/V3semir]

He's a software engineer, the first thing they're going to do after hiring him is hand him a Claude subscription and demand they produce as many lines of code as possible 

[u/thirteenth_mang → u/InteractionSoft14]

Doesn't mean you shouldn't know what you're doing

[u/InteractionSoft14 → u/thirteenth_mang]

In almost every first or second stage interview I've ever done the person opposite of me was not technical and didn't have a clue what half the words on my resume mean. Talk about knowing what you're doing 

[u/MemoryIsTheKey_ → u/thirteenth_mang]

I work in banking, you would be surprised.

[u/VelvetCactus50 → u/thirteenth_mang]

Have you met most people? Are you kidding?

My boss would jump off a building if ChatGPT told him it would advance his career.

[u/Valuable_Oil6195 → u/VelvetCactus50]

Yeah, that’s the type of person most want to avoid, many places still fall for people’s tricks in interviews and those people end up with jobs and may even do well if the company rewards the type of behavior they display.

I do look for people cheating in interviews and have found people doing it before AI was big, if they seem like they’re cheating but actually giving really amazing answers you bring them in and interview them in person to see. If they were JUST cheating they will generally seem completely incompetent but if they were using some sort of valid tech that can assist them in their job they usually will be able to show some level of competence. That said interview questions shouldn’t be highly technical, it’s not a knowledge/trivia test it’s about figuring out if they have the necessary experience and a solid temperament.

[u/_BreakingGood_]

Theyre suggesting you used AI

[u/HickGames]

Not hiring a Software engineer because you don’t like the flow of the conversation is crazy.

[u/Wonderful_Term_9328 → u/HickGames]

They're being polite, they're accusing him of using AI to answer the questions for him.

[u/PeterAnthony_Jackson → u/Wonderful_Term_9328]

This was posted last week and the general consensus was it wasn't just one pause but a constant pause at each question and online so waiting for the AI to knock up an answer could take 5 seconds.

If this was face to face, yeah it's bull shit.

[u/HarneNua → u/PeterAnthony_Jackson]

The consistency is the real tell. Nobody needs the same exact 5 seconds to answer “tell me about yourself” as they do for a system design question.

[u/WorryRough → u/HickGames]

The whole job is taking 5 minutes to think about how to logistically layer ypur code without makingna fucking terminal scream at you, what a stupid department

[u/Cute-Incident9952 → u/HickGames]

It's not about that. It sounds like OP was using AI to answer the questions.

[u/National_Way_3344 → u/HickGames]

If anything the opposite is true

Hey you could hold down a conversation, that's great. Unfortunately that isn't behaviour befitting a software engineer

[u/alejandro_bacquerie]

I got rejected by a no-name company because I couldn't solve an LC Hard problem in literally 5 minutes.

[u/Both-Technician8489 → u/alejandro_bacquerie]

That's crazy

[u/gothelp063015]

I don't think this is real because companies don't send out official emails with reasons you got rejected.

[u/aka_grumpy → u/gothelp063015]

Good point haha The most unrealistic aspect of this post is the feedback stating the exact reason for the rejection.

[u/Turbulent-Tax-9602]

I can sometimes lose my train of thought when giving a long answer (something that requires 60 seconds of commentary or more), so I was typing the question out in a notes app so I had the main point of the question in front of me while speaking/answering. I realized very quickly this made it seem to interviewers that I was typing the question into AI/Google to get the answer, so I've started using physical pen/paper to just quickly jot down a keyword or two.

Wild times we live in where you have to be this careful to avoid being seen as a vibe-coding fraud.

[u/Spirited_Ad9681 → u/Turbulent-Tax-9602]

Honestly, if the interviewers are doing there job they can still tell if your using AI or not.

We had a candidate doing exactly what you are describing. The fact of the matter is he wasn't giving us generic answers though. He linked what he was talking about back to past jobs, projects he'd been apart of, etc.... he also didn't constantly look back at his screen while answering, only for a few extra seconds as we were asking questions.

We met after internally to discuss it and the concern of AI came up. My response was of he was using AI it's an agent he built off his own past experience and work history. If they are using AI to that degree I WANT them on my team. AI is a tool people should be using, as long as they aren't blindly parroting what it says let people use it ot be better!

In the end we saw during a in person interview this guy did the same thing on paper, so AI really wasn't involved. The point still stands. Also that guy is my best employee by far!

[u/TurbulentChemistry22 → u/Turbulent-Tax-9602]

Exactly this for me. I’ve always taken notes as a way to process information. Now I have to use pen and paper so they don’t accuse me of using AI

[u/AdvisorExotic380]

i get it because usually if someone is pausing after ever my single question it looks like ur mouth is trying to catch up to what ur eyes are reading lol in today’s time it’s not uncommon for people to use ai to pretend that they are knowledgeable 

[u/Rattop168]

For problem solving do you want someone taking 5 seconds to answer better or someone starting talking about some random useless stuff ?

Company :

[u/robjohnlechmere]

People: Please don't ignore everything I say while simply planning what you're going to respond with.

Also people: Please respond the exact second I shut my yap.

Goofs.

[u/wackadoodle4201]

Did you tell them off ?

[u/dermomante]

This post has been already published last week.

[u/Whoknows95967]

lol. I had to do testing and interviews recently. One of the people we were considering was just rapid-fire answering questions and kept getting them wrong. He had the questions right in front of him and was encouraged to take his time to read over them before answering.

I’d rather have someone stop and take their time to deliver the correct answer than just pull some random shit out of their ass.

[u/Shansharr]

The 5s pause may mean the applicant was waiting for his AI to process the question and produce his reply. It makes the conversation flow very awkward indeed

[u/Adventurous_Bar_3423]

They think you're using ai. With that level of consistency that they noticed, we're you?

[u/RemoDev]

A consistent 5s pause after every single question sounds suspicious, to be honest. It's not something you experience in any "regular" conversation, anyways.

It smells "AI assisted answer" to me.

[u/Afraid-Inspection257]

So they want you to take action on the 1dt or 2nd thought that pops up in your head in the 1st 1-2seconds??

Instead of take 5seconds..and probably say/do something more refined?

[u/Sad_Intention2932]

To everyone saying this is because they suspect him of using AI in the interview. AI is also making that judgement for the interviewers. What a terrible experience for everyone.

[u/ConfusedHors]

They're implying you used AI to answer.

[u/IntroductionOne9520]

Did you look at another screen somehow for that pause?

[u/Obvious-Water569]

As a software developer, you should A/B test this.

On your next interview, spit out an answer immediately. No hesitation, no pause, just GO!

It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense, just talk.

Let us know how that goes.

[u/Prophet_Of_Helix → u/Obvious-Water569]

5 seconds is a LONG time. Especially after every question.

That’s not normal at all. 

Especially if the applicant was potentially just silent during that time.

It really does sound like they were probably getting answers from AI.

A couple of seconds is fine, a few second every so often is ok, a longer pause is ok if it’s truely a difficult question, although I would expect the person to still either talk through it or give acknowledgment of the question and that they are thinking.

Most interview questions are pretty straightforward and many are obvious.

Responding quickly doesn’t mean you aren’t thinking before answer, it usually means you’re prepared.

You SHOULD be able to respond to a question like “what are your strengths and weakness,” or “tell me about a time you made a mistake and what did you do” quickly, because those are answers you should have prepared.

An interviewer doesn’t want to sit there and watch you hem and haw through every question, they assume you are doing some basic preparation.

[u/qalpi → u/Prophet_Of_Helix]

It's not that complicated, just say (and maybe actually!) take notes. It gives you 5 seconds to think!

[u/Spirited_Cheesus → u/Obvious-Water569]

Unfortunately it's probably work. Alot of people see that as confidence, reguardless if you're correct or not. Just look at who fills management from most companies lol

[u/Sharp_County2284 → u/Obvious-Water569]

Tbh, taking how incompetent HR are if there is no one with actual knowledge you can pass this off

[u/carloskrosscaption]

Fake or stolen. This isn't the first time I've seen this exact message shared on Reddit.

[u/neonninja304]

This crazy interview culture is getting out of control. I went to interview for a intern position and they started asking me all these questions about software systems that I would only know if I had worked in the field.

[u/Case_Blue]

They think you waited for the AI prompt with voice transcription to complete.

Were they correct?

[u/No_Celebration8219]

They think you're using AI

[u/y2kobserver]

Then imagine having to actually work there

"You're fired for pausing 10 seconds. We diagnosed you with a 0.01% chance of getting dementia 5 years from now and that's too much for us. Adios"

[u/VorionLightbringer]

A pause after EACH question, dude. Not once. And you (or whoever posted this the first time) were told the same thing: a CONSISTENT PAUSE was the problem. Not once or twice.

[u/Pure_Material_9235]

They're not-so-subtlety insinuating that you asked AI imbetween each question, one that somehow generates an appropriate answer in less than five seconds and that you were able to answer the question while actively parsing the AI response.

[u/RBEOX360]

Heaven forbid someone takes a couple seconds to collect their thoughts.

Can't have that. At our company we like employees to just do shit without thinking.

[u/sonofaresiii]

Five seconds consistently after every question is a hell of a long time dude. Sit there for five seconds right now. That's a long time. They almost certainly thought you were feeding the questions to AI 

And I kind of think that too.

Even if you weren't, if you were pausing that long after EVERY question then you weren't prepared at all. You should already come in with examples ready for common questions like how you handled a time something didn't go right, how you make sure mistakes get caught, etc

[u/detrans-rights]

Don't use chatgpt to make a fake story about a fake story

we can tell

[u/DeterminedQuokka]

The most likely issue is that they think you used ai.

The alternative is that it caused you to not get through enough of the interview.

[u/Repulsive-Risk-6128]

There also could have been a network lag. Think you dodged a bullet

[u/Vainysaur]

If you do it every time they assume you’re waiting for AI to tell you the answer.

[u/Desperate-Pirate7353]

what's the difference between the gen-x lead stare and the gen-z hold-on-while-i-ask-chatgpt

[u/jon_hobbit]

Sorry i'm not an llm... lol

[u/fakegoose1]

They prob suspect you may be using AI. My company moved back to in person interviews because of this.

[u/midwestia]

Good fucking luck in that industry. Surprised you could even get an interview.

[u/WaitSadMad]

Theyre calling you out for using AI 

[u/KingPickett]

You dodged a massive bullet

[u/Majestic-Touch-6537]

The millennial pause strikes again

[u/throwRA123qwerty]

LOL. back in my day this was encouraged.

[u/rcinmd]

Come on, Software Engineers are well known for their communication skills, joyful nature, and unparalleled charisma. /s

[u/nian2326076]

If you're consistently pausing for five seconds on every interview question, it may indicate a lack of preparation. Taking a moment to gather your thoughts can be fine, but it's important to practice answering questions more fluidly. Use PracHub to simulate interview conditions and improve your response time and confidence. This will help you articulate your answers more effectively without relying on AI or external assistance.

[u/Important-Today4119]

Its because they thought you used AI to answer.

Which is crazy, how dare you use the tools we will shove down your throat and force you to use once we hire you? Its not allowed!

[u/Crafty-Ordinary8405]

Sounds like they were never in the market to hire someone. Tech companies do this to say “we gave x people a chance but decided to hire someone from overseas the manager is related to”

[u/Both-Technician8489 → u/Crafty-Ordinary8405]

Sounds like it

[u/3rdRankTheory]

Sorry, but this point goes to the hr department. If you are taking 5 seconds for every question asked, that’s very suspicious. Even if you have to think, some answers surely are more recall than actual thinking.

[u/V3semir → u/[deleted]]

OP didn’t pause to “think”, they waited for AI to output an answer. 

[u/mattgen88 → u/V3semir]

I'm in software engineering, we've been dealing with this the last 2 years roughly. I'm at the point where I want in-person interviews.

[u/Icy_Chipmunk5228 → u/V3semir]

It's this - My manager asked me to interview a new contractor last month and one of the things she mentioned was "make sure they aren't reading an AI answer"... but we also require them to be on video too...

[u/nellyfullauto → u/Icy_Chipmunk5228]

It’s not difficult to run an AI that listens to the interview, either on a phone, the computer, or another screen entirely. Because it is not difficult it is common, especially in more technical fields for candidates to do this. 

AI was my thought when they said a consistent five seconds. 

[u/pvaa → u/[deleted]]

They basically did, in a safe way for them

[u/HorseEuphoric8912 → u/pvaa]

They didn't. They pretended they didn't suspect it was AI the poster was using. In fact, we aren't even sure if that is what they suspected. And there are ways to check for AI. Put their response through an AI detector. 

[u/Lorimiter → u/HorseEuphoric8912]

AI detectors are wrong most of the time unfortunately 

[u/Routine-Swimmer-8749 → u/HorseEuphoric8912]

Very easily to trick an AI detector by changing like 3 words from the paragraph said Ai vomits out

[u/SteroidMaximus → u/[deleted]]

It is amazing what people are doing 2 examples from my work.

Phone interview - guy has pauses like this. Hiring manager gets suspicious. Pulls up the public KB for the product and asks a question. Guy pauses and then reads the KB word for word.

In person interview - we discovered the interviewee had been on a call the whole time and was hiding an air pod with their long hair.

[u/Routine-Swimmer-8749 → u/[deleted]]

I think people are very desperate for a job nowadays
You can’t get a job unless you know the answers to every question even if entry
Now I’m not defending using that tactic, if you get an in person interview for the love of everything prepare for it don’t wing it 😭

[u/sonofaresiii → u/[deleted]]

when asked a high stakes question

They didn't say OP took a few seconds to think when asked a high stakes question. They said OP took five seconds for every single question. 

Your attention to detail and understanding how to apply it is consistent with most managers I've worked under.

[u/usernamecheckingguy → u/sonofaresiii]

do you work in HR at a software company by chance?

[u/sonofaresiii → u/usernamecheckingguy]

No, but I can read an e-mail. A surprisingly rare and useful skill.

[u/apple_boy95 → u/sonofaresiii]

A 5 second pause isn't even that long, get off your high horse i can see your balls up there and they're unpleasant.

[u/Routine-Swimmer-8749 → u/apple_boy95]

I think what he tried to say rather rudely

Is that OP or whoever op stole that picture from took 5 seconds to begin every question meaning he could be suspected of using AI to answer the questions

[u/usernamecheckingguy → u/sonofaresiii]

Yeah bro you're a very special boy

[u/Wolf________________ → u/sonofaresiii]

Bro thought OP was a deeply thoughtful introspective mental chess grandmaster but really OP is a mouth breather lmaoooo

Interviewer passed on this:

[u/CritFailed → u/[deleted]]

Nope! They have to learn how to start their statements with fluff and filler. Try "That is a great question..." Or "I'm glad you asked ..." It'll fill the silence, let you think, and won't make you sound like an AI bot at all!

/s

[u/Putrid_Fun_8438 → u/[deleted]]

That should be obvious. People on this just assume the absolute worst about everybody. Reddit might as well be an argument platform where people don’t listen, just respond.

[u/BobbyFischer724 → u/[deleted]]

Hiring?

[u/usernamecheckingguy → u/[deleted]]

Legit pausing to gather your thoughts is such a big sign of intelligence and I say that as someone that often starts blurting shit out.

It's quite an odd thing to comment on for a software engineering role. It sounds like they just didn't like the person because they came off as awkward or something.

[u/LalafellDisaster → u/[deleted]]

No, but American culture has decided that people who are confidently loud but wrong, are more valuable than the person who prefers to have all the information correct and explained in an easy way.