> they will be absolutely allowed to say so if the interviewer demands that.
If so, there might still be limits.
You could make the challenge an n-part, back-and-forth exchange, of increasingly worse insults of that personage.
Complete with escalating to enthusiastic shouting, slapping the table for emphasis, making crude illustrative gestures, etc.
Perhaps there's only so much that an authoritarian work center will tolerate.
For legitimate candidates, doing this at the start of an interview might be sending a confusing message about the corporate office environment. On the other hand, it would serve as an icebreaker, to help candidates feel comfortable sharing. And it will tell you more about the candidate's creativity than Leetcode regurgitation does. Well, until students start buying "Cracking the Techbro Interview: Trash-Talking Edition" books, spending months memorizing lists of insults to recite in interviews, and rehearsing their delivery, with enthusiastic full-arm gesticulating. Actually, that would still be better for the field than Leetcode interviews.
If so, there might still be limits.
You could make the challenge an n-part, back-and-forth exchange, of increasingly worse insults of that personage.
Complete with escalating to enthusiastic shouting, slapping the table for emphasis, making crude illustrative gestures, etc.
Perhaps there's only so much that an authoritarian work center will tolerate.
For legitimate candidates, doing this at the start of an interview might be sending a confusing message about the corporate office environment. On the other hand, it would serve as an icebreaker, to help candidates feel comfortable sharing. And it will tell you more about the candidate's creativity than Leetcode regurgitation does. Well, until students start buying "Cracking the Techbro Interview: Trash-Talking Edition" books, spending months memorizing lists of insults to recite in interviews, and rehearsing their delivery, with enthusiastic full-arm gesticulating. Actually, that would still be better for the field than Leetcode interviews.