How not make interviewers think I am a threat

Question

I am a software engineer with much experience. Sometimes during interview, I can finish answering all of the questions the interviewer asked me, and I am very confident I answered correctly. (I consider I answered it correctly because the question is very basic and common for my daily usage).

However, generally speaking, if interviewers are also technique guys, they would consider me as a threat.

Sometimes I tell myself act more friendly, smile, and answer questions after one second, and don't try answer everything, but during interview, I forget completely.

Would I seek your advice how to do?

Sorry that I think I also make you think I am "arrogant", but the point is, I sometimes also make the agents and interviewer (one time) tell me I need more confidence.

Answer 1

There is a myth among a lot of smart people that they are held back precisely because they are so smart and so good at what they do; the decision makers are threatened by them and their skills, and don't want them to succeed. I see this in high school: "my teachers don't like me because I am smarter than them", for example. These people are smart, but not wise, and they're wrong.

As someone who was smarter than my teachers, who raised kids who were smarter than their teachers, who has been the smartest in the room too many times, keeps changing rooms, and still is often the smartest in the new room, let me tell you what they are reacting to that you perceive as "being a threat". It's not just that you're smarter than them. It's that, rightly or wrongly, you are sure you are smarter than them, and that the things you happen to know about are the only things that are relevant. If you've learned one way to do thing X, you are sure of the answer to "how do you X?" You don't know there are 4 other ways, or the circumstances under which the slower or more expensive way is actually better.

You know what you know, but you don't know what you don't know. Pretending to know less so as not to be "a threat" will not help. Becoming aware of what you don't know and thus phrasing your answers differently might help. So consider this.

How do you X?

I simply Y. I'm very good at it. I've done it a lot.

That's a pretty good answer. It's better than

I don't know, I never did that.

But how about:

In my experience so far, we've always Y. It's worked well and I'm good at it. I have heard some people A or B, and I would be interested in learning more about those.

or

Sometimes I Y, and sometimes I Z. I generally prefer Y because it's quicker [or more secure or easier to maintain.]

A little more self awareness. A little more acknowledgment that other people know things too. A little more acknowledgement that there's more than one way to do things, and sometimes you choose the quickest, sometimes the cheapest, sometimes the one that works out best in the long run. A little less knowing (instant answer) and a little more thinking (ask about factors that may be relevant but weren't in the question.)

This is hard work. But if you find your current attitude is causing a problem, I recommend that's what you do.

Answer 2

Interviews aren't competitions, they're there to see whether you're competent for the job and also to see if you fit in with the company. Just answering their technical questions isn't enough. You could for sure (like you mentioned) give somebody the idea that you're arrogant and perhaps unfriendly by not being social. I tell you for sure you're very unlikely to get any job if they perceive you as a bad fit. You can be the smartest guy but you're not getting a chance if they simply don't like your character.

I really advise to take a step back, be more humble, be more social. That's how you can score a job

Answer 3

Before you answer every technical question, take a somewhat-deep breath, pause briefly, then answer. Try to do this for an equal duration for all questions easy and hard. Normally, this advice is to obscure how much thought you need per question, but in your case, it adds a little vulnerability without taking away the quality of your answer.

You should try to find something competency-related to compliment your interviewer(s) on. You will be able to find something if you're observant.