My take: It’s just classic satire employing exaggeration to highlight the absurdities of common experiences where people feel the need to justify the non-interview parts of their job interview.

I often get profuse written apologies for minor mistakes, such as using the wrong name, which I never care to remember and never factors into decisions because I understand interviewee nerves. Here, the comedy arises from the stark contrast: while minor slip-ups are forgettable and need no apology, a bite surely isn't, making it humorously memorable.

The ridiculousness of having to send formulaic, bullshit "thank you" emails after interviews.

>The ridiculousness of having to send formulaic, bullshit "thank you" emails after interviews.

Interesting. I get it, but I've never done this myself (or the had the reverse, someone send one to me).

I think it's interesting just how quickly the power dynamics of "work" change. We can shift from companies throwing money at people to sit around, people working 3 or 4 remote jobs (eventually getting fired, but finding new ones), and ghosting interviews or their first-day-of-work, to people claiming it's a "rough job market" or having to write thank you notes for getting an interview...in a matter of years.

The tech job market is a strange place.

I don't think the thank you notes are a sign of the market shift. I started seeing them from people coming fresh out of code camps, and assumed it was just some jobs-hunting coaching recommendation.

Since then I've seen a few more, but not many. I don't think I've ever waited long enough after an interview to meet with others on making a pass / offer decision for a thank you note to make a difference. Even when we had a group for a single position and there was time to pick between candidates, we at least had already passed on our feedback by the time one could be sent. At that point, I don't know that a thank you note would make a big enough difference for me to reach out and change my feedback that would put them above someone else in consideration.

I’ve only received one out of ~ 100 candidates.

The person already had gotten the job (they had not been informed yet), so it made no difference in the hiring decision.

They wanted to know which coding question they’d only gotten partial credit on during the screening phase, and why.

They had exceptional attention to detail after being hired too.

> They wanted to know which coding question they’d only gotten partial credit on during the screening phase, and why.

You gave them results / feedback on the screening phase? That is probably more rare than their email!

Back when I was working for a company that did take home challenges, those who passed had their challenge as the topic of conversation for the final interview. For those who didn't, I gave written feedback, at least a page if not two.

My thinking was if someone took time to give me something, they deserved something in return, even if it wasn't a job.

If you have not been through the process you may not truly understand how nice (and rare) your thought process is.

Sadly I have chased up situations like that only to get told "you provided one of the strongest pieces of work, however, we decided not to proceed to interview" - or responding at all apparently.

This must be highly cultural. After you done the interview, shook hands and thanked the interviewer there in person there is little point of follow up other than an opportunity of reminding of yourself in the consideration process.

Every interviewer seems to have some set of these weird little expectations about behavior, that are basically arbitrary. Worse, some are mutually exclusive (maybe not so much in this case—though, see elsewhere in the thread where someone mentions this seems like a fresh-out-of-code-camp thing, so it might send a negative signal!) so lots of rejections end up having a reason behind them, but a very stupid reason that you can’t really defend against, to be blunt.

Bullet dodged IMO. I'd rather work somewhere where talent, productivity and genuine charisma gets me ahead instead of ass kissing (yes, it's always ass kissing... These letters are never sent out of a genuine gratitude for being able to interview with you).

> If someone doesn't send a thank-you email, don't hire them.

You may be missing out on a lot of potentially good people.

Alternatively, maybe they're dodging a bullet. ;)

I have no problem with thank you notes; I think they’re courteous and easy to send. It never hurts. If you don’t get hired you lose nothing, and if you do, you’re starting on a pleasant note.

But I would definitely want to know more about the governance of an organization that can sustain such a policy as categorically rejecting a candidate (read: contribution) for not meeting an unexpressed expectation.

As a UK interviewer I'd find them both unusual and annoying.

We already discussed you immediately after the interview. It's not going to change anything, but it might hurt your chances if it comes across as cringy or brown-nosing - we're also looking for cultural fit, and most Brits just don't do that. If you introduced new information in the email, you're probably going to force us to discuss you again, which is at best annoying and certainly burns up staff time.

So in a UK context, you're best off just saying "Great to meet you all - hope I'll get to work with you" at the end of the interview, and leave it at that.

Is that really something people do? Really seems insincere and inappropriate to me. Is it a cultural thing?

Over 25 years as a programmer, I've only seen some very jr developers (no industry experience), do this. It's unlikely to help you in getting the position, which is why it's rare.

Some nearly 15 years ago, one of my elders told me to do this. I was later told this was the reason they picked me over someone else. That's the story of how I got a job at a megacorp. In massive companies, HR people can feel really undervalued. In a sea of a dozen of equally qualified juniors, a hand written card can tip the scale. At least then. It wouldn't have moved me and I don't know when the last time an HR person got to be the final decision maker on a hire, but that's some context.

American possibly. I've only seen them from American candidates.

Maybe? It just seems like good manners. Don't overdo it but as an interviewer I don't expect an email but I'd find it very normal to receive a short polite one.

Well, the "joke" part of it is that his explanation remains formal and polite while his behavior gets progressively more feral

and then it's funny in a tension-relieving way. The common interview experience is having to remain professional while under stress.

To me it looks like (sexual) harassment:

1: I’m sorry;

2: I was just hungry, your fingers passed near my mouth;

3: It was a joke;

4: It was your fault;

Some things are just funny for the sake of being funny.