Hi! Author here. Point well taken. Trying to post quickly before class...
I hope I didn't imply that you should walk into the interview feeling like you were on the defensive - I don't think that's the case at all. I just think being well prepared (a) makes you feel prepared and (b) makes you more likely to be able to handle something on the fly.
I'm also not sure what roles you've been interviewing for. I've found these sorts of things to be more important for PM/Product than for Engineering or Design. The other roles have some more concrete goals to judge off of. It's hard to tell if someone is 'good' at Product, and I've found things go better for me if I keep all of this in mind.
I am a bit confused why you'd immediately dismiss me as a "non-rational actor" because I wrote this.
I chose to publish a rant-y personal opinion for a very rational reason. Many of my male friends happily share drafts of writing, or writing that's done in a short period of time. I've always felt uncomfortable doing that because I'm afraid it will reflect badly on "women in technology" or be viewed as a larger signal. I wanted to do it as an experiment to see how it was received. I've actually been pleasantly surprised by how it's been received overall (thanks, commenters!)
On top of that, I feel like it should be clear from the piece that it's not something I view as being the biggest issue ever. I labeled it as a "rant-y personal opinion" for a reason. It's just something that annoys me. Many of my friends didn't know it was a pet peeve of mine, so it was shared primarily in that context.
hello! First time I've been on HN (thanks for sharing it). FWIW - this isn't one of my favorite things I've written. It's just something that annoys me personally, so I wrote it down.
I hope I didn't imply that you should walk into the interview feeling like you were on the defensive - I don't think that's the case at all. I just think being well prepared (a) makes you feel prepared and (b) makes you more likely to be able to handle something on the fly.
I'm also not sure what roles you've been interviewing for. I've found these sorts of things to be more important for PM/Product than for Engineering or Design. The other roles have some more concrete goals to judge off of. It's hard to tell if someone is 'good' at Product, and I've found things go better for me if I keep all of this in mind.