Comment by edblarney | Hacker News Reader

Comment by edblarney | Hacker News Reader

This should not be surprising.

I'd say two things, which are related:

1) Profanity itself is a form of crude honestly - in any remotely genteel social setting - 'profanity' is usually politically costly. Would you swear in an interview? No.

Ok - there are some times when 'people in power' can swear as a form of strength/power projection - but that aside ...

People who 'control' their behaviour mostly to 'be polite' - will use that communication control to gain political favour in every little social interaction. Some do it aggressively.

We all know this kind of person.

So - the 'swearers' are just using less 'filter', and so 'what you see' is really more likely their actual thoughts - 'no filter applied'.

2) If you step outside of professional circles and hang out with 'working class types' (I don't mean to be crude with generalizations) - like guys on a construction crew - you'll find that these people swear sometimes. I'm originally from a small town, a lot of working class types there - and if there are only guys around, you'll hear some cussing. These people generally don't have 'learned filters' that most professionals would use to communicate - because there is no reason why they should have developed those filters. They're just 'honest' by nature.

I've always kind of felt this way.

'Smooth communicators' are the one's you have to worry about :)

"Would you swear in an interview? No."

Yes. And if someone held it against me it's unlikely to be a place I want to work.

In fairness, I assume you would still try to swear less in an interview, no?

I read the interviewer carefully, which often leads me to be comfortable with some amount of profanity.

This is actually pretty much the same approach I take all the time, with everyone.

Makes sense.

Interesting. I mean, do what works for you but to me, swearing in an interview shows weird judgement. I would not put a lot of confidence in someone who makes that choice to be easy to work with, professional, and treat their coworkers with respect. I'd just think, you know, this asshole doesn't want to have a respectful relationship, and doesn't really get this situation. I swear plenty but I hold it in at work. I've never interviewed somebody who swore in the interview (a couple words wouldn't be a big deal I guess)... But I have interviewed people who gave off other signs of poor judgement. One of the things I really need in my (non-tech) industry is people I can trust to independently make good choices in many situations among different kinds of people. Surely most employers need that.

Well, I'd hold it against you (well, unless I set the precedent by swearing first...) :)

In many professional settings (e.g. when in front of a client), where you may not be familiar with the social norms of those you're interacting with, the ability to effectively code switch is critical. I see that as part of basic professional judgement.

So, absolutely, with your co-workers, swear away if that's part of the culture.

But in a setting with someone unfamiliar? Like, say, an interview? Sorry buddy, but there's a lot of shops where that'll count against you.

It really depends on the job. If your priorities are of a political nature, then that's a reasonable expectation.

If you're hiring me for an engineering position and you can't handle some harmless swearing, then you're really not sharing in my engineering priorities. Here it's just pointless culture policing and power playing.

Accepting that folks you don't know might not share your values, and adjusting accordingly isn't "political".

It's basic respect and professionalism.

Now, from your perspective, you might think you're just testing the employer. That is, if they'll put up with your swearing in the interview, then it might be a better value fit. And that may be true.

I'm simply suggesting that you may end up disqualified for positions where you might otherwise fit, not because swearing itself is deemed inappropriate, but because, in that specific setting, to the interviewer it suggests poor judgement.

No, what you're missing here is that I wouldn't swear unless I had a good reason to, and a good reason wouldn't likely turn up in an interview. I don't go around swearing in interviews for the fun of it. But if I do swear, and you think it's a major problem, then your priorities would be wrong.

I do realize that judgement goes both ways. I'm not going to blame someone for being foolish, but I will blame them for hiding it when they could instead learn from it.

So the original exchange at the top of this thread was as follows:

"Would you swear in an interview? No."

Yes. And if someone held it against me it's unlikely to be a place I want to work.

You were not the person who replied this way. My reading, at this point, is that your answer would be "maybe, but only if my read if the circumstances lead me to feel it was justified".

And on this you and I actually agree!

People can handle a lot of context. It'd be totally unsurprising if the people you interact with professionally swear a lot more in other contexts.

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