"Impressed with your profile" means nothing

The Hitchens's Razor. I have been interviewing a lot lately. And one thing I keep running into is the gap between what people say and what actually happens.

A particular interview I remember was with Apple. But honestly, it was not just Apple. This has happened with so many other interviews too. I hear things like, "You're our top candidate." "Your profile is amazing." "You've done so much." And the interviewer seems genuinely enthusiastic. I can read it. The energy is real, or at least it feels real.

But then, when I am expecting to advance to the next round or get an offer, I hear something completely different. "We're sorry, we decided to go with an internal candidate." Or, "There have been budget cuts." Or, "Sorry, the role has been cancelled."

It happened enough times that I started to notice a pattern. And that is when I came across a principle called Hitchens's Razor. It says: what is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. If someone makes a claim but has nothing to back it up, you do not owe that claim any weight.

Now I apply that to everything. Enthusiasm in an interview is not evidence. Compliments about my profile are not evidence. The only evidence is the next step: a scheduled round, a written offer, a start date. Everything else is just words.