Editing 1094: Interview

{{comic
| number    = 1094
| date      = August 13, 2012
| title     = Interview
| image     = interview.png
| titletext = Hey, before you go, can you explain to me what job I now have?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is based on a common annoyance when job hunting, being told that they'll "keep you in mind", but don't offer you a job. A job interviewer tells [[Black Hat]] exactly that.

Black Hat offers a briefcase to his interviewer. From the vague phrasing "this" and the context, one would expect the briefcase to contain money to bribe the interviewer into hiring Black Hat. Instead, it contains a portal or gateway into an impossibly deep chasm.

After falling through the chasm, the interviewer lands in the interviewee's seat, and Black Hat is now sitting in the interviewer's seat, effectively switching their roles.

The former interviewer tries to pull the same trick on Black Hat, creating a momentary illusion of an {{w|infinite loop}} through {{w|recursion}}, a common theme in xkcd comics.

When Black Hat opens the briefcase, however, he reveals another common annoyance when job hunting, being told that the opening has already been filled. Black Hat's statement works on two levels, one meaning that "the job opening has been filled", and the second meaning "the opening to the briefcase's chasm has been filled".

The title text is said by Black Hat. It refers to the fact that, even though Black Hat now has the interviewer's job, he has no idea what his function is.

Another job interview was portrayed in [[1088: Five Years]] and [[1293: Job Interview]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is interviewed by another person.]
:Person: ...but thank you for applying. We'll keep your résumé on file.

:[Black Hat pushes a suitcase over the table.]
:Black Hat: Perhaps ''this'' could change your mind?

:[The Person opens suitcase.]
:''Click''

:[Suitcase opens up to reveal a hole with horizontal lines along the walls.]

:[Camera pans over the suitcase to reveal a deep hole.]

:[Camera zooms into the hole.]

:[The Person is falling into the hole.]
:Person: AAAAAA

:[The Person falls into a chair with the suitcase falling on his lap.]
:''THUMP''

:[The Person is dazed.]
:Black Hat: ...but thank you for applying. We'll keep your résumé on file.

:[The Person looks bemused at the the suitcase.]

:[The Person lifts suitcase.]

:[The Person pushes the suitcase over the table.]
:Person: Perhaps ''this'' could change your mind?

:[Black Hat opens suitcase.]
:''Click''

:[Black Hat looks inside.]

:[Black Hat turns suitcase around.]
:Black Hat: I'm sorry—

:[Suitcase now has some paper and an envelope in it.]
:Black Hat: —that opening has been filled.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Recursion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]