What does it mean when an interviewer is rude?

This behaviour is highly unprofessional and likely indicative of the workplace culture at this company. If he's comfortable behaving this way in front of total strangers during a job interview, I highly doubt that he behaves any better with his colleagues (and particularly his subordinates) in the office. I would definitely not be accepting an offer after an interview like this - I'd rather remain unemployed than work for this guy.

It's sometimes easy to forget that the interview process goes both ways. You need a job to pay your bills, yes, but also they need someone to do this work. Otherwise, they wouldn't be hiring at all.

I wouldn't explicitly confront this guy about his behaviour - I strongly suspect that doing so would only be met with denial or mockery. However, I would make it clear at the end (in a polite manner) that I am not interested in continuing with the interview process. Something like "Thank you for your time, but I am no longer interested in pursuing this job opportunity. Good day."

If he asks why, I would probably say something like "After concluding the interview process, I'm not convinced that this company is the sort of workplace I'm looking for." And leave it at that.

"Other candidates would have gone through the problem much faster and to be honest your code is messy".

My reply would be "I hope you will make an offer that is commensurate with my speed and the quality of my code. If we disagree then you'll have to find someone who agrees with your offer".

He is using a strategy that doesn't work. If you are good at what you are doing and confident then his strategy will backfire. With that remark, he would have to pay at the top of my range to make me start with the company, and we would both know that he lost.

If you are not good at what you are doing and not confident, then best case he gets an employee who isn't very good, and who has been set up for failure.

I'd take the opportunity to practice making high demands. You don't want to work for them for cheap, so think what salary would convince you to start despite this guy's behaviour, and ask for that.

You will see this from time to time. Don't sweat it.

Assuming that you are competent and can do the job well, I would take rudeness as a hint and run.

I like to tell stories, so here are a few that may help you understand that everyone goes through these kinds of insults.

Background: I am a retired systems internals engineer and consulted to Digital Equipment Corporation and wrote quite a few important components of their operating system. I often wrote in assembly and machine code. As well, I was an expert for quite a few operating systems for other computer companies throughout the years consulting for others such as IBM, Wang, and Microsoft, as well as all the major telecoms, pharmaceuticals, the World Bank and the IMF transferring more money each than the Federal Reserve. I worked for DEC Labs, Bell Labs, and BT labs. I worked as a consultant for 30 years and was asked to do computer forensics for recovery, discovery, and systems compatibility. I was often asked to testified in court and my testimony often caused the opposition to either quit or compromise. As well, I was given many failed projects to fix or work on including one that earned $250 million per month. I do not say this to brag. I say this so that you know that I brought resources to the table and incapable was not in my vocabulary.

One place gave me a test to take and then told me I did not have the aptitude for the job or even within IT. I had just come to them from DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) as a request to help them.

Another gave me a test and because I stated that because I would never create a FAT file system for Windows NT that I was incompetent. This company failed six weeks later.

After more than a year of replacing Microsoft Mail with Exchange Servers for large global organizations with Microsoft as the customer, I was told by an IT manager for a bank that I was not qualified to run their Exchange Server. I did not call them. It was suggested that they call me by Microsoft.

New management for a company told me that I was not a strong technical employee. I was recruited as one of the worlds 5 top DEC experts. All the while I consulted to DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) to fix customer issues when they could not figure it out. I consulted to DEC as a world expert of their systems and operating systems helping development teams sort out details they did not understand. I wrote assembly and machine code routinely for DEC, had written several components of their OS, and routinely performed high profile large scale installs and upgrades for the companies customers selling more equipment as a result than any salesman they had. I even worked for DEC Labs and Bell Labs at the time.

One kept calling me in for and interview. I had already met with two VP level managers who specifically wanted me to fix the problem and knowing my reputation only called me to do the work. The local IT manager clearly had infrastructure issues that forced him to reschedule 7 times each time commuting 40 minutes there and 40 minutes back. At the end, without an interview, he declared that I was not a strong enough candidate to take on the task. The local IT manager was fired soon after.

One interviewed me and told me I was not qualified for the position, however, his boss insisted on interviewing everyone. So he went to get his boss, who turned the corner and said, "You're hired!" after seeing me from the end of a long hall. Why? Because I worked for his previous company fixing their global e-mail system which could not deliver e-mail within 24 hours. I did this in just three weeks by fixing and then replacing their e-mail system globally for Microsoft.

I was a "friend of the bank" to The World Bank and the IMF who had recently hired a new IT manager and told him to call me without delay to fix a specific problem. He did call and told me that I charged too much and hung up. I priced myself at half my normal rate. He was fired after just one week as a result.

I worked for a global telecom where I managed the hardware and portions of development for a project that earned $250 million per month. One member of the team changed teams that later merged as a result of a merger between company subsidiaries. I was to be offered a management position in charge of the project and the former team member refused to offer me the package. I was a consultant, he was an employee. He told HR I refused the offer and took my job. Then he stole personal software from me. Then he said he was separating the wheat from the chaff and tried to sever my contract. Meanwhile, I continued to manage much of the project, travel for the company, and spec and build systems for dozens of projects along with offering development expertise winning awards. In the end, he was fired for fraud and an audit could only find %40 of the equipment he purchased. Keep in mind that equipment purchases were always into the many millions of dollars. I continued to consult to the company fixing high profile failed projects for 6 years and became good friends with the CEO and Chairman of the Board because of my performance.

I came in to an organization as an expert of DEC systems and Ross Systems to solve an upgrade issue that was a complete show stopper. If you do not know Ross Systems, it is extremely complex and huge and requires a ridiculous amount of detail to understand. After three weeks diagnosing code and fixing quite a bit of it for Ross Systems who asked me to take on the take for their customer, Ross Systems rolled my code into place for all of their customers. One other consultant who I previously hired to manage the business aspects of an association and had no technical expertise at all came into the office and told them I was incompetent. Really? I just fixed their airport management system which managed several airports and got them out of a serious legal jam.

I could go on and on. And you get my point. As long as you are professional, knowledgeable, and competent, do not let what people say effect you. Just be confident in your worth and never over-sell yourself so that you can always take on a new task with assurance of success. Just do good work. Plain and simple. That is how I succeeded and had a wonderful work life that I would not ever trade. A friend of mine often said (in latin), Do not let the bastards get you down. I suggest the same for you. Cheers!!

Well it means that if you go over there you are going to have a very bad time. I am currently working in a company where when i was interviewed I was interviewed by a man who was very rude and did not understand anything that i was saying. The money they offered was good so I went to their place. Later on I find out that i have to work with the same guy. I have never been in a place more stressful than this in my life. I would advise you to run away while you can and never look back

"Oh, that didn't answer my question, let me rephrase". This continued for all of the questions.

I don't think this is rude at all. It seems like an honest attempt to assess what you know. As for the fact it happened with every question, perhaps you were misinterpreting his questions, or you went off on a tangent, or maybe the two of you were just on a different wavelength.

If he actually thought your answers were bad or that you didn't know the answer, he wouldn't bother to rephrase. It would be a waste of time for both of you.

"Other candidates would have gone through the problem much faster and to be honest - your code is messy"

This, on the other hand, is unproductive. I don't know what he was trying to achieve by saying this. "Be faster and less messy" is a fairly meaningless statement on its own. That hasn't helped you.

Highlighting what they perceive as your deficiencies is not necessarily a bad thing, if phrased delicately. If they tell you to work on a specific aspect of your programming, that gives you something to work towards, whether you get the job or not. Comparing you to other candidates does not help you. You have no control over who else has applied.

If your code did not meet his standards, whatever they were, he probably should have just concluded the interview and thanked you for your time.

I would like to reiterate what others have said: if an interview leaves you feeling uncomfortable, the place probably isn't for you. Don't be afraid to turn jobs down. You deserve to have a job you enjoy.