No, American big business talking heads are supposed to be direct. American workers are supposed to be demure, grateful to have health insurance, and slot perfectly into the cog slot they've been assigned. Someone who openly criticizes their former employer is showing they have opinions and will resist being mistreated. I mean, showing they're not a team player.

Companies would much rather miss out on growth than have employees who have any kind of leverage over them.

> I really dislike all of this “reading between the lines” aren’t Americans supposed to be direct?

You're talking about a culture in which the standard greeting is "How are you?", and the standard response to said greeting is, "I'm fine!" - even when you're obviously not fine.

So, no, it's very much not direct. If you want to see what a "direct" software engineering culture looks like, look at Eastern Europe. There, people will routinely say things like "this code is crap", and no-one (including the author of said code!) bats an eye at it because it's supposed to be taken at face value, not as an insult.

Similar to goblin mode in dating you should 100% be yourself but only if you already have money and don't particularly need a given job. This works best when you already have a job.

You want the shitty PHB megacorps to reject you so you don't win to lose by getting a job you are going to hate.

> I really dislike all of this “reading between the lines” aren’t Americans supposed to be direct?

Only when talking to people beneath them. When talking to your superiors, you should be deferential and circumspect.

American society is more hierarchical than a feudal aristocracy. It's just based on money, skin color, and gender instead of family name.

From Philly to Boston, you got a lot of direct Americans, but the rest of the country? No, not really. West Coasters might be the most passive-aggressive people in the world.