[bonobo3000]

I can understand how this can relieve nerves in an interview, but the answer doesn't tell you much IMO. The questions are the only opportunity to assess the company or the position directly from an engineers standpoint. Yes, the power dynamic is skewed but only for the course of the interview, and what will equalizing it help you achieve?

If you want to have a technical discussion, why not ask them about what they do, and maybe the algorithms involved there? That will tell you something about the company while also giving you a chance to get a taste of working with them.

[khangsile]

This. To be honest, I don't think it really accomplishes that much for you. For the most part, it seems like you're just making the interviewer feel awkward, and you're not really learning anything about the company. I agree with asking them about what they're working on. As a soon to be new grad, my experience is limited to only like 2 interviews, but I usually try to ask my interviewers questions pertaining to the specific project they're working on. Hopefully, you can find something about their work that interests you and ask them about it.

Aside from that, I don't think it's a good idea to look at an interview as a power struggle. It's not a you vs. them situation, but rather you're both kind of gauging if you want to work together. The first part is kind of where they determine if they want to work with you (gauging your skill) while the second part (your questions and beyond) is kind of where you determine if you want to work with them.

As far as things go, unless you're well proven, people are probably going to need to gauge your skill in some way. Don't get too nervous about the algorithmic questions. Just think of them as a type of puzzle just with much higher stakes. For some practice, if you're not familiar with this website: oj.leetcode.com.

Disclosure: I don't have much experience interviewing. That's just my take on how to look at it.