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Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

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Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#161

Post by [deleted] »

b112 wrote: post #105
le-mark wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you cite case law around where some one misrepresented their capabilities in a job interview and were criminally prosecuted? Like what criminal statute specifically was charged? You won’t find it, because at worst this would fall under a contract dispute and hence civil law. Screeching “fraud is a crime” hysterically serves no one.

Fraud can be described as deceit to profit in some way. You may note the rigidity of the process above, where I indicated a defined set of conditions. It costs employers money to on board someone, not just in pay, but in other employees training that person. Obviously the case must be clear cut, but I've personally hired someone who clearly cheated during the remote phone interview, and literally couldn't even code a…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#162

Post by roughly »

chowells wrote: post #144
mr_00ff00 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So depressing to hear that “because of rampant cheating” As a person looking for a job, I’m really not sure what to do. If people are lying on their resumes and cheating in interviews, it feels like there’s nothing I can do except do the same. Otherwise I’ll remain jobless. But to this day I haven’t done either.

Here's the thing: 95% of cheaters still suck, even when cheating. Its hard to imagine how people can perform so badly while cheating, yet they consistently do. All you need to do to stand out is not be utterly awful. Worrying about what other people are doing is more detrimental to your performance than anything else is. Just focus on yourself: being broadly competent, knowing your niche well, and being good at commu…

Yeah, we found this when we started doing take-home exams: it turns out that a junior dev who spends twice as much time on the problem than what we asked them to doesn’t put out senior-level code - we could read the skill level in the code almost instantly. Same thing with cheating like that - it turns out knowing the answer isn’t the same thing as having experience, and it’s pretty obvious pretty quickly which one you’re dealing with.

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#163

Post by dahart »

mr_00ff00 wrote: post #99
twoparachute45 wrote: post #70

My company, a very very large company, is transitioning back to only in-person interviews due to the rampant amount of cheating happening during interviews. As an interviewer, it's wild to me how many candidates think they can get away with it, when you can very obviously hear them typing, then watching their eyes move as they read an answer from another screen. And the majority of the time the answer is incorrect an…

So depressing to hear that “because of rampant cheating” As a person looking for a job, I’m really not sure what to do. If people are lying on their resumes and cheating in interviews, it feels like there’s nothing I can do except do the same. Otherwise I’ll remain jobless. But to this day I haven’t done either.

> it feels like there’s nothing I can do except do the same.

Why does it feel like that when you’re replying to someone who already points out that it doesn’t work? Cheating can prevent you from getting a job, and it can get you fired from the job too. It can also impede your ability to learn and level up your own skills. I’m glad you haven’t done it yet, just know that you can be a better candidate and increase your chances by not cheating.

Using an LLM isn’t cheating if the interviewer allows it. Whether they allow it or not, there’s still no substitute for putting in the work. Interviews are a skill that can (and should) be practiced. Candidates are rarely hired for technical skill alone. Attitude, communication, curiosity, and lots of other soft skills are severely underestimated by so many job seekers, especially those coming right out of school. A small amount of strengthening your non-code abilities can improve your odds much faster than leetcode ever will. And if you have time, why not do both?

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#164

Post by shihab »

To get an idea of just how advanced cheating tools has become, take a look here:

https://leetcodewizard.io/

I think every interviewer, hiring manager ought to know or be trained on these tools, your intuition about candidate's behaviour isn't enough. Otherwise, we will soon reach a tipping point where honest candidates will be at a severe disadvantage.

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#165

Post by twoparachute45 »

wsintra2022 wrote: post #146
twoparachute45 wrote: post #70

My company, a very very large company, is transitioning back to only in-person interviews due to the rampant amount of cheating happening during interviews. As an interviewer, it's wild to me how many candidates think they can get away with it, when you can very obviously hear them typing, then watching their eyes move as they read an answer from another screen. And the majority of the time the answer is incorrect an…

Is it cheating if I can solve the problem using the tools of AI, or is it just solving the problem?

If you've been given the problem of "without using AI, answer this question", and you use an AI, you haven't solved the problem.

The ultimate question that an interview is trying to answer is not "can this person solve this equation I gave them?", it's usually something along the lines of "does this person exhibit characteristics of a trustworthy and effective employee?". Using AI when you've been asked not to is an automatic failure of trust.

This isn't new or unique to AI, either. Before AI people would sometimes try to look up answers on Google. People will write research papers by looking up information on Wikipedia. And none of those things are wrong, as long as they're done honestly and up front.

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#167

Post by mmh0000 »

shaneoh wrote: post #68
ryan-duve wrote: post #19

My startup got acquired last year so I haven't interviewed anyone in a while, but my technical interview has always been: - share your screen - download/open the coding challenge - you can use any website, Stack Overflow, whatever, to answer my questions as long as it's on the screenshare My goal is to determine if the candidate can be technically productive, so I allow any programming language, IDE, autocompleter, e…

I recently interviewed for my team and tried this same approach. I thought it made sense because I want to see how people can actually work and problem solve given all the tools at their disposal, just like on the job. It proved to be awkward and clumsy very quickly. Some candidates resisted it since they clearly thought it would make them judged harsher. Some candidates were on the other extreme and basically tried…

Over the years, I've walked from several "live coding" interviews. Arguably though, if you're looking for "social coders" maybe the interview is working as intended?

But for me, it's just not how my brain works. If someone is watching me, I'll be so self-conscious the entire time you'll get a stream of absolute nonsense that makes me look like I learned programming from YouTube last night. So it's not worth the time.

You want some good programming done? I need headphones, loud music, a closed door and a supply of Diet Coke. I'll see you in a few hours.

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#168

Post by t-writescode »

sergioisidoro wrote: post #63

I've let people use GPT in coding interviews, provided that they show me how they use it. At the end I'm interested in knowing how a person solves a problem, and thinks about it. Do they just accept whatever crap the gpt gives them, can they take a critical approach to it, etc. So far, everyone that elected to use GPT did much worse. They did not know what to ask, how to ask, and did not "collaborate" with the AI. So…

I imagine most of the things that would be good uses for seniors in AI aren't great uses for a coding interview anyway.

"Oh, I don't remember how to do parameterized testing in junit, okay, I'll just copy-paste like crazy, or make a big for-loop in this single test case"

"Oh, I don't remember the API call for this one thing, okay, I'll just chat with the interviewer, maybe they remember - or I'll just say 'this function does this' and the interviewer and I will just agree that it does that".

Things more complicated than that that need exact answers shouldn't exist in an interview.

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#169

Post by AznHisoka »

mmh0000 wrote: post #167
shaneoh wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently interviewed for my team and tried this same approach. I thought it made sense because I want to see how people can actually work and problem solve given all the tools at their disposal, just like on the job. It proved to be awkward and clumsy very quickly. Some candidates resisted it since they clearly thought it would make them judged harsher. Some candidates were on the other extreme and basically tried…

Over the years, I've walked from several "live coding" interviews. Arguably though, if you're looking for "social coders" maybe the interview is working as intended? But for me, it's just not how my brain works. If someone is watching me, I'll be so self-conscious the entire time you'll get a stream of absolute nonsense that makes me look like I learned programming from YouTube last night. So it's not worth the time.…

Yep, if I’m forced to talk through the problem, I’ll force myself to go through various things that you might want to hear, that I wouldn’t do.

Whereas my natural approach would be to take a long shower, workout etc and let my brain wander a bit before digging into it. But that wouldn’t fly during an interview..

Re: Ask HN: What is interviewing like now with everyone using AI?

#170

Post by dahart »

halfcat wrote: post #159
MathCodeLove wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re spending the time applying and submitting something then you might as well spend the extra 30 minutes or so to do it right, no?

Not if you’re applying to hundreds, or thousands of jobs. Unless you know someone, it’s a quantity game.

I’ve screened a lot of resumes and given a lot of interviews over the years, and it’s usually obvious when people are trying the scattershot approach, they just don’t match. I feel like treating it like a quantity game is unlikely to improve your odds, and tbh spamming out hundreds or thousands of applications sounds like a miserable way to spend time. You could spend that time meeting and talking to people. I’ve never applied to more than 2 jobs at once, jobs that I actually want, and never had trouble getting at least one of them (and it still takes time and effort and some coding and interviews).
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