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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?

#651

Post by CharlieDigital »

About 18 months ago, I interviewed with a YC startup and the first round was actually a code review. It included an API which included some SQL commands as well as a SQL schema. I pointed out missing validations, missing error handling, lack of indices, alternate data types, possible XSS vectors, etc.

It was a really great format and I think one that creates better separation between good candidates and great candidates because it is more open-ended and collaborative. One of my favorite technical interviews I've engaged in.

I think that now, with AI coding assistants becoming even more integral than those early days 18 months ago, this approach is more relevant than ever since it gives insight into how efficiently a candidate can quickly review AI generated code for correctness, defects, performance issues, and other gaps in quality.

I liked this format so much that I ended up creating a small open-source tool for it to make it easier to manage this process: https://coderev.app (https://github.com/CharlieDigital/coderev)

(The interviewer had to create a private GH repo and the repo itself didn't support commenting inline; I took my notes in a text file and reviewed it interactively with the interviewer).

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

#653

Post by ddingus »

Stratoscope wrote: post #435
fhd2 wrote: post #416

The last time I've used a leet code style interview was in 2012, and it resulted in a bad hire (who just happened to have trained on the questions we used). I've hired something like 150 developers so far, and what I ended up with after a few years of trial and error: 1. Use recruiters and network: Wading through the sheer volume of applications was even nasty before COVID, I don't even want to imagine what it's like…

When I was interviewing candidates at IBM, I came up with a process I was really happy with. It started with a coding challenge involving several public APIs, in fact the same coding challenge that was given to me when I interviewed there. What I added: 1. Instead of asking "do you have any questions for me?" at the very end, we started with that general discussion. 2. A few days ahead, I emailed the candidate the pr…

I spent a decade and change doing adult instruction in CAD. Early on, many were still transitioning off 2d hand drawings. Boy, was that an art! I got to do a few the very old school way and have serious respect for the people who can produce a complex assembly drawing that way. Same for many shapes that may feature compound curves, for example.

But I digress!

Asking them what they wanted or would teach me was very illuminating and frankly, fun all around! I was brought a variety of subjects and not a single one was dull!

Seems I had experiences similar to yours.

One of my questions was influenced by someone who I respected highly asking, "what books are on your shelf at home?"

This one almost always brought out something about the candidate I would have had no clue about otherwise. As time advanced, it became more about titles because fewer people maintain a physical book shelf!

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

#654

Post by ddingus »

vanceism7_ wrote: post #454
Stratoscope wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was interviewing candidates at IBM, I came up with a process I was really happy with. It started with a coding challenge involving several public APIs, in fact the same coding challenge that was given to me when I interviewed there. What I added: 1. Instead of asking "do you have any questions for me?" at the very end, we started with that general discussion. 2. A few days ahead, I emailed the candidate the pr…

That sounds really cool. I wish I was running into more job interviews like the one you describe. The adversarial interviewing really hurts the entire feel of the process

Man, I really hate it!

I can't fathom how making the whole process being all hostile makes any real sense!

We all want that great person to show up and really help, not just cope or put up a facade to survive.

Yet, that is exactly what happens. People that other people expect to bond with get put through the wringer....

Seems counterproductive to me.

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

#655

Post by yesiamyourdad »

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…

That's an interesting point about watching how they work with AI. The people I know who are most successful actually engage in back & forth.

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

#656

Post by ddingus »

thakoppno wrote: post #621
biztos wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What, what? Harmonicas are tunable? TIL...

Isn’t every physical thing tunable since its materials have a resonant frequency?

Sure. Seems so, right? I would agree.

Once we are there, it then is all about techniques. Working from first principles is going to get us there, but there are likely pitfalls, traps, all manner of gotchas laying in wait...

And there we now have a basis for further discussion.

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

#657

Post by ddingus »

another2another wrote: post #533
Stratoscope wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? I can assure you with 100% certainty that the most important point - "teach me something" - was entirely my own innovation. I am tempted to take some offense at your comment. But I have to assume that you mean well. You are correct that I don't work for IBM any more. What does that have to do with anything?

I'm surprised at the negativity your approach seems to have sparked in a few, but I found it really great, probably very effective as well and will probably start to use it at some point. Thanks for sharing.

So was I! Frankly, having done similar things, I found their comment here lucid, well thought out and valuable enough to write some things in resonance.

My take is the negatives may just be people leaning hard on, "if it seems too good to be true...

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

#658

Post by yieldcrv »

Aachen wrote: post #376
yieldcrv wrote: post #266

I recently did an interview that that involved making pull requests for code updates across a time period That seemed to thwart AI use, at least thwart one-shotting, and require understanding and experience with working in an organization I liked that

What does that even mean? Trickling in changes you want to make via multiple pull requests, spaced across days or months or whatever, instead of submitting it at once?

across a few hours but, yes, exactly that

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

#659

Post by yesiamyourdad »

About 20 years ago, I used to do interviews that were "write a program to add two numbers together" (I think specifically I asked for a web application). It's trivial, right? There's actually a lot going on. They have to parse input, and sometimes you get strange things like "well if I make it use doubles then I'll cover all scenarios". You have opportunities to talk about error handling (bad characters in the input, int overflow, etc). You can talk about refactoring (now make it handle -,* & /). You can ask them about writing tests. Ask about how they'd handle arbitrarily large numbers. There's a bunch of ways you could take the conversation and really just talk about average developer activites.

What I liked about that process is that it relied less on their ability to suss out a solution to some problem they'll never have to solve on the job and focused more on average activities. Sometimes I'd get a candidate who would go "wait, is this a trap?" and start asking a lot of questions - good! Now I got to see them refine requirements.

Having them review a PR is a good exercise too, you can see how they are at feedback.

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

#660

Post by steelframe »

kortilla wrote: post #128
ryandvm wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, I kind of feel like leetcode interviews are a situation where the employer is cheating. I mean, you're admittedly filtering out a great number of acceptable candidates knowing that if you just find 1 in a 1000, that'll be good enough. It is patently unfair to the individuals that are smart enough to do your work, but poor at some farcical representation of the work. That is cheating. In my opinion, if a…

The employer sets the terms of the interview. If you don’t like them, don’t apply. What you’re suggesting here isn’t any different than submitting a fraudulent resume because you disagree with the required qualifications.

> If you don’t like them, don’t apply.

Due to the prevalence of the practice this is tantamount to suggesting constructive unemployability.

People were up in arms about widespread doping during the Lance Armstrong era. But the only viable alternative to doping at the time was literally to not compete at all.

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