On one hand, that’s what it always was, by definition - a company is looking for the best candidates it can get with a given budget, and the best-case scenario for the company is there’s a large pool of candidates to choose from.
On the other hand, from my perspective and experience on both sides of the interview table, to me it seems like the perception that this is adversarial is coming primarily from young candidates whinging on the internet in large numbers about interviews being unfair or “broken” or doing it the wrong way. Every time this comes up on HN, there are hordes of comments demanding we stop whiteboarding in interviews, or claiming anything not exactly in the job description is out of bounds, or decrying the abuse that coding live inflicts. There are blog posts every week about how to fix the problem, where the problem is usually the interviewee’s comfort, and not the company’s efficiency or effectiveness.
The truth is that companies need people, and the employees there do want new colleagues. If you truly understand that, and also that the selection process is unavoidable and working as designed, then it will help you navigate the selection process and appeal to the company, it will help you get the job.
I’m well aware of the fears young candidates have, since I was one. Getting a job can be hard, and it might even be getting harder over time. But to me it’s also funny that software engineers looking for 6-figure salary jobs complain about interviews and competition and having to demo their skills for an hour or two. Don’t forget to look around at other industries and ask whether it’s really better over there. People in music and films and advertising and art have to grind for years, suffer low-wage or historically unpaid internships. Doctors have to do residency, grad school, and get licensed. Most people make less money, many people have to do labor. Most jobs have much bigger downsides than what we have to do in our interviews as software engineers.
We have opportunity and privilege and with the right practice and attitude and with reasonable expectations, it’s really not that hard to do well in interviews and land a good job. Many kids are hearing stories of FAANG and million dollar salaries and expecting to somehow land their first job out of school in one of the top 5 most coveted and competitive companies. I know this because I just spent a day at a university career fair a few weeks ago talking to hundreds of graduating seniors, most of whom are all expecting to shoot the moon for the same 3 jobs, and most of whom are not very eager to consider the idea of starting at a smaller company and working their way up for a few years. FAANG feels adversarial only because it’s actually legitimately super competitive, but as a candidate, figuring out how to have a non-adversarial approach is the key to getting the job. Tools like this are the opposite of what they need.