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AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

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Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#31

Post by mixedCase »

I've been interviewing a bunch of developers the past year or so, and this:

> Architectural interviews are likely safe for a few years yet. From talking to people who have run these, it’s evident that someone is using AI. They often stop with long pauses, do not quite explain things succinctly, and do not understand the questions well enough to prompt the correct answer. As AI gets better (and faster), this will likely follow the same fate as the rest but I would give it some years yet.

Completely matches my experience. I don't do leet code BS, just "let's have a talk". I ask you questions about things you tell me you know about, and things I expect of someone at the level you're selling yourself at. The longest it's taken me to detect one of these scumbags was 15 minutes, and an extra 5 minutes to make sure.

Some of them make mistakes that are beyond stupid, like identity theft of someone who was born, raised and graduated in a country whose main language they cannot speak.

The smartest ones either do not know when to stop answering your questions with perfect answers (they just do not know what they're supposed to not know), or fumble their delivery and end up looking like unauthentic puppets. You just keep grinding them until you catch em.

I'm sure it's not infallible, but that's inherent to hiring. The only problem with this is cost, you're going to need a senior+ dev running the interview, and IME most are not happy to do so. But this might just be what the price of admission for running a hiring pipeline for software devs is nowadays. Heck, now feels like a good time to start a recruitment process outsourcing biz focused on the software industry.

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#32

Post by givemeethekeys »

jarsin wrote: post #2

I never understood why Big Tech never setup contracts with all the SAT and ACT test centers across the country. Even before Zoom with Codepads it would have made sense for the recruiters to send potential candidates to a test center to do a pre assessment rather than waste time with engineers sitting on prescreen calls all day.

In the US and Canada, to get into university, there is, or at least used to be, a standard entrance exam or something close to it (the SAT in the US, OAC scores if you were from Ontario, Canada, etc..).

Additionally, Undergraduate programs in the US and Canada, at least used to, despite their varied reputation, have a pretty standard program.

Maybe things have deteriorated so far at the high school and university level that new standardized exams are needed. But we also have a plethora of verifiable certifications whose exams are held in independent test facilities.

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#34

Post by BiraIgnacio »

I don't think it did, if anyone cares. The way I've been advocating to my colleagues who are concerned about "cheating" is that there's probably a problem with the interview process. I prefer to focus on the think, rather than the solve.

Collaborate, as opposed to just do.

Things that really tell me if I can work with that person and if together, we can make good things.

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#35

Post by janalsncm »

rvz wrote: post #26

Or you can just given them a way to bypass all of that, and ask them about any significant project that the candidate did build (which is relevant to the job description, open or closed source that is released) or even open source contributions towards widely used and significant projects. (Not hello world, or demo projects, or README changes.) Both scenarios are easily verifiable (can check that you released the pro…

This would be a nice interview for candidates who have open source contributions, but many who have day jobs do not. Or their open source code is 5 years old and not representative of their current skill set.

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#36

Post by tokioyoyo »

tonymet wrote: post #13
tokioyoyo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I'm interviewing, I'm putting about 30% of the weight towards "would I enjoy working with this person on a daily basis?", but in the context of technical discussions. Standardized testing won't be able to replicate it.

you're not allowed to discriminate

Discriminate against... a personality that will negatively impact the team dynamics? It's not that easy, to be honest, as every team has its own requirements.

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#37

Post by janalsncm »

jarsin wrote: post #2

I never understood why Big Tech never setup contracts with all the SAT and ACT test centers across the country. Even before Zoom with Codepads it would have made sense for the recruiters to send potential candidates to a test center to do a pre assessment rather than waste time with engineers sitting on prescreen calls all day.

That maybe end up happening. Send them to a test center to do their remote hacker rank interview. Doesn’t even need to be standardized. I don’t like it but it’s one of the lower friction options.

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#38

Post by benatkin »

AlexGizis wrote: post #23
jarsin wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Standardized plus the ability for companies to do their own test after they pass the standard one. So go get prescreened at test center then use that test to apply for jobs. Company either flys you in for in-person or sends you back to test center to do live remote interview in controlled environment.

It's been tried and failed: Sun Microsystems pushed certifications in the 90s. Pass the test on some technology, get the certification. Then they studied performance. The result? More certifications implied a worse employee. The reason was the top performing employees had no time to study for the exams, but the managers of the bottom performing employees were happy to send them off to training and testing. And then t…

That was something quite different that got tried. This would be more based on aptitude rather than knowledge.

Of course, they'd miss out on some good talent. But in the article where it shows the quote of someone getting rejected for not inverting a binary tree on a whiteboard, that doesn't seem like a terrible thing to test for.

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#39

Post by arscan »

jarsin wrote: post #2

I never understood why Big Tech never setup contracts with all the SAT and ACT test centers across the country. Even before Zoom with Codepads it would have made sense for the recruiters to send potential candidates to a test center to do a pre assessment rather than waste time with engineers sitting on prescreen calls all day.

Im revisiting technical interview prep because it has been awhile and it seems like a good time for a refresher, and it is striking how similar it all is to SAT and GMAT prep these days. A pretty cookie-cutter performance that is mostly about demonstrating that you have the time and means to properly prepare. Might as well just go the extra step at that point and have it be exactly like those standardized tests… take them once at a test center, get a score that is valid for a few years that you can just send in with your application…

Re: AI killed the tech interview. Now what?

#40

Post by ivanjermakov »

In my uni days, I respected professors who designed exam in a way where students can utilize whatever they could to complete the assignment, including internet, their notes, calculators, etc.

I think the same applies to good tech interview. Company should adapt hiring process to friend with AI, not fight.

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