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Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

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Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#321

Post by jannesan »

Foofoobar12345 wrote: post #134

We get a few thousand fresh grads applying to us each year. It’s practically impossible to interview every one of them. At the same time, any sort of coding assignment we give is easily defeated by AI—so that’s not useful either and there are very few signals there. What we do instead is send out a test - something like a mental ability test - with hundreds of somewhat randomized questions. Many of these are highly v…

As a candidate, this sort of test gives me the worst possible impression of the company.

- 0 effort on your side - very stressful for me - completely unrelated to job - ridiculous definition of someone being “smart”

Actually, I would not even do the test most likely and I bet many others neither.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#322

Post by exe34 »

tuvang wrote: post #281
_blk wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I learned, you can also be yourself, never wear a suit on the job and still wear one for the interview. First impressions count. Once people know I can wear a suit they just don't seem to mind me in shorts anymore.. So I might have a social skill after all :D

First impressions do count but I think the above poster has a point, a suit can actually harm your chances in an environment where no one wears suits.

can you just ask them before the interview? "is it okay to wear a suit, or do you guys have a stick up your..."?

I personally dress like a hobo when I'm out and about, and wear a uniform of jeans and a blue shirt when I go into the office, so I really don't care about the suit either way. I'm wearing it for your benefit, so if you don't like it, just tell me upfront - don't make me guess if the job isn't about mindreading.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#323

Post by whywhywhywhy »

cynicalsecurity wrote: post #120

The company cheats by being a tightwad and by conducting an online interview (which have always been prone to cheating or embellishing, and companies perfectly know it) and the candidate cheats by using this opportunity. I can't stop repeating it, just invite the candidate to your office. That's it, that's how simple the problem is solved.

Honestly doing in person filters for so many red flags and the most egregious of remote work scams like over-employment and just fake candidates.

You also just get a much better idea if the person will work well in the team and if they're passionate about the work.

Stopped hiring people who can't show up for a chat.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#324

Post by WesolyKubeczek »

atoav wrote: post #217

A colleague of mine got his job using an AI assisted cover letter. I was part of the interview where he still convinced everyone that he knew his shit. I am happy with his hire now, a year later.

I never know what to write in those so it doesn’t just repeat highlights from my CV in a paragraph form. I would sure use some chatgippity to help me there.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#325

Post by michaelt »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #303
jaredklewis wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - And yeah, you guys, it's time to buy a suit. Others have already commented on this, but do you work in tech? IME getting interviewed by directors and even VPs in t-shirts is the norm. I’ve worn jeans to work my whole career. If anything, I think people in tech have a strong prejudice against people in suits (ie “obviously this person isn’t a real software engineer, they’re wearing a suit.”) Anyway, probably not g…

I was once turned down by Microsoft (in the 1990s), because I wore a suit to the interview. They made a point of mentioning it.

So tech got rid of the suits, but kept the desire to judge people at interviews based on their clothes?

Great. Fantastic job everyone /S

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#326

Post by relativ575 »

mariusor wrote: post #316
biztos wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Prove you’re deaf” would be a pretty rude thing to say, but you also don’t want to hire someone who’s lying about a disability. Presumably you’d do some kind of vetting before an in-person interview, and certainly before a hire. Anyway in Germany I bet there’s a Taubenausweis (Gehöhrlosigkeitsbescheinigung?) or other form of official status marker, and the employer would expect you to show it to HR.

Sorry for the snark, but yeah, I agree, human dignity and empathy have no place in the capitalist work place. You must prove you're disabled or else.

I've worked under communist regime. A real one, a few decades ago, and let me tell you, they also demanded proof of disability. Did you have different experience?

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#327

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

michaelt wrote: post #325
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was once turned down by Microsoft (in the 1990s), because I wore a suit to the interview. They made a point of mentioning it.

So tech got rid of the suits, but kept the desire to judge people at interviews based on their clothes? Great. Fantastic job everyone /S

I remember reading, when IBM turned "business casual," that everyone adopted the same outfit: Khaki slacks, and blue polo shirts.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#328

Post by porridgeraisin »

mariusor wrote: post #316
biztos wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Prove you’re deaf” would be a pretty rude thing to say, but you also don’t want to hire someone who’s lying about a disability. Presumably you’d do some kind of vetting before an in-person interview, and certainly before a hire. Anyway in Germany I bet there’s a Taubenausweis (Gehöhrlosigkeitsbescheinigung?) or other form of official status marker, and the employer would expect you to show it to HR.

Sorry for the snark, but yeah, I agree, human dignity and empathy have no place in the capitalist work place. You must prove you're disabled or else.

What's wrong with asking people to prove they're disabled? There definitely exist people that lie about being disabled too. Many places have a persons with disability certificate given by the government, so "proving", just means entering the ID of that certificate in a form.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#329

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #291
donnachangstein wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so neuro divergence isn't a legitimate disability? It doesn't really matter if it is or isn't, if being able to function well around other humans is a job requirement, as it often is in technical occupations. Why do you think behavioral questions are often asked during interviews? For the same reason someone who requires a wheelchair could not reasonably be expected to be a firefighter, or a blind person be a pilot…

Yeah but software / digital is a great equalizer, where all kinds of people can contribute even with disabilities or neurodivergence. The whataboutism doesn't really work.

Sure. But if you are unable to really explain yourself and your thought process in the hiring process, they might feel like you are unfit for the interview. they are way more likely to pick a guy who might be a little worse than you in coding but they actually liked him in the interview.

I mean, this comment is literally an emotion. It's not a fact, and even if it was, well it's changing thanks to AI and all the people who promote AI, and AI isn't going anywhere, so neurodivergent people really I think might have to disclose it/ Maybe if they can truly prove that they are neurodivergent, companies can go back to remote interviews?

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#330

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

This guy sounds like a good manager, that took his responsibilities in vetting candidates, seriously. Kind of a "unicorn," these days, it seems. Many managers are tossed the CV, ten minutes before the interview, and are yanked off of whatever critical project they were stressing over, to do an interview.

I would probably have been fooled by the applicant's screening interview, but it would have rapidly come apart, in the ensuing steps.

My team was a very small team of high-functioning C++ programmers, where each member was Responsible for some pretty major functionality.

This kind of thing might be something they could get away with, in larger organizations, where they would get lost in the tall grass, but smaller outfits -especially ones where everyone is on the critical path, like startups- would expose the miscreant fairly quickly.

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