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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

#391

Post by subjectsigma »

no-dr-onboard wrote: post #45

I keep coming back to this phrase used in this post: "it was scary". Yeah, hiring is scary. Hiring is insanely expensive on all fronts. Firing people is difficult, it's expensive and legally exposing. Hiring the wrong person, allowing them access your systems and potentially exfiltrate your IP to them is a hazardous but necessary venture. The thing is, none of these things really changed with AI. People have been lyi…

AI has definitely changed the dynamic; more people think they can get away with lying without getting caught. They trust the AI’s ability to lie more than their own.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#392

Post by lores »

khazhoux wrote: post #312
roenxi wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd want to see some actual hard evidence before I believed that. The usual way social cues work is they are devastatingly effective even if people claim they are not. Much like how most interviewers are honestly convinced that their approach is unbiased but in practice they tend to hire people who are like themselves. My expectation is that turning up in a suit would get better results. The effect is probably smalle…

Wearing a suit to a tech interview in silicon valley would without a doubt send the signal that either (a) they have absolutely no clue about SV work culture, or (b) they’re a “look at me” guy who dresses odd on purpose

If they're young it can also be because that's what they've been told to do, if they're from a different culture (even an American one) it may be shockingly weird not to wear a suit to an interview, and there are even people who wear suits all the time because a well-made suit is very comfortable, with no more showing off involved than dressing up any other way. An interview is not a regular work day, best not to summarily judge people like that.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#393

Post by lores »

atq2119 wrote: post #363
dagw wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. There are many ways to wear a suit. If you walking in wearing a suit that doesn't fit, doesn't suite (no pun intended) you, and it obviously makes you feel uncomfortable then that could count against you. But you walk in wearing a suit that fits, makes you look good, a…

Wearing a suit to a technical interview is an immediate red flag. Everybody knows you don't wear suits in this industry, so what's your motive? Your ability to wear a suit is irrelevant for the job, so what weaknesses that are relevant are you rather clumsily trying to hide?

An interview is not a regular work day. If only things relevant to the job were required in an interview, no one would be talking about whiteboard exercises.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#394

Post by lores »

WJW wrote: post #333
dagw wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. There are many ways to wear a suit. If you walking in wearing a suit that doesn't fit, doesn't suite (no pun intended) you, and it obviously makes you feel uncomfortable then that could count against you. But you walk in wearing a suit that fits, makes you look good, a…

If there is a de facto dress code and you knowingly go against it, even if you look good in whatever you do wear, it makes you look like you don't understand the prevailing norms. This could lead to worries you might not align with other team norms either.

If it's so important, the interview invite should mention that casual wear is expected. Like it or not, most people take interviews seriously, and have been taught that you show you take the interview seriously by wearing a suit.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#395

Post by baketnk »

drivingmenuts wrote: post #158
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…

The general rule seems to be if you’re not customer-facing, then no suit is needed. Just wear clean, neat clothes and that’s usually enough. If a suit or uniform is needed, that would be noted up front.

is it bad form to just like, ask your HR screener what the general dress code/vibe is like?

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#396

Post by Apocryphon »

ryandrake wrote: post #390
sarchertech wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally no other industry except for the performing arts interviews like this. No one else expects senior people to perform “work samples” under pressure, they just talk to them and dig into past work. All of the really damaging hires, I’ve seen in the last couple decades have been engineers with high negative productivity who were great at passing high pressure technical interviews. Also in a couple decades workin…

I’ve always wondered: is there a LeetCode equivalent for doctors? When a hospital interviews a surgeon, do they roll out a cadaver and ask them to remove the gall bladder in 15 minutes while the interviewer scrutinizes how they hold the scalpel?

It’s because medicine, with its residencies and HN-mocked credentialism, is closer to traditional craftsmanship and the progression of apprentice-journeyman-master than the “every hacker for themselves” world of modern tech.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#397

Post by lores »

crabbone wrote: post #351
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…

The only programmers I've ever seen wearing a suit to work were the ones working in a bank. Not sure if that was a requirement or just a local tradition. Just saying that it happens, but seems very rare.

It's not unusual in Europe - but then Europeans tend to dress smarter than Americans in general too.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#398

Post by thunderfork »

throwaway290 wrote: post #368
watercolorblind wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A physically impaired person can be a good yoga instructor: they'll suggest alternatives, different/better cues, or provide more accessible classes such as yin or seated yoga. Just because they are physically impaired now doesn't mean they were before, and an instructor won't necessarily move through the poses with the class since they can have 2-3 classes per day.

If you don't like yoga instructor just replace it with crossfit trainer or olympic athlete or tree surgeon or personal bodyguard Edit: replaced "triggered" with "don't like"

[dead]

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#399

Post by baketnk »

donnachangstein wrote: post #179
eikenberry wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right about hiring not being that much different but your prognostications are way off IMO. > - people are probably going to have to fly out for interviews, again. Fly where? Many companies don't have offices anymore. > - awkward and/or neurodivergent people are going to have to learn social skills again. Ahh... the age old, "just do better" position for neurodivergent people. Classic bigotry. > - And yeah, y…

> Classic bigotry. Hiring is all about finding the best candidate. If you find you cannot function sitting in conference room with three other people for an hour, there is a 100% chance there is a better candidate suited for the role, even if his/her technical skills are less than yours. Jobs have soft skill requirements, and there is nothing bigoted about that.

there is a world of difference between interacting with three people you don't know for an hour for the explicit purpose of stress testing your experience and knowledge and interacting with three people that you talk to every day talking about a project that is well familiar to you.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#400

Post by ryandrake »

ghaff wrote: post #228
gwbas1c wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The candidate wasn't supposed to know the questions in advance. > The second part sounds like areal curveball That was the point. The candidate wasn't supposed to know the questions in advance. Once the candidate can practice / memorize, there's no way to evaluate the candidate.

That was not clear from your original comment. I read it as the company gave them the questions to presumably think about/prep.

I had the same impression. It sounded like he was given the questions for preparation as part of the company’s process, and then OP deliberately tricked him by asking him one that wasn’t on the official list.
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