Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

kapwing.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 731 posts

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#411

Post by sidrag22 »

NullPrefix wrote: post #388
Aurornis wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The thing is, none of these things really changed with AI I agree that lying was possible before AI, but something about AI has emboldened a lot more people to try to lie. Something about having the machine fabricate the lie for you seems to lessen the guilt of lying. There's also a growing sentiment online that using AI to cheat/lie is "fair" because they think companies are using AI to screen candidates. It's not…

>There's also a growing sentiment online that using AI to cheat/lie is "fair" because they think companies are using AI to screen candidates. It's not logically consistent How is it not logically consistent?

>How is it not logically consistent?

i used my words to speak to the candidate, so they think its fair game to use their words to lie.

screening using AI could be a totally legitimate usage of AI depending on how its done. cheating/lying has no chance of being legitimate. just like speaking can potentially be used to lie.

most people here arent straight up vilifying the use of AI, just certain uses of it.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#413

Post by lo_zamoyski »

kklisura wrote: post #377
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.

[in NYC accent] What, you think you're better than us

[in a Mid-Atlantic accent] No, I know that I'm better than you.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#414

Post by phito »

ed_mercer wrote: post #339

>integrity and reputation goes a long way. Was it really necessary to take the moral high ground and lecture the candidate? As if companies are honest and well-meaning in interviews. You caught him and that's the end of it.

Of course it is. If nobody tells them that what they are doing is wrong and that it might have consequences, they will continue cheating.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#415

Post by lo_zamoyski »

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

Reverse snobbery is like slave morality. It transmutes a high standard into a perverse mirror image consisting of intolerant, intentional, celebrated mediocrity.

At least requiring a suit requires something aesthetically better and more worthy of human dignity. Reverse snobbery demands you dress worse and beneath it.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#416

Post by jasonlotito »

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.

[flagged]

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#417

Post by highwaylights »

jkhanlar wrote: post #306
highwaylights wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a few red flags here on the hiring side too. I’ve given a lot of interviews, candidates will always try to come up with the best story as an answer to your question because “I can’t think of an example” is not an acceptable answer. It’s a demand you’re placing on them. Also having experience puffed up on a resume happens around 100% of the time. The point of the interview is to figure out how much real releva…

I was sharing this story and responding to various comments (here) in my conversations elsewhere on the Internet, and as part of my statements I questioned about quoting/paraphrasing the "word gets around" to determine if this is best way to reference the point, and thought I may as well share it here too. https://grok.com/share/bGVnYWN5_c0378709-b716-48af-8996-a0e4...

Thanks, interesting point and it hadn’t occurred to me that it would read like a direct quote.

I can’t edit it now, so will leave this here to say that it’s not a direct quote.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#418

Post by alabastervlog »

foobahify wrote: post #74
inertiatic wrote: post #5

I don't know how this is something related to AI - you could polish and embellish your resume before LLMs too, I'm fairly sure. I guess this gets the clicks. Not being to remember small details about certain projects is also perfectly fine for people who have worked for more than a couple of years. Unless you can discover a pattern of lying like the author supposedly did then I would just be perfectly fine moving on…

My memory had held back my career I am sure. I can't regurgitate the minute details of impact I did even 12 months ago, just broad strokes... so I prep as best I can but it probably sounds like I am lying. Now with AI and everyone is suspicious it is worse. Got downleveled to 4yoe level yoe from where I am 20yoe but I needed a job so.

I have what probably qualifies as the relatively-recently-named "severely deficient autobiographical memory".

Notes, notes, notes. Then review them before an interview. Not bullet-point notes of things that happened (that's fine too, but not just that) but make stories when they're very fresh, like, right after they happen. You won't be able to turn raw bullet points into a story later, you'll forget too much.

Then take some time to match stories to common interview questions. That's your prep document. Feel absolutely free to fill in gaps where needed, most folks' "real" memories of these things are half wrong anyway, and there may be times you literally couldn't have an acceptable answer to a common question without making some of it up, because you didn't take useful-enough notes. What are you going to do, fail every interview that asks that question forever? No, just make the story you need, connect it to reality as much as possible, and move on. But do it ahead of time. And you only need to do this once per such question. Perhaps you'll even manage to take notes on a less-invented story later (I've found that nearly all of these stories need a little invention, though, even if you have perfect notes, to fit into the acceptable range of responses)

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#419

Post by lo_zamoyski »

siva7 wrote: post #227
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 wouldn't take that advice seriously. Suit in tech would be awkward (even for most mgmt roles). Tech pioneered the concept that you don't need a suit to get the pay of a suit. You can be yourself.

"Be yourself"? What does that mean?

What if wearing a suit is "being myself"? You'll be penalized in tech for that.

Not everyone views the wearing of suits as some kind of punishment.

Re: Interviewing a software engineer who prepared with AI

#420

Post by throwaway290 »

adwf wrote: post #381
throwaway290 wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did I mention being an amazing programmer? If that's the requirement then why not. The comment was replying specifically about environment where you gotta sit through hour long meetings and that is what I wrote about maybe there is a company where being an amazing programmer is enough. I worked with capable depressed programmer who never delivers and is too shy to delegate anything, capable psycho programmer wh…

> Where did I mention being an amazing programmer? I mean... that's what the title and context of the discussion thread is all about?

If you are an amazing programmer but can't function in the 1 hour sitdown meeting which is part of your job activities then you are de facto worse candidate than the next amazing programmer who can, that's just how it is.
Post reply on HN