What It's Like to Interview a Software Engineer Preparing With AI
A detailed account of interviewing a candidate who used AI to prepare, highlighting the challenges of detecting AI-assisted interview preparation and strategies to ensure authentic candidate evaluation.
tl;dr
An interviewer shares their experience with a candidate who used AI to fabricate technical experiences during a job interview, and provides practical strategies for detecting and preventing such situations while maintaining professionalism.
My Thoughts
With a bit of prompting and time, someone can really fake interviews about experience and values, so it is worth being in the look out for issues.
Key strategies to detect AI-assisted preparation:
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Even in behavioral interviews, ask detailed situational questions - AI can talk about projects broadly but struggles to connect specific dots
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Ask questions that have to do with the human experience - Most engineers should be able to explain how their technical solutions mapped to actual human problems
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Insist on camera ON phone screens - Ensures the person’s identity matches their profile
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Always make a reference check before hiring - Essential final verification in the age of AI
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Conduct yourself with professionalism and empathy no matter what the situation - Reputation goes both ways
This is my personal commentary on the original article. Please read the original article for the full context.