Tech Interviews: Hard, or Just Bad? (And My Cracking the Coding Interview Journey)
We’re on the hunt for senior devs at our company, people who not only code well but also fit our company values and have consulting chops. Seems simple enough, right? Wrong. Lately, it feels like we’re wading through a swamp of mismatches.
I’m hearing from our hiring team that they’re bombarded with applications from juniors showcasing, let’s be honest, very basic React projects. It’s not their fault, exactly. The junior market is definitely saturated. And with the rise of LLMs and other AI tools, it’s easier than ever for someone with limited experience to appear more proficient than they are. But this also makes it harder for companies to sort the wheat form the chaff.
This whole situation got me thinking, and naturally, I picked up “Cracking the Coding Interview” again. It’s been gathering dust in my antilibrary (you know, that collection of books you intend to read…), but now it feels relevant again. Not just for potential candidates hitting the interview grind, but for us, the interviewers! Tech interviews are hard. No one likes them. But are we making them harder than they need to be? And are we even assessing the right things?
The Junior Dilemma (and the AI Elephant in the Room)
In my early days as a junior developer, there was no magic “AI-as-a-Service” button to instantly whip up a SaaS application in languages you barely knew. You had to learn the fundamentals. You had to struggle through debugging. You built your skills through grit and perseverance. It’s hard to find a “good junior”, one that has all of those qualities these days.
I worry that these new AI tools, while incredibly powerful, might inadvertently create a generation of developers who lack that foundational knowledge and problem-solving ability. If you can copy/paste your way to a working application, do you really understand what’s going on under the hood? Can you debug it effectively when things inevitably go wrong?
This puts even more pressure on interviewers to dig deeper. We need to move beyond superficial assessments and find ways to gauge a candidate’s true understanding, their ability to learn, and their passion for problem-solving.
So, How Do We Become Better Interviewers?
Here are a few thoughts, fueled by my own recent experiences and a healthy dose of “Cracking the Coding Interview”:
- Focus on Fundamentals, Not Frameworks: Instead of grilling candidates on the latest hot framework (which will probably be obsolete in a year anyway), focus on core computer science principles: data structures, algorithms, and design patterns. “Cracking the Coding Interview” is still a good resource here, not for memorizing solutions, but for understanding the underlying concepts.
- Problem-Solving Skills: Beyond the LeetCode Grind: While coding challenges are important, make them relevant to real-world problems. Can the candidate explain why they chose a particular approach? Can they articulate the trade-offs? Are they able to break down a complex problem into smaller, manageable pieces?
- Communication and Collaboration: Can They Play Nice? Tech is a team sport. Assess how well the candidate communicates their ideas, collaborates with others, and handles constructive criticism. Are they able to explain their thought process clearly? Do they listen to feedback and incorporate it into their solution?
- Assess for Core Values: Does the candidate share the same passions, interests and ethical behaviour that you think is a good representative of the company? Will they work with their team to make more value than less? Does this person fit your company values?
- The “Why?” Question: Don’t just ask what the candidate did in their previous roles, ask why they made certain decisions. This will reveal their understanding of the underlying motivations and trade-offs.
- Be Open to Different Backgrounds: Don’t automatically dismiss candidates who don’t have a traditional computer science degree. Look for individuals with a demonstrated ability to learn and a track record of success in challenging environments.
- Empathy is Key: Remember, interviews are stressful. Create a welcoming and supportive environment that allows candidates to showcase their best selves.
Is Easy the Goal? Not Really.
The goal isn’t to make tech interviews easy. It’s to make them effective. We need to find ways to accurately assess a candidate’s true potential, their ability to learn and grow, and their fit within our company culture.
If LLMs are democratizing software development (and they probably are), then we, as interviewers, need to adapt and evolve. We need to go beyond the surface and find the hidden gems – the individuals who not only know how to use the tools but also understand why they work.
Now, back to “Cracking the Coding Interview.” I’ve got some interview questions to rewrite…