The landscape of technical interviews is changing. More and more companies allow, and even expect, you to use AI assistants like ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot during exercises. The key is no longer just producing code that passes the tests, but demonstrating how you interact with the tool, critique its output, and explain your decisions. Rejecting AI on principle can be a disadvantage.
From Syntax to Judgment: The New Layer of Evaluation ??
The focus shifts from memorizing APIs to showing critical thinking. Interviewers observe how you debug an AI suggestion, if you identify inefficiencies or security vulnerabilities in the generated code, and how you adapt the solution to the problem context. The ability to prompt effectively and validate the result is now part of the technical test, reflecting a real workflow.
The AI Said It, I Just Copied and Pasted ??
Sure, trust blindly. Present that code snippet that Claude generated for you, without reviewing, where it uses an infinite loop to calculate a factorial. Explain with total confidence that the model optimized it. Then, during the review, you can enjoy the awkward silence while the interviewer figures out how to ask if you'd also let the AI sign your contract.