Live coding interviews measure stress, not coding skills (hadid.dev)

Article summary

The article discusses how live coding interviews can be a poor measure of a candidate's coding skills, as they often induce stress and can lead to false negatives. The author shares their personal experience of failing a live coding test despite being able to solve the problem later, and cites a scientific study that found participants performed worse when being watched. The article suggests that live coding tests may be unfair, particularly for individuals with performance anxiety or hidden disabilities. The author proposes that companies should consider alternative methods to assess coding skills, such as take-home projects or pair programming exercises.

Main themes

• Live coding interviews
• Stress and performance anxiety
• Coding skills assessment
• Hiring practices
• Diversity and inclusion
• Alternative interview methods

What commenters say

• Live coding interviews are a poor measure of coding skills and should be replaced with alternative methods.
• Some companies use live coding interviews to filter out candidates who are not a good culture fit, rather than to assess coding skills.
• Take-home projects can be a more effective way to assess coding skills, but they can also be gamed by using tools like ChatGPT.
• The ability to work under pressure and deliver results is more important than coding skills in many cases.
• Live coding interviews can be unfair to individuals with hidden disabilities, such as autism or anxiety disorders.
• The use of AI tools like ChatGPT can make it difficult to assess a candidate's true coding abilities.
• A combination of methods, including take-home projects and in-person interviews, may be the most effective way to assess a candidate's skills and fit.
• The goal of the hiring process should be to find the best candidate, rather than to try to achieve a perfect hire.