Since it's been a while from my last job interview I'm wondering how companies are hiring programmers nowadays. Do they still require leetcode exercises? What about take-home exercises? Or is it all done in real time during a call?
My last interviews all had a take-home project that I had to do (some paid and some not), is that still the case? I'd guess that with agents that changed a lot since someone could just have Claude doing all the work and submit it back.
I want to both create a process that is fair and worth the time on both the parts, but also want to know what other companies are doing in order to start preparing if I'll get lucky and move to the next interviewing steps.
How is it at your company or in your [recent] experience?
1. Traditional Big Tech Interview Style
A LeetCode-style coding exercise during the phone screen, followed by an onsite consisting of a mix of system design, debugging, additional LeetCode problems, and behavioral/product interviews.
2. Early-Stage Startup Style
Start with a coding homework where you're expected to build using agentic coding tools. The interviewer expects a fully working prototype, along with thoughtful design decisions and trade-offs. Note that for manager/director level hires, homework is usually a ppt presentation. Onsite completely depends on who is the hiring manager, different not just on company but on who is the hiring manager.
Early-stage startups seem more interested in seeing how you use AI agents to build real software, rather than just how well you solve isolated leetcode problems.
Hope this helps!