For a work sample, I’d leave one requirement a little ambiguous and tell the candidate they can ask questions. During my AiSDR (it's YC S23) interview, I was allowed to search and ask for clarification. I initially thought that was a trap. I once wrote about finding out what the CTO was looking for (https://domelian.substack.com/p/1000-days-at-yc-company): what I did when I got stuck, and whether we could think through the problem together. I’d make that permission explicit, especially if candidates are also allowed to use AI.
Pretty much the same as always. I am an ancient JavaScript guy, so most of the interviews comprise opinions about subjects for young people with limited experience that I find to be absolutely unnecessary. That goes about as well as it sounds.
For a work sample, I’d leave one requirement a little ambiguous and tell the candidate they can ask questions. During my AiSDR (it's YC S23) interview, I was allowed to search and ask for clarification. I initially thought that was a trap. I once wrote about finding out what the CTO was looking for (https://domelian.substack.com/p/1000-days-at-yc-company): what I did when I got stuck, and whether we could think through the problem together. I’d make that permission explicit, especially if candidates are also allowed to use AI.
It's in a flux, and no standard has emerged. The closest I'm observing across companies I work with is customized work-sample.
"If you can't do standardized, then just have them work on your codebase to see if they can grok it."
Pretty much the same as always. I am an ancient JavaScript guy, so most of the interviews comprise opinions about subjects for young people with limited experience that I find to be absolutely unnecessary. That goes about as well as it sounds.