Thoughts on AI and Interview Cheating

There’s always a better calculator.

Interview cheating in a remote setting is nothing new. But AI kicks it up a notch.

Once upon a time (read: 5 years ago), video was ‘weird.’ Phone screens were more common. For initial conversation and tech assessments.

Sometimes the people conducting tech screens aren’t involved in prior conversations. I’ve heard countless cases where completely different interviewees did a tech assessment for their buddy. They would have passed with flying colors if they weren’t caught. How many weren’t? Crazy to think about.

(Still happens. #CameraOff) 

Then you got the Googlers. No, not Google employees. The people Googling answers live to cheat. Yes, everyone can hear the clickety-clack and see you glancing at another screen.

ChatGPT kicks that up a notch. Grabbing answers is even quicker.

I don’t mean to sound like the Old Man Yelling At Clouds. Reminiscing about doing math in my head without a calculator. (While walking uphill to school both ways, obviously.)

I’m not a dev myself. But everyone I know swears by ChatGPT. It makes the boring work easier.

Every improvement in tech makes the grunt work faster. But it still can’t solve the full problem. That’s pure brainpower. That’s what needs to be flushed out in the interview process.

But it can make us sound like we know what we’re talking about. Even when we don’t.

Job seekers may not believe this, but a big challenge in hiring is that interviewers are too believing. We all tend to take people at their word more often than we should.

You may think “that’s garbage, I didn’t get a job I was qualified for! They didn’t believe me!” Think about it this way: the person who got the job did a better job of bullsh*tting the interviewer. Who was ready to buy into it.

Point being: AI makes work more efficient.

Like coding, writing, and cheating.

James Hornick

Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.