Remix clone Hacker News

Or you can just given them a way to bypass all of that, and ask them about any significant project that the candidate did build (which is relevant to the job description, open or closed source that is released) or even open source contributions towards widely used and significant projects. (Not hello world, or demo projects, or README changes.)

Both scenarios are easily verifiable (can check that you released the project or if you made that commit or not) and in the case of open-source, the interviewer can lookup at how you code-review with others, and how you respond and reason about the code review comments of others all in public to see if you actually understand the patches you or another person submitted.

A conversation can be started around it and eliminates 95% of frauds. If the candidate cannot answer this, then no choice but give a leetcode / hackerrank hard challenge and interview them again to explain their solution and why.

A net positive to everyone and all it takes to qualify is to build something that you can point to or contribute to a significant open source project. Unlike Hackerrank which has now become a negative sum race to the bottom quest with rampant cheating thanks to LLMs.

After that, a simple whiteboard challenge and that is it.

▲

janalsncm 2 days ago | parent [-]

This would be a nice interview for candidates who have open source contributions, but many who have day jobs do not. Or their open source code is 5 years old and not representative of their current skill set.

▲

OutOfHere 2 days ago | parent [-]

There is no shame in taking time off after leaving a job to develop or contribute to an open source project or two. The world would be a better place for it.

▲

nrb 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I don’t think shame is the obstacle; it’s that for many, a break like this is financially straining or outright impossible.

	▲	ainewsinterest 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		That is a fair point.
	▲	OutOfHere a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		That is a lot like saying that a college degree is financially straining or outright impossible. In many respects, developing open source is a lot less straining, as there are no large fees, with the main expenses being living expenses. This is why it's important to live far below one's means when one does have a job.

▲

janalsncm 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Well the reason I don’t has nothing to do with shame and everything to do with time. I’m allocating my extra time to work, which (on a good day) makes my company money.

For a candidate who does have OS contributions, that’s great but most will not. And the more senior they are the less likely I would imagine.

	▲	OutOfHere 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		If you already have a job, you don't strictly need a different one. If you really need one, it should be okay to quit the old one first, perhaps work on open source as needed, then get a new one. As it is often said, looking for a job is a full-time job.