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<\/a>Then all it takes is a developer with even a basic amount of Googling or ChatGPT skills to find that question and its answer during the interview and use it for their professional gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That can certainly be frustrating as an interviewer \u2013 finding the right developer or engineer is hard enough in today\u2019s job market without having candidates misrepresent their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So how do you stop this? What\u2019s the #1 best anti-cheat question? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe the problem isn\u2019t that your interview candidates found the answer with ChatGPT. Perhaps it\u2019s that your questions can be answered with ChatGPT. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Why not subscribe to our monthly newsletter?<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t Once a month, you\u2019ll receive a hand-picked selection of tech recruitment content: blog posts, checklists, podcasts, videos, studies and statistics\u2026 including insights from our own developer and HR communities! Just drop us your email below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Before you start interviewing, check the internet to see if your question has already been answered. And use your preferred Generative AI (GenAI) tool to see what kind of answer it comes up with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Typically if you\u2019re asking a standard algorithm question, not only will the answer easily be found, but it\u2019s probably not a good question to begin with<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Algorithm questions don\u2019t test much other than one\u2019s ability to pay attention in computer science classes. It\u2019s an easy way to eliminate great candidates with non-traditional backgrounds because instead of testing their ability to solve an actual business problem, you\u2019re testing their memory of a particular and not-often-used set of skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus, what\u2019s the point of testing something that most people \u2013 even your senior devs and tech leads \u2013 will probably need to Google even while on the job?<\/p>\n\n\n Unpopular opinion:<\/strong> Googling and ChatGPT should be encouraged, as developers of all levels use them to solve issues other engineers have already encountered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a manager, I\u2019m sure you\u2019d rather have your employees look up to see if there is an existing solution to a common problem rather than spend hours (or days) trying to come up with a solution that already exists. They have more important things to spend their time on \u2013 like coming up with unique solutions to your business cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2139\ufe0f Interested in more information on cheating mitigation measures? Check out this webinar on How to Prevent and Detect Cheating in Your Tech Recruitment Process<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re using a business-specific question, it will be a lot harder for a candidate to find the answer \u2013 usually because there is no one correct answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like in a business, there should be collaboration as the candidate works through the question with you. This will give you a better idea of their problem-solving approach and if it\u2019ll be a good fit for your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also less likely that someone random will attempt to answer the question even if it does make its way to the internet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Answering generic algorithm questions on Stack Overflow benefits everyone, but who wants to spend their spare time solving a problem for a company they\u2019re not going to interview with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, GenAI tools still have a lot of trouble figuring out how to deal with the nuances that are typical of an actual business use case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having candidates solve problems related to your business also gives you a better idea of how they\u2019d actually work. It can show you if they know the domain, bring a unique perspective, or can learn how to adapt to new spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With that said, as we mentioned earlier, sometimes questions just make their way out into the world no matter how unique they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We recommend<\/a> that interviewers rotate and refresh their questions because it\u2019s inevitable that the question will end up on the internet (and scanned by a GenAI service).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a question we have asked when interviewing engineers at CoderPad. It has them implement a part of a feature of our product called Playback Mode<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we give them an overview of the feature and why it\u2019s essential to our business:<\/p>\n\n\n\n During CoderPad interviews, people write code in an editor. After an interview is completed, we let interviewers \u201cplay back\u201d the editor state like a video, so they can see the candidate\u2019s coding process over time and reference key parts of the interview.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n To implement this, CoderPad tracks editor changes (edits) as text insertions and deletions. During playback, we reconstruct the editor states at each timestamp, and these are called frames.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Then we give a usage example along with the business logic that\u2019s operating behind the scenes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor history<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n time=0: \u201c\u201d (Editors start empty.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n t=1: Insert \u201chello\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n t=2: Change \u201chello\u201d to \u201chi!\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n t=3: Insert \u201c, world\u201d before the bang. The editor says \u201chi, world!\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n We then provide them with example inputs of varying degrees of complexity, in this particular case it\u2019s a JSON object of editor changes. This is followed by an in-depth description of how the feature works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll offer additional clarifying information as needed, but the important thing is to be as transparent as possible about how the existing code base carries out the necessary business logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, we present them with the task, which represents a task similar to what they\u2019d be doing at CoderPad:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your task for this Challenge is to implement a function which takes 1 parameter target_timestamp, reads edits from the local file \/data\/playback_ops.json, and returns 1 string, the frame at that timestamp.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Notice the main thing that makes it harder to cheat:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The candidate has to apply their knowledge to an actual business case rather than memorizing a common trivia question.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most importantly, questions like this give you insight into how the candidate approaches new challenges and their ability to understand your business. And that\u2019s a much more valuable signal about whether the candidate will be successful on the job than their ability to recall university-level computer science lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2139\ufe0f Check out the advice from our expert Q&A panel on how you can use ChatGPT to become a better interviewer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n At CoderPad, we believe that successful coding interviews occur when interviewers are genuine, lead with trust, and create a process that tests for depth, breadth, communication, and collaboration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The real solution for cheating concerns is to create an \u201con the job\u201d style interview, where a single correct answer cannot be easily Googled or found using ChatGPT, and you get an accurate read on the candidate\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n If this seems like a monumental task to you, fret not \u2013 CoderPad can work with you to help you create questions that are relevant to your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy Interviewing! P.S. If you\u2019re still concerned about your candidates using code from an outside source\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83e\udd14 Before you assume you know a candidate\u2019s intentions when you see them pasting code, ask them about the reasoning behind the pastes and have them clarify what the code does. Interviews should be a conversation, not an interviewer staring silently in judgment at an anxious candidate. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In CoderPad Interview, there are simple ways to see if candidates are writing code from scratch or potentially copying it from an outside source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re conducting a live interview, you can see them actively coding; if they leave the pad for another screen \u2013 say to look up an answer \u2013 then you’ll see a notification that they’ve left their pad window.<\/p>\n\n\nLike what you\u2019re reading?<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\tAI and Google-proof your interview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Make your questions realistic and specific to your business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Example of a Good Interview Question<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The real anti-cheat solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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