How the Current Tech Job Market Changed Technical Interviews

This blog post is part of a series designed to make navigating the current tech job market more approachable. In this series, technical recruiters, career coaches, and engineering hiring managers are sharing industry insights and advice for software engineers on the job hunt. For all posts in this series, head to the Navigating the Job Market page.

As one of the primary interviewers at a seed-stage startup, a former senior engineer at Meta and Uber, and a Mentor at Formation, I can confidently say that the tech landscape has changed over the course of the last ~6-12 months.

We’ve all seen the headlines and read about the massive number of companies laying people off; given that, it should come as no surprise that technical interviews are not quite the same as they were 6 months ago. The content itself hasn’t changed — we’re still looking for the same signals when it comes to system design, coding ability, algorithms, and behavioral skills. The “Era of Efficiency” has pushed companies to adjust the way in which, and the rate at which they hire, in turn affecting technical interviews. Here are four things that have changed about technical interviews in the current job market (and what you can do to adapt to this new hiring market).

The supply/demand balance of talent has shifted

How the interview has changed: Most companies are significantly more financially cautious when determining open headcount — especially so, given the unsustainable growth many of them went through in the last ~5 years. Tighter headcount enables and requires companies to be much more selective about who makes it through their pipeline. FAANG and FAANG-adjacent companies are incrementally tightening budgets; if you’re a candidate, there are more people trying to eat, and much less of the pie left.

What you can do: Broaden your search beyond FAANG companies! There are over 190,000 open SWE roles right now at both some great startups and established companies, so don't limit yourself to the traditional Big Tech names.

Some startups are narrowing their technical interview talent pool

How the interview has changed: For many startups, their smaller size enables them to be nimble and have tighter control over their budget, meaning money isn’t a serious problem. Given the fact that startups tend to be smaller, each person they hire has an amplified impact on the bottom line, especially relative to companies in the league of FAANG. From what I’ve seen personally, this has resulted in many companies being less willing to take bets on unproven talent.

Early-stage startups usually aren’t as well positioned to gamble on talent, especially now, but the landscape can change significantly with new funding rounds. For example, if a company is able to raise a sizable series A, B, etc. of funding, they would then be much better positioned to hire more junior talent and invest in their development.

What you can do: When searching for roles that are a good fit for you, consider Series A or B companies that can support your career growth right now. They're in the best position to be able to provide mentors and supportive management to you as an engineer.

Nailing the technical is more important than ever

How the interview has changed: Because of the tightening market and the “Era of Efficiency” Big Tech has coined, there is little to no room for error in technical interviews. You really want to aim and knock it out of the park. I believe that this is especially true for smaller companies, as they have a much worse downside of hiring someone who is not a great fit. This leads them to elevate their bar for who is considered a “Hire” versus “No Hire”.

The market is just not hot right now, so most companies either need to be or get to be super selective. I want to emphasize that technical interview content hasn’t quite changed, but given the seismic shift in leverage, engineers are the ones under the most pressure now. All this being said, I think the landscape can be significantly different for the few companies that are doing really well right now and have plenty of money in the bank, which is often right after they raise a funding round — I’ll touch on that more in my next post.

What you can do: Seriously commit to practicing your technical skills! As a Mentor at Formation, I can confidently say that I would hire some of our Fellows in a heartbeat if I could, and that's a testament to the work they're putting into creating a strong foundation of technical skills.

The technical performance bar has been raised

How the interview has changed: When I worked at Meta (Facebook then), I conducted hundreds of technical interviews. We had a rating system across several axes, measuring common signals such as communication, coding ability, problem-solving, testing, etc. Back then (~4 years ago), I would often give a “hire” signal with “medium confidence” for a candidate who scored 3/4 across most signals; if someone knocked a couple of those signals out of the park, they would likely get a “hire” signal with “high confidence”. From what I’m seeing now in the market, a candidate might have solid scores on most signals but show a mildly weak score on maybe one, and still not move forward. While the interview problems themselves are not more difficult, the bar to pass has most definitely been elevated.

What you can do: Make sure you don't just know the fundamentals; actually practice them. Coding working solutions may not be enough to check off all the boxes anymore, so try to practice with a friend and work on explaining your approach out loud.

Adapting to this new market

The current tech job market has affected the way companies think about hiring engineers, rate technical interview performance, and choose who to hire. While the state of the market is not in your control, you can “control the controllables”. The absolute best thing you can do for yourself if you want to elevate your career in tech is to get prepared to knock interviews out of the park. I very well realize the opportunities are coming around less frequently, but you’ll want to be ready when your name is called. Practice your algos, practice your data structures, and practice your behavioral interview communication. Get yourself to a high-performance bar and give yourself the opportunity to compete for the role you want.

If you’re looking for structured support and training that adapts to your skill gaps, holistically prepares you to interview, and builds confidence in you, come join me at Formation.