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A hiring manager at Anthropic says their team has stopped asking software engineering candidates coding questions, after data-structures-and-algorithms interviews provided no useful signal in its hiring process. The report does not establish that Anthropic has changed hiring practices company-wide or explain what assessments replaced the questions.
A team at Anthropic has stopped asking software engineering candidates coding questions after concluding that data-structures-and-algorithms interviews gave it no useful hiring signal, according to a hiring manager cited in The Pragmatic Engineer’s The Pulse. The change is reported as a team-level decision, not a company-wide policy.
The account comes from Felix Rieseberg, a hiring manager at Anthropic who has led work on Claude Cowork and Claude Desktop. As quoted by The Pragmatic Engineer, Rieseberg said the team had stopped asking coding questions of candidates for software engineering jobs. The report characterizes the removed exercises as data-structures-and-algorithms, or DSA, interviews.
The stated reason was that the interviews produced zero signal for the team. That describes the team’s assessment of the usefulness of this interview method; it does not establish that coding ability is irrelevant to the jobs, or that all technical evaluation has ended. The source material does not specify whether the team now uses other exercises, changes to its interview format, or different evidence when assessing candidates.
The Pragmatic Engineer presents the decision as one development in a broader account of technology-company practices. It says other Anthropic teams and AI-native startups could follow, but that is a possibility, not a confirmed response. The report supplies no hiring data comparing candidates selected before and after the change.
A Different Test for Engineering Candidates
Interview formats shape who gets considered for engineering jobs and what employers count as evidence of a candidate’s ability. If a team finds that DSA questions do not help it distinguish candidates, removing them could redirect interview time toward other ways of evaluating work. The report, however, does not say what Anthropic’s team has adopted in their place.
The decision may draw attention from employers reconsidering technical hiring as AI tools change software development. That is a possible implication, not proof that AI caused Anthropic’s change: the source attributes the decision to the team’s lack of useful signal from DSA interviews, and does not connect it directly to AI-assisted coding. Other companies’ choices will depend on their own roles, evaluation methods, and hiring evidence.
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The Scope of Anthropic’s Change
The item appears in The Pulse, The Pragmatic Engineer’s series on events and trends in Big Tech and startups. Its report describes a hiring manager’s account of one team’s practice; it does not cite an Anthropic announcement establishing a company-wide recruitment policy.
That distinction matters because interview processes can vary across teams and positions. The available material identifies software engineering candidates and DSA-style coding questions, but does not say when the change began, how many candidates it affects, or whether other Anthropic groups use the same approach.
“The rest of the company, and other AI-native startups, could follow.”
— The Pragmatic Engineer, describing possible wider adoption
What the Report Does Not Establish
The source does not provide a date for the change, identify how many hiring teams are involved, or confirm whether Anthropic has approved a company-wide policy. It also does not explain what interview stages or candidate assessments have replaced the coding questions.
No hiring outcomes are provided to show whether the revised process changes candidate performance, selection rates, or job results. The claim that DSA interviews gave this team no signal is attributed to the team; the report offers no underlying data or independent evaluation. Whether other companies adopt similar practices remains unknown.
Whether Other Teams Follow
The next development to watch is whether Anthropic confirms a broader change or other teams describe adopting the same approach. The report gives no timeline for a company-wide decision and names no planned review or follow-up. Until more information emerges, the confirmed account remains limited to the team described by Rieseberg.
Further detail on replacement assessments and hiring outcomes would help clarify whether the team has changed only one interview exercise or redesigned technical evaluation more broadly. The source material does not say when such information may become available.
Key Questions
What did Anthropic change in its hiring process?
A team at Anthropic reportedly stopped asking software engineering candidates coding questions, including DSA-style interview questions.
Why did the team remove the coding questions?
According to the account reported by The Pragmatic Engineer, the team found that the questions gave it no useful hiring signal.
Has Anthropic ended coding interviews company-wide?
The report describes a team-level decision. It does not confirm a company-wide policy.
What will replace the coding questions?
The source does not say whether the team uses another coding exercise or a different assessment method.
Are other companies making the same change?
The report says other teams and AI-native startups could follow, but it does not confirm that any have done so.
Source: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
