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A hiring manager at Anthropic said their team no longer asks software engineering candidates coding questions, including data structures and algorithms problems, because the interviews provided no useful signal. The report concerns that team’s process; it does not establish that Anthropic as a whole has dropped coding interviews.
A team at Anthropic has stopped asking software engineering candidates coding questions after finding that data structures and algorithms interviews gave it no useful hiring signal, according to a hiring manager cited by The Pragmatic Engineer. The account describes one team’s process, not a company-wide change, but it highlights a question for AI companies hiring engineers: whether conventional coding tests still help identify strong candidates.
The hiring manager, who has led work on Claude Cowork and Claude Desktop, said the team had removed coding questions from its engineering recruitment process. The account is presented in a blog post by Felix Rieseberg and summarized in The Pragmatic Engineer’s The Pulse. The supplied report does not provide interview data, sample sizes, or details about the team’s replacement evaluation methods.
The stated reason was that the team received “zero signal” from data structures and algorithms interviews. That is the manager’s assessment of the interviews, not a published research finding about software hiring generally. The report does not say that candidates are no longer evaluated on technical skills, nor does it describe the full interview process.
The Pulse suggests that other teams at Anthropic, or other AI-native startups, could follow. That is a possibility raised by the report, not a confirmed change elsewhere. The same newsletter covers separate developments at incident.io, Amazon and Microsoft; those items are not evidence that those companies are adopting Anthropic’s interview approach.
How Hiring Teams Judge Engineers
Removing coding puzzles can change what candidates are asked to demonstrate and what interviewers treat as evidence of engineering ability. If other teams adopt a similar approach, applicants may encounter fewer timed algorithm problems and more emphasis on other parts of the work. No replacement method is specified in the report, so it is not yet possible to say what this team uses instead.
The decision is particularly relevant to AI companies, whose engineers may work with tools that can generate or assist with code. But the report does not say that AI tools caused the change, or that candidates are being assessed on AI use. The confirmed rationale is narrower: this team’s manager said its coding interviews did not provide useful signal.
For candidates and employers, the development is a reminder that interview practices differ by team. A single manager’s decision should not be read as a broad shift across Anthropic or the technology industry without further reporting.
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A Team-Level Interview Change
The development appears in The Pulse, The Pragmatic Engineer’s series on events, insights and trends in Big Tech and startups. Its report says the hiring manager led work on Claude Cowork and Claude Desktop, connecting the account to an engineering team at Anthropic. It does not name the team or give the date the interview change took effect.
The report frames the change against the familiar use of data structures and algorithms questions in software engineering interviews. It does not claim Anthropic previously required the same test for every engineering role, or that the company has introduced a new standard. The available account is limited to one manager’s description of their team’s process.
The newsletter’s other topics include changes to AI spending at incident.io, Amazon’s stated expectations for software engineers and managers, and Microsoft exit offers. Those are separate reports. They provide no further confirmation about the scope of Anthropic’s decision.
Scope and Replacement Tests
The report does not establish whether Anthropic as a whole has changed its engineering interviews. It also does not identify how many roles or candidates are affected, when the team made the change, or whether the policy applies to all software engineering positions.
There is no detail about what assessments replaced coding questions, how candidates’ technical ability is now evaluated, or how the team concluded the previous interviews provided no signal. The account is attributed to a hiring manager and is not accompanied by published performance data. Claims about other teams or startups following suit remain speculation.
Whether Other Teams Follow
The next useful development would be further detail from Anthropic on whether the change applies beyond the team described, along with an account of how it assesses engineering candidates instead. The report does not announce a company-wide policy or a timetable for changes elsewhere.
For now, readers should treat this as a team-level hiring decision. Whether other Anthropic groups or AI-native startups adopt similar practices remains an open question.
Key Questions
Did Anthropic eliminate coding interviews company-wide?
No company-wide change is confirmed. The report describes a hiring manager’s decision for their team only.
Why did the team stop asking coding questions?
The manager said the team received “zero signal” from data structures and algorithms interviews. The report gives no additional data or methodology behind that assessment.
What does the team use instead?
The source does not say. It does not describe the team’s full interview process or identify replacement assessments.
Are other Anthropic teams making the same change?
The report says they could follow, but provides no confirmation that other Anthropic teams have changed their interviews.
Source: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
