Science & Tech · AI · 3 hrs ago
Anthropic manager drops coding tests for engineering candidates
Anthropic manager Felix Rieseberg has stopped giving candidates coding interviews for engineering jobs.
He says Claude, Anthropic’s AI coding tool, can do the tasks better than people, so the tests no longer show what candidates can do.
He argues traditional coding challenges no longer reveal meaningful skills when AI can complete them.
Rieseberg advises junior engineers to learn about a company and its people, then focus on making a useful impact.
He sees AI-assisted prototypes as one way to show that impact, rather than completing a set coding test.
He is reviewing résumés and portfolios for signs of good judgment, empathy and principled thinking.
Rieseberg is still working on a new way to interview people who build with AI and says he has not settled on an approach.
Anthropic engineering manager Felix Rieseberg says he has stopped giving candidates traditional coding interviews.
He says Claude is better at coding tasks, so those tests no longer reveal meaningful information about candidates.
Rieseberg advises junior engineers to focus on making an impact and understanding the company and its people.
He says he is looking for other ways to assess candidates, including prototypes that show taste, empathy and principled thinking.
- Who
- Felix Rieseberg, an engineering manager and hiring manager at Anthropic.
- What
- He says he stopped asking candidates to complete traditional coding interviews.
- When
- This month, according to Rieseberg; the article was published on October 31, 2026.
- Where
- Anthropic. The source does not specify a location.
- Why
- Rieseberg says Claude is better at coding than human candidates, making coding challenges uninformative.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Rieseberg says he stopped asking candidates to complete traditional coding interviews.
Rieseberg says he is scanning resumes and portfolios for prototypes that show taste, empathy and principled thinking.
- Company
- Anthropic
- Hiring manager
- Felix Rieseberg
- Interview practice
- Traditional coding interviews stopped
- Alternative assessment
- Resumes and portfolios with prototypes
- Article publication
- October 31, 2026
What people are saying
This month, I laid the traditional coding interview to rest. As a hiring manager at Anthropic, I stopped asking candidates to do them.
There’s no more point in giving you a little React challenge than there is in quizzing people about assembly; Claude is now better at both.
I’m probably not the only manager trying to figure out how to interview for people who build well with AI. I haven’t quite gotten there yet — but I’m scanning resumes and portfolios for little prototypes that exhibit taste, empathy, and principled thinking.