The tech hiring shift nobody's talking about
Interviewing looks a lot different today than it did 10 years ago – but AI is only half the story.
Note: We’re celebrating a pretty special milestone this month: Educative is turning 10! Over the next couple weeks, I’m sharing lessons I’ve learned while scaling a tech company and how tech has evolved during some of tech’s most volatile years.
Today’s topic: developer interviews.
My colleagues at Microsoft and Facebook used to call me crazy, but I love conducting technical interviews. I have always appreciated the opportunity to understand someone’s thought process and how they approach solving problems.
But over the past decade, I’ve watched the hiring landscape evolve from a time when companies scrambled to close strong engineers to a landscape where even highly qualified candidates struggle to get interviews.
The bar has moved, and various paradigm shifts in the industry have started to reshape not just how we interview, but what we expect from engineers on the job.
All of that to say, we have really had our work cut out for us here at Educative.
For the past 10 years, we have been helping developers navigate this system from the inside. We’ve worked alongside hiring managers to create prep resources that reflect what the best companies have looked for over time. Now the system is changing again, and the impact on developers is seismic.
I have always felt that the best way to predict where we’re headed is to understand where we’re coming from. So today I want to tell you what I’ve witnessed as tech hiring has evolved – who has won, who has lost, and how we ended up in our current situation – and why I think the next wave might finally get it right.
Why tech hiring got so selective
If you’re struggling to break into tech in 2025, it’s not just you; hiring is harder now than it’s been in years.
Even some of the most qualified engineers I know are struggling to land interviews (let alone offers). What used to be a steady flow of opportunity has narrowed into something much trickier to navigate.
But this isn’t where we started.
A hot market (mid-2010's)
When I joined Meta in 2013 (it was still Facebook back then), engineering hiring was already happening at a frantic pace.
Not long after starting, I found myself interviewing candidates across the E3 to E5 levels, and the talent competition was high. The financial crisis of 2008 slowed down some sectors, but for software, it never really crashed. During the mid-2010s, it was clear that the market had bounced back and was heating up rapidly.
By 2015, engineers (especially new grads) had more leverage than ever before. In tech hubs like the Bay Area and here in Greater Seattle, strong candidates had the luxury that today’s candidates can’t get a sniff of: choice.
I regularly heard from engineers in my network (including fresh grads) asking for advice on negotiating multiple job offers. Around that time, I started noticing a growing need for developer-focused resources that actually addressed some of the interview and skill gaps I was seeing over and over.
That’s when I left Facebook to start Educative — to give more developers the kind of preparation and confidence they’d need to make the most of those opportunities.
The pandemic, ZIRP, and a hiring free-for-all (2020-2021)
When the pandemic hit, hiring briefly paused... and then took off at a pace I hadn’t seen before. Remote work became standard, and infrastructure companies like Zoom, Slack, and Shopify blossomed. Even companies that weren’t traditionally tech-focused, like Peloton or Walmart, rushed to build out digital products and hire engineers to support them.
The economy entered the ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) era, making capital cheap and accessible. From a developer’s perspective, it was one of the most accessible hiring climates in recent memory. At Educative, we focused on scaling our platform quickly to support the influx of learners trying to reskill or break into tech during this window.
By 2021, companies started nudging teams back to the office, but the adoption of hybrid work remained inconsistent. Despite that uncertainty, most engineers I spoke with still felt firmly in control, fielding multiple offers and negotiating from a position of strength.
The great recalibration (2022-2025)
However, that momentum didn’t last.
By mid-2022, interest rates started rising, and the ZIRP era came to a close. What followed was what I’d call a necessary correction. The “grow at all costs” mindset gave way to recalibration. Companies that had overhired were now downsizing. Layoffs hit across the board, from startups to big tech.
Suddenly, the same engineers I knew who previously had their pick of the litter were refreshing LinkedIn and applying cold.
The hiring mindset shifted, too. Teams like Uber’s Payments org adopted a more targeted hiring strategy by building talent maps, targeting engineers who had worked in similar payment domains and could ramp up fast. Hiring became far less forgiving for candidates without clearly aligned experience, as it once was.
In 2025, that’s where we are now: fewer openings, higher expectations, and a market that no longer rewards potential alone. You have to be ready to ship, show domain understanding, and bring value from day one. All of that is shaping how interviews work today.
The AI era (2025-?)
Of course, there’s also the big AI question. I’ll share my thoughts on that in a moment.
But first, I want to talk about the current state of interviewing — and what candidates need to know to stay ahead.
6 ways interviews have changed (and what that means for you)
These big changes in the hiring landscape have precipitated some big changes in how we interview.
Over the past decade, I’ve seen tech interviews go through a few massive shifts — not just in format, but in what skills and qualities hiring managers are trying to measure.
Here are six of the biggest ways interviews have changed, and how you can think about focusing your prep going forward to stand out from the competition.
1) In-person interviews are making a comeback (again).
Back in 2015, nearly all interviews were onsite. In the MAANG world, we’d fly candidates in, walk them through real-time whiteboard sessions, and get a feel for how they’d work on a team. Then COVID hit, and the entire industry scrambled to move everything remote. For a while, it worked, but now companies like Google and Meta are quietly returning to in-person final rounds — especially for core engineering roles, as a way to evaluate collaboration, presence, and authenticity in a post-AI prep world.
👉 What this means for you:
If you're interviewing in 2025, prepare for at least some part of your loop to be in-person, especially when interviewing at larger companies. Practice problem-solving out loud and improve your communication under pressure to show both what you know and how you’d fit into the team’s culture.
2) System Design is no longer just for senior roles.
A decade ago, System Design wasn’t a formal part of the interview loops I conducted back at Microsoft. We’d sometimes ask candidates to “design a cache”, but real distributed systems didn’t enter the interview picture until I joined Meta. Fast forward to today, even entry-level roles require candidates to reason through distributed systems, scalability, and high-level architecture. And it’s not just back-end anymore — with the rise of full-stack roles, frontend engineers are now expected to understand System Design as it applies to modern web architecture, component flows, and performance tradeoffs.
👉 What this means for you:
Regardless of level, you need to be ready to explain how systems work and how you’d build one. Familiarize yourself with real case studies, production scenarios, and common design tradeoffs. Educative’s Grokking the Modern System Design Interview (the OG) and Grokking the Frontend System Design Interview (brand new) are great places to start if you need a structured approach.
3) The "LeetCode grind" is no longer an effective strategy
In the past few years, the number of questions on LeetCode has grown so large that trying to memorize them all has become quite unrealistic. Hiring managers have adjusted their focus, realizing that solving a known problem doesn't reveal how well a candidate can adapt or think through unfamiliar challenges.
👉 What this means for you: The bar has shifted from volume to judgment. Prep smarter by focusing on patterns, not repetition. Resources like Educative’s Personalized Interview Prep are built with this focus in mind.
4) Leveling and compensation are directly mapped to your interview performance
A decade ago, the process of ‘leveling’ was more loosely defined, especially for mid-level engineers. But today, that’s changed. Now, every part of the interview loop is tied to leveling, and your System Design round often carries the most weight. At MAANG companies, even strong candidates get down-leveled if their design depth doesn’t match the expectations for the role.
When I was at Meta, we rated candidates across multiple signal axes, and a few strong scores could often balance out a weaker one. Now, that margin is shrinking, and even a single weak area can hold a candidate back.
👉 What this means for you: Don’t assume a solid code round will carry your interview. At any level, your System Design prep should be mapped to the scope. Know what’s expected at your target role, practice end-to-end designs, and use frameworks that reflect real-world tradeoffs.
5) Culture fit and soft skills are key differentiators
The hiring market is saturated with talented engineers who have strong technical skills. In such a competitive market, hiring managers tend to rely on soft skills, such as communication, curiosity, and collaborative ability, to make final decisions. If a candidate can't ask the right questions or navigate ambiguity (or frankly, just isn’t a good team player or doesn’t have a good attitude), that can be the difference between a hire and a no-hire.
👉 What this means for you: Technical skills might open the door, but soft skills will keep it open. Focus on your ability to communicate, collaborate, ask thoughtful questions, and demonstrate an understanding of the product. These are skills that will set you apart in a competitive loop.
6) Companies are split on AI: some treat it as cheating, others as the new normal.
At Amazon, interviewers are noting the usage of AI cheating tools in nearly half of their junior-to-mid-level candidate portfolios. Big Tech’s response has mostly been to increase monitoring, add pressure, and push interviews back onsite. Startups, on the other hand, are beginning to embrace AI as part of the engineer's workflow within the interview.
👉 What this means for you: Prepare for both worlds. Practice communicating your process clearly, and be ready to work without AI under pressure. But also sharpen your skills in prompting, verification, and collaborative problem-solving.
How AI is reshaping what hiring managers are measuring
Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room: AI.
AI is forcing a fundamental shift in how technical interviews are designed and evaluated. Essentially, what this means is that the rules of technical interviewing are being rewritten in real time.
I keep seeing viral stories in my feed about so-called AI “cheating” tools that let candidates quietly collaborate with LLMs while solving questions in real time. The response has been predictably messy.
Some companies are reacting by increasing control. In just the past three to four months, I have been hearing from my colleagues at MAANG companies and startups who are bringing more interview loops back to in-person formats. Some companies are doubling down on stricter online monitoring, timed take-homes, or embedding AI-detection tools into remote assessments. No one has figured out the perfect formula.
What’s really changing is the signal that companies care about, i.e., the clues hiring managers are looking for in order to determine if you’re a good fit.
When AI can produce working code in seconds, the differentiators become how you frame problems, how you design systems, and how you reason through tradeoffs. Those are skills AI still can’t replicate well. And in my opinion, this shift is overdue. In many ways, it’s giving us the chance to do what we should have been doing all along: hiring engineers for how they think and not just what they can code under pressure.
So, what should you focus on right now to stay ahead?
Learn System Design: Design loops are showing up earlier in interviews and weigh heavily on leveling. Whether you’re a junior or senior developer, it’s important to know how to structure systems and explain tradeoffs clearly. (It’s also a great time to get a head start on the emerging discipline of AI System Design — luckily, we just launched a new Generative AI System Design course here at Educative that I think you’ll learn a lot from.)
Learn how to communicate how you use LLMs: In more open-ended or take-home assessments, using AI isn’t always forbidden. Practice explaining when and why you used an LLM, how you prompted it, and what steps you took to verify its output. This distinguishes thoughtfulness during your workflow from dependency. At the same time, be aware of when you’re in a more traditional format, especially if anti-AI detection is in play. Knowing the difference (and preparing accordingly) is a skill to develop in itself.
Leverage AI-enabled interview prep tools: AI tools can help you practice interview questions, especially if you’re prepping solo. But treat them like training partners, not shortcuts. Use them to simulate live interviews, stress-test your reasoning, and get feedback on your explanations. (If you are curious about what this looks and feels like in practice, I encourage you to try our AI Mock Interviewer tool. There are even a couple of free interviews you can start with to get your feet wet.)
Navigating this new paradigm shift takes more than technical prep. Skills like awareness, adaptability, and the ability to communicate have become essential in today’s interviews, and the kind we’ve focused on helping developers build for years.
That’s why this moment feels especially meaningful.
👉 As a reminder, you can access the above courses and AI Mock Interviewer with an Educative subscription — now 50% off for our Anniversary Sale.
Stay tuned for next week, where I’ll cover takeaways from the last decade in tech — and predictions for the future.
Happy learning!
– Fahim