In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel discuss the future of tech interviews in an AI-driven world. They share their thoughts on whether data-structure-and-algorithm (DSA) interviews are effective, how pair-programming or take-home tests can reveal a candidate’s real skills, and why many employers worry about AI “cheating.” They also explain why cold applying might be a huge waste of time and how networking is more crucial than ever in today’s tech job market. Finally, they dive into real-world AI coding assistants like Cursor IDE and Cody AI—highlighting what’s hype versus what actually delivers productivity gains.

Listen to The Programming Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts!

Spotify link

https://open.spotify.com/show/6d59PZ138KeoKfq5hoVvyQ

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

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Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

https://www.DThompsonDev.Com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

Chapters & Timestamps

0:00 Cold Applying & Why Networking Is Better

1:02 Welcome & Podcast Intros

1:28 AI Take-Home Tests & Cheating Concerns

6:00 DSA Interviews vs. Real-World Skills

8:56 Best Tech Interview Experience (AutoZone)

11:00 Behavioral Rounds & Project-Based Hiring

15:18 AI in Interviews & Prompt Engineering

21:04 Networking vs. Cold Applying

23:00 AI Arms Race: Resumes & Branding

25:00 Commit Your Code Conference for Charity

31:01 Cursor IDE & Building Apps with AI

40:55 Cody AI & Training on Your Codebase

42:35 Outro