Jane Street – Our software engineering interviews are changing (a little)

Jane Street is updating its software engineering interviews because large language models have changed how engineers work. While code generation is now cheaper, the company says skills such as deciding what to build, choosing durable abstractions, and checking that software is correct have become more important. Its longstanding interview format - solving a programming problem alongside an interviewer while explaining decisions - has served its aims of assessing problem-solving, organization, communication, and collaboration, but the company believes evaluation should also reflect the broader shape of the job.

Jane Street began testing new onsite interview formats for campus candidates during the summer. These rounds involve less code-writing and focus more on software design, judging code’s quality, structure, and intent, and using LLMs to generate code. Most interviews will still be conventional coding exercises without LLM assistance, and not every onsite currently includes a new round; candidates will be told what to expect. The rest of the hiring process is unchanged, and applicants are not expected to have extensive experience with AI agents or a prescribed workflow. Instead, the company wants candidates to use clear judgment about when tools help, where they fall short, and when another approach is better. Interviews for more experienced candidates will remain varied, including software creation, system design, and discussion of previous work.