One of the clearest patterns we're seeing from candidates this cycle is how quickly AI-assisted technical rounds are spreading.

The formats vary, but the signal looks pretty consistent: interviewers want to see your thinking process behind your use of it the most. Like professors wanting you to show your work, they’re looking for how you reason, how you direct the tool, whether you notice when it’s wrong, and whether you can explain and verify your work.

Some candidates are being asked to work inside unfamiliar codebases with AI. Others are using limited assistants alongside more traditional technical problems. Some candidates have even described the company looking for “AI Native" engineers who can explain how and why they use different tools.

The formats vary, but the signal looks pretty consistent: interviewers still care about how you reason, how you direct the tool, whether you notice when it’s wrong, and whether you can explain and verify the work.

If you’re preparing for interviews this cycle, LeetCode may now be only part of the preparation.

It may be worth practicing how to:

While AI is becoming part of the environment, your judgment is still what’s being evaluated.

Google's SWE Intern OA is rolling out in waves, and the pace picked up this week! Multiple candidates reported dozens of OA DMs from their friends in a single day. The rollout isn't limited to Direct Consideration applicants either. One candidate who was rejected in Early Consideration and reapplied cold reported getting an OA within five minutes of submitting a plain application, no referral or DC involved.

Microsoft's SWE Intern OA is rolling out too, with multiple candidates confirming they've received it since the role opened in August. A Microsoft Careers status change is described as the only real rejection signal, and OAs reportedly land within a month of reaching screening.

Stripe's OA is rolling out in waves rather than firing automatically after application, but several Direct Consideration and referral candidates report still waiting on theirs, so a delay right now isn't necessarily a bad sign. One candidate confirmed that applying through Direct Consideration's pre-release link gets you into Stripe's system even before the OA itself lands.

On difficulty, reports vary. One candidate spent an hour on roughly 200-300 lines of C++ and felt the time wasn't enough, while another passed all test cases in an hour but compared the workload to a week-long MIT Python fundamentals lab compressed into 60 minutes.

Deutsche Bank's NYC New Grad program closed after being filled entirely by candidates from its intern pipeline, according to one report sourced from a DB-hosted event. It's a concrete example of how much a strong internship can matter when converting into a full-time offer at the same bank.

One candidate's report from last cycle was a CodeSignal OA, a 30-minute recruiter call, and two technical rounds. The first is a basic, easy-to-medium Leetcode round, and the second is a code-review simulation where the candidate acts as a senior engineer reviewing a project and flagging issues across the files. After passing both leads, you move on to a final culture-fit and resume round with a senior engineer. AI tools weren't allowed in that candidate's round, but they flagged that this was a while back and the process may be different now.

Separately, Dropbox's current application materials state the company values AI fluency and encourages using it throughout the interview process, suggesting the format may look different now.

A big bank's 2027 SWE Power Day can include an AI-assisted technical round, a behavioral round, and a case study. The AI round reportedly takes place in an existing codebase (fixing a bug or adding functionality with an AI coding tool) and an evaluation centered on how you work rather than how much code you produce.

The report recommends practicing in an unfamiliar repo with a tool like Devin or Claude Code. You’ll want to be able to understand the existing structure, explain your plan, give the AI specific instructions, review every change, and use tests to confirm the solution works. Thinking out loud and being willing to correct the AI's approach were both flagged as important. One candidate reported no traditional Leetcode or DSA questions in their round, though that may vary by interviewer. The case study reportedly follows the official prep guide closely.

A recap from a Google resume event shared standard resume guidance: the "Google XYZ" method for bullet points, leading with education, and clear start/grad dates. It also included process details: OAs go out by late September, followed by 2-3 technical rounds (some candidates get 2, others get 3) running end of October through end of December, with team matching in early January. Masters and PhD candidates were told to be specific about their research focus, since they'll be matched to teams aligned with that niche.

One candidate's Palantir Forward Deployed Engineer process included a recruiter reaching out a week after a DSA round, followed by what they described as Palantir's signature Decomp and Learning rounds, with results still pending. The Learning round reportedly introduces a new concept (like an API call or another abstract idea) and asks you to apply it to a problem. The Decomp round is described as a basic, open-ended, one-liner problem where you own the full design from start to end, usually without any coding involved. One other candidate reported a hiring manager resume “roast” session as part of the process.

One current employee in IBM's tech sales org advised against the role right now unless based in NYC or SF, saying the position is currently more customer success management than solution architecting (with limited scope for the latter). According to the same report, NYC and SF carry stronger commissions, while other markets like Chicago, Raleigh, and Atlanta are seeing weaker sales performance.

For readers still interested, IBM is hosting a virtual event called "The Sales Advantage at IBM" on September 15, 5:00–6:15 PM EST. They’ll be covering career stories, recruiting insights, and what it takes to succeed in a client-facing sales role.

Register for the event →

One candidate described AllOptions' Quant Intern OA as unusually structured for a quant role, with mental math, sequences, and a reaction test rather than traditional quant problem sets. The reaction test was short and simple, the sequences ran for 25 minutes with some difficult items near the end, and the mental math portion gave you 80 questions in 8 minutes, with the candidate only reaching 60 before time ran out.

Practice for AllOptions Quant OA →

Cohort: Internship

Notion posted a Software Engineer Intern role running May through September 2027, based out of its NY or SF office. The position pays $57/hr for bachelor's candidates and $61/hr for master's. 

Apply to Notion →

Cohort: New Grad

Cursor opened a Software Engineer, New Grad 2027 role.

Apply to Cursor →

Cohort: Internship

Replit opened Cohort 0, a paid internship for strong math students. They even provide links to learn about the company straight in the job overview and even have a whole article listing out reasons not to work at Replit (so make sure you check out all the links before any interviews). 

Apply to Replit →

Cohort: Internship

Vercel opened Software Engineering Intern roles for 2027 based in San Francisco. They want strong JavaScript or TypeScript skills, comfort with AI tooling, and grads finishing in December 2027 or May 2028. The base pay range runs $110,000-$132,000, and you'll need to commute in Mon/Tues/Fri. 

Apply to Winter ‘27 →

Apply to Summer ‘27 →

Cohort: Internship

Dropbox opened its Software Engineering Intern role for Summer 2027, and applications are open until October 2, 2026. Dropbox only runs internships May through September and can't accommodate off-cycle schedules at this time.

Apply to Dropbox →

NVIDIA is hosting an online info session on career opportunities at the company and will be covering internships, new college grad roles, and long-term paths.

Register for the event →

Boeing is running a virtual info session for its 2027 intern program and entry-level candidates. The September 9 session has passed, but a second session is scheduled for October 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST.

Register for the event →

One report indicates Bloomberg's Direct Consideration pipeline has started back up, with a recruiter reaching out directly. Bloomberg internship recruiting typically starts between late September and early October from campus reports.

One candidate reported advancing to "discovery week" for Google's AI Catalyst New Grad program, running the 14th–16th, which includes a 1-hour behavioral interview on ML and leadership. Most other events in the program are described as networking and talks.

A Dropbox employee indicated the Launch sophomore internship program usually releases in January–February. They expect it to return since it ran last year, though this wasn't confirmed.

If you’ve done an AI-assisted technical interview this cycle, reply with the company, format, tools you could use, and what you think the interviewer was actually evaluating. 

P.S. If you went to the Google Technical Resume Workshop that happened in Waterloo and Toronto, we want to hear what you learned!

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