Tech Hiring in 2025: Why AI Is Breaking the Interview Process (and What’s Next)

The tech hiring landscape is hitting an inflection point. What once worked—remote interviews, take-home assignments, and LinkedIn job posts—is no longer effective in an age dominated by AI assistants, “fake” candidates, and overwhelming applicant volume.

According to a deep dive by Gergely Orosz in The Pragmatic Engineer, many engineering leaders are finding that hiring in 2025 is actually harder than it was in the red-hot markets of 2021. Here’s why:

🔍 AI is flooding the system

From resumes to interviews, AI tools are making it easier than ever for candidates to fake their way through the process. Some companies report that candidates use invisible teleprompters, AI chat tools, and resume enhancers—making it nearly impossible to assess true skills or motivations.

📉 Remote hiring signals are broken

Live coding? Take-home projects? Both are now high-risk for cheating. One startup included a hidden “honeypot” line of code in their take-home challenge—and every single candidate triggered it, while most claimed they hadn’t used AI.

🚪 In-person interviews are making a comeback

After a mis-hire involving falsified experience and AI-assisted interview cheating, one full-remote SaaS company is bringing back in-person interview loops—even flying candidates out at a cost of up to $2,000 each. It’s an effort to regain confidence in the hiring process.

🧊 LinkedIn isn’t helping

Posting jobs on LinkedIn is now seen as nearly useless by many in the industry. The signal-to-noise ratio is too low, and qualified candidates often get lost in the flood of AI-generated spam applications.

💡 What’s working? Referrals and Personalized Outreach

The strongest candidates often come through personal referrals or direct, personalized outreach. These approaches still carry the “human signal” that traditional processes are losing.

The hiring playbook for engineers is changing fast. For companies and candidates alike, the new rules aren’t just about skills—they’re about trust, authenticity, and adapting to an AI-powered world.

About IQ Clarity: Your Strategic IT Hiring Partner

At IQ Clarity, we understand the challenges employers face. Finding the right IT professionals to meet business needs is hard. Our team offers comprehensive IT recruiting solutions. We streamline the hiring process and connect employers with top talent. Our network of IT professionals provides employers with a pool of pre-screened candidates. This allows data-driven hiring decisions. Trust IQ Clarity to be your partner in navigating the dynamic IT job market.

About Ted Hellmuth

As the Founder & GM of IQ Clarity, Ted is seeking to disrupt the technology recruiting industry. He helped Colorado companies solve their hardest technology and talent acquisition problems. Before starting IQ Clarity, he was a Talent Acquisition Consultant for Comcast / NBCUniversal. He also spent over a decade with one of the world’s largest staffing firms. Ted holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Denver. Ted enjoys spending time in the mountains with his wife and three children.

Source: Gergely Orosz, The Pragmatic Engineer: Tech hiring: is this an inflection point? (April 15, 2025