Is it just me or are first-round technical screens WAY harder? /u/iheartanimorphs CSCQ protests reddit

I’m interviewing for senior backend software engineer positions, have around 9 years of experience, CMU grad, and ex-FAANG employee. I’m (thankfully) getting a steady trickle of messages from recruiters and interview requests but have only advanced past the first round for one local startup. I don’t think I’ve ever bombed out on the first round technical screen before multiple times like this, even after taking a long career break a couple years ago. Has anyone noticed that the questions being asked are WAY harder, especially for the high-paying, fully remote jobs?

For example, I recently worked on a take-home exercise for Hubspot where they claimed most applicants finished between 1-2 hours and…I have no idea how anyone would be able to complete the exercise in that time without using AI. I suspect that companies are assuming people are using AI, making the questions way harder as a result, and then telling you not to use AI.

I’m interviewing for senior backend software engineer positions, have around 9 years of experience, CMU grad, and ex-FAANG employee. I’m (thankfully) getting a steady trickle of messages from recruiters and interview requests but have only advanced past the first round for one local startup. I don’t think I’ve ever bombed out on the first round technical screen before multiple times like this, even after taking a long career break a couple years ago. Has anyone noticed that the questions being asked are WAY harder, especially for the high-paying, fully remote jobs?

For example, I recently worked on a take-home exercise for Hubspot where they claimed most applicants finished between 1-2 hours and…I have no idea how anyone would be able to complete the exercise in that time without using AI. I suspect that companies are assuming people are using AI, making the questions way harder as a result, and then telling you not to use AI.