Mercor is embracing old-school Big Tech interview strategies that even Google and Microsoft are ditching
The AI startup Mercor is bucking the industry trend of using take-home assignments by returning to traditional whiteboard-style technical interviews. The company believes this method better tests human judgment and problem-solving skills in an era where AI can easily complete take-home tasks.
Why it matters
This highlights a growing tension in the tech industry regarding how to accurately assess human talent when AI tools can automate many standard coding and analytical tasks.
Old-school whiteboard interviews are a big part of this startup's hiring. Aaron Epstein/PEACOCK via Getty Images Mercor's interview strategy diverges from what most of Silicon Valley is moving toward. Mercor prioritizes whiteboarding interviews, which became widespread in the 2010s. The startup's head of product said that AI makes it easy to "offload" thinking. Mercor's interview process is less vibe coding, more whiteboarding. On an episode of the "20VC" podcast released on Saturday, Mercor's head of product, Osvald Nitski, said that the AI training company has moved away from take-home assignments that can be completed with AI. "We'll do one round where we find out if the person is familiar with AI tools," he said. "We care a lot about being able to set up good experiments and understanding statistics, having good judgment, and then systems design as well," he said, referring to what is asked in whiteboarding sessions.
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