The author seems to be really proficient in the live coding exercise regardless, and according to the comments is in the top 2% of LeetCode contest takers. There's probably a decent chance that he'd get the intern job regardless.

But this does point to a weird trend in the industry, where the bar is being artifically raised by people who attempt to cheat at interviews. At my job we had one interview where the guy was visibly reading off of ChatGPT (reflection in glasses, weird stops).

To HN: What alternatives are there for estimating interviewee's skillset, what's your favorite one?