Started 2w ago 5 replies 1.6K views
Second-year student, starting internship applications. Every project I've built in the last year was written with a coding assistant. I understand all of it and I review everything, but I'm worried that to an interviewer my portfolio looks like "student pressed a button".
What do hiring managers actually look for now? Should I build something without AI just to prove I can? Or is that like refusing to use a calculator in an engineering exam?
Recruiter view: we've stopped being impressed by volume of code, because everyone has volume now. What stands out is judgement. Show a project where you explain what the assistant got wrong, what you changed and why. A README with a 'decisions and mistakes' section is worth more than three extra repos.
Write up one bug you caught in AI-written code. Something like 'it handled time zones wrong, here's how I noticed, here's the test I added.' In interviews I'll take that story over a perfect project every time.
Six months into my first job: the thing my team values most is that I can read code critically and explain it. Practise explaining your own projects out loud, line by line. If you can do that, nobody cares who typed it.
Dev RamanStaff · Editor
· Senior Editor, Agents
Don't build something without AI to prove a point. Do practise small exercises without it, the way musicians practise scales. In live interviews you may be asked to reason without the tool, and you'll want that muscle.
This is really helpful. Adding a 'what the AI got wrong' section to my two main projects this weekend. Turns out there's plenty to write.
