Interviewed several interns — it's really tough these days • Lucky Snail

Hi everyone, I’m luckySnail. I recently interviewed a few frontend development interns, and I feel like today’s college graduates (near graduation) are having a tough time. On one hand, AI has had a big impact on the programming industry, and the demand for basic development positions has shrunk dramatically. On the other hand, the candidates seem to have rich experience and some product development background, but if you dig a little deeper, the cracks show. Thinking back to my own internship days, I was a complete noob too, but I guess I managed to catch the last piece of the internet industry’s cake. Back then, expectations for interns were generally low. But now it’s 2025, and the bar for recruitment has risen several levels. Actually, companies are finding it hard too — higher requirements make it even harder to find the right people. After all, no one is born knowing this; everyone learns slowly.

Resume Screening

I interviewed several people, all from tier-1 universities, including one graduate student. Their resumes were all packed with experience, but I noticed a few interesting points:

Everyone claimed to have AI project experience: RAG, prompt engineering, function calling, etc. I literally drew in a sharp breath when I saw that — it’s so competitive now.
One candidate had a lot of internship experience, but all they wrote about were their own personal projects. That’s a major red flag — I’ll explain why later.
One candidate listed “proficient in many AI coding tools” under their skills.
It seems like no one likes to include links to their projects.

All of the above are what I consider negatives. I think for an intern, the most important things are solid fundamentals and the ability to write code by hand. You can think about the purpose of hiring interns from a company’s perspective — often it’s to train them and convert them to full-time later. So whether you’re a high-potential candidate matters a lot.

For candidates with internship experience, your project experience should be the company projects you worked on, because your work time should account for 90% of your coding time. If you choose not to showcase company projects and instead highlight something you built in the remaining 10% of your time — and if you really want to show something else, you should talk about it in the context of the company project.

Also, for frontend positions, no matter how much you say, I think nothing beats showing your work. Especially in the AI era, your work represents your ability and taste.

Interview Impressions

After each interview, I write an interview review for my leader and give a conclusion. So within a limited time, I need to see if the candidate is a good fit for us — whether they pass the bar in computer fundamentals, problem-solving, project development, teamwork, coding, etc. Let me first share my attitude toward interviewing right now. I’m not that great myself — if I don’t memorize the “eight-legged essays” (common interview questions), I can’t answer much either. So I approach each interview with a little bit of knowledge and try to learn from the candidate, hoping it can be a pleasant technical discussion while also getting the interview done. Below are some of my personal impressions from the interviews (purely subjective):

Don’t just say “I don’t know”: An interview is just a chat. When I ask a question, I’m starting a topic. If I say a couple of words and you cut me off with “I don’t know,” that’s pretty rude. The experience feels bad, and once it turns bad, the rest is tough. So please, never just say “I don’t know.” You can say you’re not very familiar with this area, but then share your thoughts on the problem and how you’d approach it. That shows your logical thinking and your ability to handle unfamiliar problems on the spot.
Don’t write things you’re not prepared for or don’t understand: Several candidates claimed to know a lot about AI, but one simple question exposed them. That’s a big minus. Also, if you think something is optional to list, don’t list it. If you think it’s not great, definitely don’t list it. If it doesn’t add value, it subtracts value. (Aka: the resume relativity theory, /s)
Fundamentals really matter: In every interview, I ask about Git and ask the candidate to implement a simple to-do list. None of them did it well. Yes, a simple to-do list filters out 90% of people. I’ll let you in on a secret: some big companies also use to-do list in their coding tests. It reveals how you think, how you solve problems, your coding style, etc.
The interviewer is also uncertain: Actually, every time I interview, I just go with whatever is written on the resume. So you have a huge opportunity to steer the entire interview flow and direction. One of your tasks in this game is to show off your strengths and not let your weaknesses be discovered.
You only get one chance: There was one candidate who seemed a great fit, but in the end was blocked by our company’s historical interview records — a previous interview review was unfavorable, so they were passed over. That’s really a shame.

One more thing I think is a huge plus: at the end of each interview, I ask if they have any questions for me. One candidate asked how they performed and what they could improve. For an intern, that really stands out. I also noticed that candidate was using Doubao to record their interview process, which shows they have a habit of summarizing and reflecting.

Brief Summary

Job hunting depends on luck + ability. If you lack either, it’s hell mode. From my personal experience, you have to be persistent to find the right job.

The above is also written for myself — looking at things from a different perspective solves many problems and confusions. Thanks for reading. If it helped you, please like and follow! Thank you, and see you next time.