Chapter 18: The proof

Red flags interviewers look for

What interviewers report seeing when someone's claim to work with agents is hollow: no plan, permission checks off, a skimmed diff, stuck the moment the agent is stuck. A follow-up question or two is usually all it takes to find out.

These all look fine from the inside, which is what makes them dangerous. The code runs and the demo works. The flags only show when someone asks you to go one level down, and with agents it is possible to reach a finished product without ever having been one level down.

Say it to your agent

“Interview me as a sceptical senior engineer. Pick one claim from my README. Ask one question at a time and follow up twice on whatever I answer, asking to see the file. Don't help and don't reassure me. At the end, quote the exact moment my answer stopped being specific.”

The workshop

Name a word, or describe what you mean in everyday language.