The AI Coding Round

Sometime in 2025, LinkedIn started running a coding round with an AI assistant switched on. Reports describe it taking the slot of the second standard coding interview in some loops, so a candidate might face one classic algorithm round and one of these. The premise is blunt: engineers now write code with a model open in the editor, so the interview puts a model in the editor and watches how you use it. Reaching for the assistant earns you nothing on its own. The grade comes down to whether you can tell when it is right.

Be honest with yourself about how settled this is. It is new, the shape is still firming up, and it may vary by team or by the interviewer you draw. Older LinkedIn prep flatly banned AI in the room. The stance flipped fast, and it could still be moving. So treat what follows as a heads-up, not a guarantee. You might draw this round. Nobody can promise you will. The upside is that prepping for it costs you nothing you would not want anyway, since the skills it rewards are the ones you already lean on at work.

The LinkedIn angle

Email your recruiter and ask straight out whether the AI round is in your loop. The answer changes how you rehearse. Find out whether it is there, which model the panel offers, and whether you are expected to use it or merely allowed to. If the recruiter cannot say, prepare for both shapes. Be ready to solve cleanly with no assistant, and be ready to drive one without letting it think for you. Walking in unsure which round you are in is the avoidable mistake. The mechanics differ enough from a normal CoderPad screen that a cold first encounter burns real minutes.