We are sorry to hear this candidate had a bad experience. That being said, we take all candidates through the same skills assessment in the first phone call and are explicit that this is the first step. We share in advance: "In this phone call, we'll go over One Degree and the role, talk about why you're interested in joining, and then go through a series of software development questions so I can gauge your skill level." We did exactly that. Being able to demonstrate knowledge of the skills listed on a candidate's resume as well as general computer science concepts are critical first steps, and these are prerequisites listed on the job description for Software Engineer role. It's critical for us to be able to hire people in an efficient way, just like every other organization, and we have to first verify that a candidate has the skills they say they do before advancing them in the process. We offer a variety of ways for people to demonstrate their skills, not just through basic coding or through defining CS terms, although we believe those are also fair types of questions. (Note also that One Degree does not have an office in New York; this is not a factually accurate review. All initial interviews are done over the phone.)