All six dimensions
Tradeoffs
Questions with no single right answer, scored on the reasoning rather than the conclusion. A candidate who picks either option and argues it well outscores one who picks the textbook answer and cannot say why.
What a candidate is asked to do
- 01Choose between two defensible options, defend the choice, say what you are giving up, and state what would change your answer.
How it is scored
What earns points
- Naming the cost of the chosen option, not only its benefit
- Tying the decision to the constraints actually given
- Saying what would change the answer
What loses points
- Listing both sides without committing
- Reciting a best practice without applying it to the situation
Why it predicts the job
Most consequential engineering decisions are made with incomplete information. What matters is whether someone can say honestly what they traded away.
The other five
AI collaboration
Five sub-tests covering prompt quality, reading AI code, fixing it, critique, and live collaboration.
Code reading
Untangle real code and say what it actually does.
Code writing
Implement to spec.
Debugging
Find the bug in messy legacy code.
Communication
Write for the next human, not the compiler.