I’ve just asked that to ChatGPT and this is the exact answer it gave :) Ironic, isn’t it?

Would you ask a prospective employee to send you code they wrote in their previous company?

Short answer: *no, I wouldn’t—and it’s generally a bad idea to ask.*

Here’s why, and what to do instead.

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## Why you shouldn’t ask for code from a previous employer

1. *Legal and contractual issues* Most employment contracts assign ownership of code to the company. Asking for it puts the candidate at risk of violating:

   * IP assignment clauses
   * NDAs
   * Trade secret laws

2. *Ethical red flag* A candidate who does share proprietary code is signaling that they might do the same to your company later.

3. *Biased signal* Some candidates (especially senior or well-trained ones) will refuse on principle. You’d be selecting for the wrong behavior.

4. *Low signal-to-noise ratio* Real-world code is often:

   * Highly contextual
   * Entangled with proprietary systems
   * Hard to evaluate without full context

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## What to ask for instead (better options)

### 1. *Open-source contributions*

Ask for:

* GitHub / GitLab profiles * Public PRs or issues * Personal projects

This shows real-world collaboration without IP risk.

### 2. *A take-home or live exercise*

Design something that:

* Can be completed in a few hours * Mirrors the work they’ll actually do * Is clearly stated as theirs to own

Bonus: allow them to explain tradeoffs rather than just write code.

### 3. *Code walkthrough (descriptive, not shared)*

Ask them to:

* Describe a complex system they built * Explain architecture, tradeoffs, and failures * Talk through how they’d improve it today

This is often more revealing than code.

### 4. *Pair programming / problem discussion*

Observe:

* How they reason * How they ask questions * How they handle ambiguity

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## When it might be acceptable

Only if *all* of the following are true:

* The code is explicitly non-proprietary * The candidate confirms they own the rights * It’s already public (e.g., open source)

Even then, I’d still be cautious.

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## Bottom line

> *If a candidate shares proprietary code, that’s not a plus—it’s a liability.*

Strong hiring processes test:

* Judgment * Reasoning * Communication * Craft

—not their willingness to break an NDA.

If you want, tell me:

* The role (junior/senior, IC/lead) * The domain (backend, ML, frontend, systems)

…and I can help you design a fair, high-signal interview process.