Ashmita

When some people hear the word “hackathon,” a wave of intimidation spills over them.

Well, let me help you pitch the idea. Ahackathon, also known as a codefest, is typically a day-long coding competition where a bunch of software developers, computer programmers, designers, and others join hands to improve upon or build a new software program.

Hackathons maybe theme-based. However, the majority of hackathons gives developers and programmers free rein to be creative and build something awesome.

One can create a web app, a website, chrome extension, it’s an open environment!

Stating an exciting fact here—many popular features of Facebook such as the like button, Facebook timeline, chat, and video were all conceived during hackathon projects.

A hackathon is a place where you find diversified minds and ideas, all under one roof. You will eventually end up honing your existing skills and acquiring new ones in the process.

Acquire industry-specific job skills

Creating something from nothing is difficult. In fact, it may be one of the most challenging tasks. Ahackathonlets one acquire industry-specific job skills.

If you are new to programming, you will learn how to build a project from scratch, buff out the glitches, and present it to a panel of experts.

On the other hand, if you are already a coding professional, you have an opportunity to enhance your skills.

All-in-all, a hackathon is a win-win situation. It prepares you forworking in a fast-paced, industry-driven environment, and gives professional experience in tackling coding challenges.

Improve problem-solving skills

Want to stretch your problem-solving skills to the limit? Attend a hackathon! To get the job done, you will need to learn how to focus on what is important.

And no matter however pre-defined your ideas are before you attend, you will eventuallylearn to be flexible and adaptable in your approach.

Also, you will get the opportunity to literally drill down issues and understand them to their very core.

Learn teamwork

The importance of teamwork cannot be overstated. It is very, very important, especially in such events.

Hackathons encourage you to work with people that you do not often work with, which eventually leads to wonderful ideas.

You learn to partition tasks, share a codebase, and get along the process through good and bad as a team.

Also, “pair programming” is a common practice at hackathons. It involves finding someone of similar skill sets, and then taking turns building and advising on the project.

It offers considerable learning potential and teaches effective collaboration.

Work under pressure

Hackathons aim at developing something awesome within a limited time frame, infusing work pressure among participants and testing them beyond their limits.

You will definitely learn to complete tasks faster than what you’re generally used to.

Transform concepts into reality

The core concept of most hackathons is theability to turn concepts into deliverable actions or a working prototype. Hackathons are a great way to involve and understand every stage—from design to deployment—of a product.

The gap between ideation and execution is huge. For instance, when Uber brought the idea of helping customers find a ride via connectivity, many people said, “I had that same idea.”

Still, Uber made it happen in the best possible way. Similarly, there are several ideas that people think of, and a hackathon lets one execute ideas and create something mind-boggling!

If youwant to participate in a hackathon, you just need to know the genre, form a team (either at the event or with people you know), and hack away at a project!

Hackathons are a whirlwind! If you come in with a strategy, they can be a useful format for making significant progress in a short amount of time.

If you are new to hackathons, knowing where to begin with may be daunting.

Traditionally, hackathons come from identifying a problem and then considering different ways to solve it.

For instance, how can a new tool like an app builder or any app make life easier? To help you get there, here is a list of hackathons that HackerEarth has conducted to let you gain some insights.

How can hackathons help you?

Hackathons for product and API adoption

Studies show that hackathons seem to be the most effective method to acquire and engage developer talent for open APIs.

Hackathons give you the opportunity to put your product(API) in the hands of passionate developers and get them to use it. They give you valuable feedback on how your product can be improved.

Several companies have used hackathon to drive API adoption. Here are a few –

Amazon Alexa: Building voice-first experiences through the Alexa skills hackathon

Alexa, the voice service behind Amazon Echo, is changing how a consumer interacts with technology. With Alexa being able to pick up multiple roles—anything from a concierge or a sous chef to a fitness coach or a DJ — every time a new skill is added, theAlexa Skills hackathonwas aimed at building even more skills for Alexa to make it smarter.

The goal of the hackathon was to educate developers about Alexa. Amazon wanted to get them to experience building skills for Alexa for the first time.

IBM: Using Bluemix to develop apps on the Bluemix platform

IBM Bluemix is a cloud platform as a service (PaaS) developed by IBM. It supports several programming languages and services as well as integrated DevOps to build, run, deploy, and manage applications in the cloud.

TheIBM Bluemix hackathonwas a product building innovation campaign where participants could build web and mobile apps with Watson on IBM Bluemix.

Hackathons for branding

An employer branding hackathon is a highly targeted branding activity. It allows a company to let potential employees know what the company stands for, the challenging projects it works on, and communicates its values to them.

By conducting a targeted hackathon, you will be able to let the developer community know about your company and the technology stack you use. It also allows companies to build a talent pipeline. Here’s how HP Enterprise leveraged hackathons for employer branding-

HP Enterprise: When innovation acted as a brand driver

HPE is a brand synonymous with innovation. With over 80 years of world-class technology innovation and the famous “HP Way” of transforming great ideas into successful tech products, the company partnered with HackerEarth for its employer branding activities.

TheHPE Thinkathonwas a hackathon specifically for college students. With coding gaining more attention with each passing day, HP aimed to cultivate a culture of coding among students.

Hackathons for hiring

Hackathons are changing the way a traditional hiring process works. Hiring that involved multiple rounds of interviews in the past are quickly being replaced by hiring hackathons. Here’s how Accenture used a hackathon tohire better talent.

Accenture—Hiring coding enthusiasts through the Hack Diva challenge

The Accenture Hack Diva challenge was a women-centric programming challenge targeted at women students interested in technology to showcase their problem-solving skills and compete with their peers across the country.

The event aimed at bringing together some of the brightest engineering students and celebrating women who are passionate about technology.

Internal hackathons

Internal hackathons act as a playground for exploring possibilities. Accelerate innovation by bringing all the business stakeholders on a single platform to ideate, collaborate, build, and implement solutions to real-world challenges.

Benefits –

• Collaborative innovation — Internal hackathons help foster collaboration across geographies
• Accelerate customer innovation — Faster go to market for customer requirements
• Drive engagement — A fun activity for your entire company
• Adapt to disruption and stay ahead of competition

Hackathons to foster collaboration and boost employee engagement

The use of employee hackathons to solve organizational problems is on the rise. This fun event helps bring together the best brains from across your organization to solve pressing business challenges while having a good time.

Global talent advisers perfectly sum up what happens during a hackathon of this kind, “Employees who have participated in a hackathon love it because it is a highly engaging activity. They work with colleagues from other departments to brainstorm and design working prototypes. Employees feel that they are part of the solution. They have a sense of pride that they are contributing to the success of the company.”

Hackathons to solve customer challenges

Hackathons can be catalysts for organizations looking to accelerate innovation. You could use a hackathon to develop innovative yet practical solutions to support the customer experience.

The best part is you get a pipeline of hacks which can provide the highest value to customers in the shortest amount of time and you can work on accommodating them in your product road maps.

Hackathons to help you speed up product launches

Hackathons create an environment that creates an internal drive among your team to work together on new product features or improvements.

The best part is that since the entire team works towards this within a stipulated period of time, you have multiple solutions many of which are market-ready and can be directly implementable. This means you can easily accommodate them in your product road maps and releases.

Hackathons to create a culture of innovation

Innovation is critical to business success now more than ever. It is imperative for business leaders and entrepreneurs to make innovation their constant business priority.

Incorporating innovation into your company’s culture will help you create an environment that empowers.

Technology, University, Government, and Social hackathons

One of the best things you get out ofconducting a hackathonis the outcome. A hackathon is a great tool especially if you are looking for swift market-ready solutions.

And these solutions are applicable across a wide range of sectors—from technology hackathons to government and social hackathons and even university hackathons.

Technology hackathons

Hackathons are a great way of using cutting edge technologies to solve some pressing business challenges.

Some commonly used technologies include Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT, AR/VR, etc and these have been used to solve problems on customer data management, identity management, and asset trading via hackathons.

Machine Learning hackathons

Organizations such as Unilever, Societe Generale, Future Group, and many others have leveraged the power of Machine Learning to build better businesses.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd: Crowdsourcing Machine Learning models to understand consumer preferences

Being one of the largest FMCG companies in India, HUL ran a hackathon to understand consumer preferences in small retail stores in neighborhoods by capturing sales data through a point of sales system and leverage it with innovative Machine Learning (ML) and analytical models.

Societe Generale: Building predictive models from banking and financial data

This French banking and financial MNC wanted to put its financial data to better use by leveraging the power of the crowd for data analysis and building predictive models.

Future Group: Crowdsourcing digital solutions to master customer data management

Future Group is one of the largest retailers in India and through the Future Datathon, this organization used Machine Learning to understand customer behavior and buying needs better.

Blockchain hackathons

From traceable supply chains to permanent identity for refugees, blockchain is pioneering transparent and secure business processes.

Blockchain technology provides new infrastructure to build the next innovative applications beyond cryptocurrencies, driving profound, positive changes across businesses, communities, and society.

Many organizations have used blockchain hackathons to build impactful solutions and here are a few examples

Accenture: Leveraging Blockchain for social good

With the industry gearing toward an exciting phase in the evolution of blockchain-based solutions, Accenture has consciously worked toward leveraging ‘Blockchain for good’.

Regarded as one of the top 10 biggest blockchain companies, Accenture’s blockchain developers work at the heart of the blockchain technology landscape, working with multiple alliance partners— DAH, Ripple, R3, Microsoft, EEA, Hyperledger, etc.

University hackathons

Hackathons are important for growth because it allows students to apply creativity, learn technical skills, generate business ideas, work in a team, network with peers and professionals, and win some cool prizes.

Top universities across the world use hackathons to drive creativity and problem-solving capacity among students.

Government hackathons

Governments around the world are leveraging technology for better governance and hackathons are a great way to find solutions which can be readily implemented. A few examples are:

Smart Odisha hackathon — Make in Odisha Conclave 2018

The student community is an integral part of spearheading development projects, owing to its innovative and enthusiastic approach toward a problem.

To harness the talent of student communities, “Smart Odisha Hackathon” was organized by the Skill Development and Technical Education Department, Government of Odisha, in association with the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Odisha. The idea behind this 36-hour long hackathon was to attract talent to identify innovative IT solutions for public service delivery and effective governance.

NITI Aayog—Pune Smart city hackathon

The challenge was to find insights and solutions for smarter ways to develop Pune.

The hackathon addressed important themes such as water management, solid waste management, safety, public health, and digital connectivity.

Bhopal smart city hackathon

This hackathon was organised by the Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Limited, in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Participants had to come up with technology solutions in this 48 hour hackathon to make Bhopal smarter.

Social hackathons

Hackathons can help you harness the creative power and skills of thousands of participants to bring you closer to realizing your organization’s social welfare goals.

Create working prototypes of solutions by utilizing developer communities, along with your participants, without having to build a team of your own.

Centro Fox: Creating technology solutions for social problems in less than 48 hours

Centro Fox is a Mexican organization which works toward creating compassionate leaders for a better world.

Founded by Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, the center consciously works toward training quality leaders dedicated to serving their community in Mexico and Latin America.

The talent hackathon at Centro Fox aimed to bring together participants from Mexico to work on solutions for creating a smart city.

Hackocracy: Crowdsourcing to build a better democracy

With the belief that technology-based solutions could streamline processes and revolutionize the lives of millions, well-known NGOs such as the Umang Foundation, Janaagraha, and the Nudge Foundation teamed up with HackerEarth to come up with digital solutions to handle real-world problems throughHackocracy— a hackathon to build a better democracy.

FAQs

Who can attend a hackathon

Hackathons are for everyone. YES! You read that right. Anyone with a knack in computer programming can attend a hackathon. One does not necessarily need to have programming experience. Organizers usually hold workshops throughout the event for people who are new to programming, helping individuals harness new skills and relationships.

How to prepare for a hackathon?

You’d like to try a hackathon? Great! We’ve put together a list of 5 things you can do to prep.

Do I need to pay any money to register for a hackathon?

No. You do not have to pay anything to anyone to register yourself for any Hackathon on HackerEarth.

How do I submit the prototypes/ideas created for the hackathon?

You have to develop the application on your local system and submit it on HackerEarth in tar/zip file format along with instructions to run the application and source code.

Do we need to have the entire idea fully working?

The entire idea need not be fully implemented. However, the submission should be functional so that it can be reviewed by the judges.

Do I need to provide a demo for the product I have built?

If you want, you can submit a small presentation or video that demos your submission. However, it’s not mandatory and only good to have. In case you are one of the winners, you might be invited to demo your application at a physical event, details of which will be shared with sufficient advance notice.

How is the environment? Will the hackathon environment support any language? Will the organization provide any IDE and DB for us to work on ideas?

You have to develop the entire software application on your local system and submit it on HackerEarth in tar/zip file format along with instructions to run the application and source code.

Who owns my project and IP?

It can vary from hackathon to hackathon. The conditions of participation in a hackathon may include alternative arrangements, such as first-look rights, exclusive rights, or shared IP rights. Also, the finalists and winners are generally given prizes or sums of money – essentially in exchange for their ideas.
In case of an internal hackathon where organizations conduct these events for their employees, all rights are owned by the company. It has the total ownership of inventions made by its employees.
In case of an open or a public hackathon, the ownership rights are often open to dispute. In this case, the inventions are made by an unpaid third party — the hackathon participants.

But in any case, it’s essential to take a careful look at the conditions of participation. Be sure to double check with the organizer. If you are employed elsewhere, review the hackathon terms to see if your participation causes any conflict of business interest with your current employer.

How to win a hackathon?

It all boils down to 10 simple steps. HackerEarth provides an exhaustive list to help win hackathons. The steps are pretty broad on purpose – you can define them anyway you want.

David Heinemeier, the creator of Ruby on Rails tweeted:

Several organizations still use whiteboard interviews as a standard process to hire developers.

In a whiteboard interview, developers are given a problem statement for which they have to provide the solution on a whiteboard.

The most common tasks include recalling algorithms and writing them bug-free on the whiteboard.

The important thing to consider is that a whiteboard is not a code editor. Developers can’t actually run the code to see if it works, let alone benchmark it.

Hence, many developers dislike whiteboard-based interview questions. It’s easy to find someone or the other venting about it on various social media platforms.

The problem is not just limited to whiteboard interview processes. Developers around the world face a lot of challenges during interviews pertaining to lengthy recruitment processes, being ghosted by recruiters, coding in an uncomfortable environment, being asked irrelevant questions, etc. The phrase, “the recruitment process is broken,” is used so commonly by developers that it has become a cliché.

Unfortunately, most of these issues are falling on deaf ears. This ultimately gives rise to negative candidate experience. Negative candidate experience can cost companies more than just losing out on good candidates. It can even result in a significant monetary loss. The most famous example is that of Virgin Media where a bad candidate experience cost the company 5.4 million USD per annum.

This is where developer assessments come into play. When developers apply for a job, major organizations consider technical assessments as an integral part of the interview process. Here are a few points on how developer assessments can improve candidate experience:

• With developer assessment tools, candidates can code from anywhere in an environment of their choice. They do not need to travel long distances to give interviews, code on whiteboards, or get rejected based on a phone conversation during the screening process.
• Developer assessment tools ensure that interviews are structured. This means that all the candidates are asked the same set of questions and interviewers do not know the specifics of each candidate such as gender, age, ethnicity, etc. This assures the candidate that the hiring decision will be unbiased and they will be benchmarked the right way.
• Irrespective of what the hiring decision is, candidates, feel that they have had a fair shot at showcasing their skills through an engaging process of developer assessments without any human bias.

So, how can you ensure a seamless candidate experience using developer assessments?

We, at HackerEarth, are aware that enabling a good candidate experience is extremely important. When it comes to technical hiring, HackerEarth’s Assessment software optimizes candidate experience to help you stand apart from your competitors.

Here are 5 ways how HackerEarth Assessment ensures a better candidate experience:

1. Let candidates use the assessment platform in the language of their choice

We understand that developers live in every corner of the world.

Hence, HackerEarth’s Assessment software supports various spoken languages so that developers can use the platform easily.

The languages that are supported include:

• English
• Japanese
• Chinese
• French
• Portuguese
• Russian

This instills a sense of belonging among candidates and they are bound to be happy.

2. Know the value of a candidate’s time

“You know why everyone loves a vacation? Because it’s the only time it’s okay to waste time.”

If you’re on the hunt for a new candidate to fill a job position, do whatever you can to save their time.

Time is a great equalizer, and every minute that a candidate uses for one task can be used for another, especially during interviews.

HackerEarth has a user-friendly coding environment in which candidates can write code in any language.

When they compile their code, they are shown errors in real time and this helps them review their code and make it better. They can also run their code against custom input and output.

One of the features that HackerEarth’s coding environment has is code stubs. Code stubs are boilerplate code that is required whenever a candidate writes code.

For example, the following C++ code is a code stub. This will be available to candidates in the code editor when they select C++ as the programming language:

#include <iostream>

#include <string>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

<candidate will write the code based on the problem statement>

}

In this example, the candidate can focus on writing the code that will help in solving the problem statement. This saves the candidates time allowing them to focus more on the approach that they want to follow.

Another feature in HackerEarth’s Assessment software that saves a candidate’s time is the Autocomplete feature.

This feature in which the code editor predicts and displays the name of the related functions, methods, standard classes and objects, operators that you are typing.

For example, when a candidate types java.util, they see suggestions of various functions that can then be imported into their code by pressing Ctrl and the space bar.

Also, you can check whether a code submitted by the candidates is written efficiently or not. We use an open-source platform, SonarQube, to inspect code quality. It performs automatic reviews of code to detect bugs, vulnerabilities, etc.

The code quality score is determined by calculating the average of four key metrics: maintainability, reliability, security, and cyclomatic complexity. In other words, the code-quality score is an average value of key metrics that represent the best practice to write code.

3. Let candidates know if something is wrong

With HackerEarth’s Assessment software, candidates get proactive alerts in their test environment if there’s any error pertaining to network failure, server error, errors in loading JavaScript files, etc.

This eliminates confusion, making it easier for them to fix their code before they submit it.

4. Conduct online video interviews

Online video interviews are great and serve as a valuable tool for providing a seamless candidate experience. HackerEarth’s live interview platform lets candidates take an interview from the comfort of their home or a location of their choice.

All they need is a working webcam and a computer with a working Internet connection.

HackerEarth’s Assessment software integrates interviews with a candidate’s Google calendar. Relevant emails are automatically sent to candidates when interviews are scheduled, rescheduled, or canceled.

It also has a default system check where a candidate’s system is automatically checked for the following:

• Versions of the operating system and browser
• Whether the JavaScript language is enabled
• Dimensions of the screen size that is being used
• Whether cookies are enabled
• Whether the candidate’s webcam and microphone/speaker are working

In addition to writing code in real-time, candidates can explain technical concepts via high-quality video calls. Using the multi-room text chat in video interviews, candidates can easily communicate with their recruiters.

Online interviews can connect the best candidates with the best companies out there. However, it is important for both candidates and recruiters to be aware of things that they need to do to ensure that the interview is hassle-free.

5. Light side vs. dark side

You must have heard some coders tossing phrases such as “I am much better at reading dark text on a white background” or “The dark background minimizes distraction. It lets you focus on the only light source, which is your desktop/laptop.”

So, what do we choose? The light theme or the dark theme?

We understand that different developers have different perceptions about coding and themes are a personal preference. Hence, HackerEarth’s Assessment software lets developers code in a theme of their choice—light or dark—whichever they are comfortable with.

Other best practices

So far, we have spoken about providing a seamless candidate experience using developer assessments. Here are other small tips to keep in mind to ensure that you attract the right talent, make their experience worthwhile, and retain them.

Write accurate job descriptions

Job descriptions allow you to make informed hiring decisions. Most importantly, before a candidate actually applies for a job, a clear job description is what motivates them to do so.

Let’s take a look at a few examples of good and bad jobs posts.

Bad job post

Source: Upwork Global Inc.

Good job post

Source: HackerEarth

A good job description uses a clear job title, speaks directly to candidates, describes tasks, and most importantly, sells your job.

They provide the required information to candidates to help them assess if they are suitable for the position.

Remember that the candidate is also evaluating your organization and you based on such small but important details.

Address the company culture with enthusiasm

Company culture is what makes the company; it is the inherent personality of an organization.

Also, it is the top concern for millennials in particular. Hence, it is not enough to simply tell candidates that your organization offers a great company culture.

You have to give the candidate an accurate view of what it’s actually like to work for your organization. Start by citing examples of employees who have been in the organization for a long time and what culture means to them, define your core values, etc.

Make faster hiring decisions

Faster hiring decisions do not mean you make a rush hire. It means that you value the candidate’s time and want to make the interview process as seamless as possible.

For faster hiring, organizations can:

• Schedule interviews shortly after receiving the application
• Ask for work samples ahead of time
• Make the candidate meet multiple parties in one day

Keep candidates in the loop

Candidates may get frustrated if they send in applications for a job role and never hear from the company or fill an online job application and get an email saying their profile will be reviewed.

No one ever says by whom and by when. Also, after they appear for an interview and if they are not selected, they often hear recruiters say, “We shall get back to you.”

Be modest. Let candidates know whether they have made the cut or not. If they have not been selected, send them encouraging emails listing their areas of improvement, which can help them in their next job application.

This opens up a door of positivism and respect in the candidate’s mind for your organization.

Do not let them wonder where they stand. It is always a wise thing to keep them informed, no matter what the hiring decision is.

Here’s an example of a good rejection email.

Source: Beamery

Do your homework

Research what qualifies as a competitive salary for the open position. It is important that candidates with the desired skill sets, who strive to do their best, and who can perform exceptionally well, feel sufficiently compensated for their worth.

Final thoughts

To sum up, high-quality talent expects a high-quality candidate experience. Starting from the initial recruiting process—sending emails or conducting phone calls—to rolling out a job offer, candidates these days expect the best out of an interview process.

We hope this article will help you provide a seamless candidate experience during your next tech assessment.

Feel free to get in touch by writing to me at ashmita@hackerearth.com

Happy hiring!

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