HackerEarth

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Insights & Stories by Kumari Trishya

Read Kumari Trishya for deeply reflective takes on automation, AI interviews, and what fair, inclusive hiring could look like in tomorrow’s workplace.

Hackathons

How Hackathons Can Help You Attract, Engage, Hire, And Train Top Talent

Ever since the pandemic hit, employers have had to fill positions without requiring candidates to go through an extensive in-person interview process. As a result, many companies have turned to virtual hiring programs as well as hackathons to reach their recruiting goals. A study found that 40% of companies use a hackathon hiring process as part of their recruitment strategies.

So what exactly is a hackathon and how to conduct one?

What is Hackathon?

Hackathons are events where computer programmers and other technology professionals come together to create new products or solve technological problems. They typically last for several hours and sometimes even go up to several days. Teams are often formed at hackathons, which are made up of people with different skill sets. At the end of the event, these teams present their product or solution to a panel of judges. Hackathon hiring processes are usually sponsored by companies that want to promote innovation within the tech world.

Types of Hackathons

The top 2 types of hackathons are external hackathons and internal hackathons:

External hackathons:

At an external hackathon hiring process, participants create their own projects. They might work on coding tools, websites, or mobile apps that can be used by other people in the tech world. Employers sponsor these events to find new hires and engage with potential recruits. They also offer a valuable learning experience for attendees or students who may be interested in pursuing a career in technology.

Recommended read – Virtual Hackathons: All You Need To Know

Internal hackathons:

These are internal or company-sponsored events that allow employees to engage in innovation and creativity. They can be used by companies to find new talent, foster teamwork among employees, and identify job applicants with the most potential.

Hackathons For Hiring Top Talent: What Do The Numbers Say?

Here’s a closer look at how these hackathons can benefit your organization.

External Hackathons

With hackathon recruiting, companies are replacing the intimidating interview setting with a competitive drill where candidates can show their skills. As recruiters get to observe them apply these abilities in real-time they are better placed at analyzing candidate competency and making informed hiring decisions. These projects can be used as portfolios to help participants build their brands and show off what they’ve accomplished. Participants could also use these products as a way to gain exposure or to see if it is feasible for them to turn the project into a business venture.

Its benefits include:

1. Build a diverse team from all around the world:

The hackathon hiring process creates a unique opportunity for people from all over the world to come together and work on a project. Participants who network with these people during hackathons might be able to add them as contacts when they return to the office, thus building company connections that would not have been possible otherwise.

2. Join hands with industry experts:

Industry experts and sponsors of the event actively participate as judges or mentors. This allows them to network with new people and gain access to the latest trends in the tech industry. Attendees make valuable contacts at hackathons which can be beneficial for your company even after the events are over.

3. Expand your developer community:

Companies use the hackathon hiring process to attract developers who might not otherwise come in contact with your brand. This offers a way for you to interact with the tech community and establish new relationships. It also allows you to identify potential candidates who might be looking for a job opportunity

4. Find the best talent for your business:

The hackathon hiring process offers a way to identify the best developer talent in the industry. It also helps you create a larger pool of qualified applicants for future roles. In addition to hiring developers, hackathons can help you identify other employees as well as interns who would be a good fit for your team.

Because hackathons are team-based events, it also allows you to see how candidates interact with their peers. You can assess how comfortable and confident they feel when working alongside others and whether they’re open to feedback and suggestions.

5. Boost corporate branding:

Hackathons offer a great opportunity to increase awareness about your brand and what you have to offer. Corporate hackathon ideas allow companies to showcase their product or service in a new way that is often more effective than advertising campaigns.

6. Crowdsource ideas:

Hackathons also offer a valuable way for companies to crowdsource ideas from people who matter the most. People from different departments and backgrounds can share their thoughts on improving daily operations, which allows your team to come up with solutions that would not have been possible otherwise.

Internal Hackathons

Most companies hold internal hackathons for team building. They can be a great way to get your employees excited about their work while allowing them to collaborate and build relationships with one another outside of the normal office environment. Internal hackathon ideas are perfect for tapping into the skills of the company’s workforce.

Participants could be tasked with creating an internal service or tool that solves a particular problem within the company, such as reducing costs or increasing efficiency. At the same time, learning and development programs are also offered at these events which can help employees develop new skills.

This is how it benefits your company:

1. Boosts morale:

Hackathons are a great way to get employees excited about their work again. It creates an environment that fosters teamwork and allows people to interact with each other in ways they normally wouldn’t be able to inside the office. It builds stronger connections between employees which can improve workplace satisfaction overall.

Hackathons can be a great way to build camaraderie among your team members. The shared experience of working on a project as a group allows employees to work together and accomplish tasks they never thought possible. Additionally, the opportunity to interact with other teams in friendly competition helps generate excitement and establish positive relationships.

2. Great team building activity:

Hackathons give employees a fun and rewarding opportunity to get out of their comfort zone. It encourages people to work together towards a common goal while building on each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Employees can also learn new skills that they will be able to use in the future.

3. Employees are pushed out of their comfort zone:

Hackathons encourage employees to work together and build on each other’s strengths. It pushes people out of their comfort zone and allows them the opportunity to try something different.
Hackathons offer a low-risk, cost-effective way for you to promote creativity within your team.

4. Gives employees a chance to enrich their portfolio and grow in their careers:

Hackathons allow employees to try something new and possibly even learn a new skill. It allows them to build on their existing skillset and creates a great addition to anyone’s resume.

5. Employee retention:

Hackathons offer a competitive environment that allows employees to work together and encourage each other. It provides a sense of accomplishment and fun while also giving them something to look forward to.

6. Teams can come up with new products – or even new businesses:

Hackathons are a great way for employees to come up with new ideas that can eventually become successful products or services. For example, Box Brownie, the easy-to-use tool for removing backgrounds from images or enhancing them with professional features; DanceBattle, an innovative app that helps you compete in dancing battles with others using the camera of your phone or laptop, and EchoLoco, the audio map with real-time cues that helps the visually impaired stay safe and move faster in urban areas or crowded places, are all results of internal hackathons.

Hackathons typically last for 24 to 48 hours and bring together large groups of people from the tech community. Competitors compete to build a product or solution that offers a specific benefit, such as improving medical care or connecting communities.

The hackathon hiring process allows companies to scout high potential candidates in the tech world, build relationships with top talent, and provide valuable learning opportunities for potential hires.

Conduct hackathons with HackerEarth

HackerEarth’s online hackathon platform gives companies the opportunity to host internal, corporate, or private hackathons from anywhere in the world.

Following are the benefits of hosting hackathons using HackerEarth:

It provides a curated experience for your company to get the engagement they need without any bandwidth drain.
The HackerEarth platform makes it easy to manage your hackathons or hiring challenges from anywhere in the world
HackerEarth provides a large community of qualified developers who are ready to work with you.
It lowers your operational costs by ensuring that you are able to meet your hiring goals at a fraction of the cost.
It helps you build a community of developers and engineers who can become your future employees.

Here are a few HackerEarth Statistics of 2021 alone:

HackerEarth’s hackathon platform has organized over 134 hackathons creating 6,000+ challenges that helped create 2,000+ prototypes
More than 60,000 developers registered as participants across the globe
Over 1,700 companies around the world use HackerEarth’s hiring platform to find their next rockstar developer recruitment.
17,000+ tests were created that helped assess 14,00,000+ developers, reducing our clients’ time to hire by half

If you’re not already using hackathons, you may want to consider adding them to your recruiting toolkit. Hackathons can help you identify talented potential employees, engage and hire top performers, and even train new hires. Also, hackathons can be put together quickly and easily with the right tools, such as HackerEarth’s hackathon platform.

Hiring Strategies

4 Things The Pandemic Taught Us About Diverse Tech Teams

Over the last decade, organizations from all over the world were slowly gaining momentum when it came to diversity and inclusion at the workplace. But studies show that ever since the pandemic hit, the importance of diversity and inclusion slowly took a backseat while organizations focused on more pressing issues at hand.Now that the world is slowly easing back into the pre-COVID life, what can you do, as an employer, to make sure your workforce is diverse and inclusive? Let’s take a look.

What the pandemic taught us about diversity

One way that companies are managing diverse teams is by having employees participate in virtual meetups. We can now see how computers have changed business and how virtual meetups help all members be heard, no matter their location or background.There is no denying that hybrid working is the future. When telecommuting became the new reality, managers who didn't think it was a natural extension of team collaboration were forced to reevaluate and change their approach.

Employers must also take into consideration the fact that some groups are more privileged than others. Organizations should make provisions for additional L&D programs and tech support for these less fortunate workers who might not have the same opportunities in their careers.One of the most important things that the pandemic taught us is the importance of a work-life balance. With the increase in remote and hybrid working, more and more employees found it difficult to disconnect from work and strike a clear distinction between work and home. Working in, and managing diverse teams can often be overwhelming for people without much experience of dealing with differences in personalities, approach, backgrounds, and working styles.The pandemic also taught us the importance of investing in technology that supports diverse and unbiased hiring. Online skills assessment software tools provide fair and objective information about candidates to help managers make better-informed decisions. Interactive tools can also be used to onboard new employees faster by objectively documenting their skill sets and past experiences.

Recommended Read: Remote Hiring And Onboarding Tips For Technical Roles

How to strive for diversity in the workplace during and after the pandemic

Diversity Hiring 101 for Building Diverse Teams

Managing inclusive and diverse teams across cultures can be challenging in times of crisis but with the right approaches and resources, employers can put together and maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce. Following are a few ways in which organizations can continue encouraging diversity and inclusion in the workplace:

1. Remove unintended bias during the hiring process

Hiring managers spend a lot of time and effort trying to find the right employee for their company. This is where employee skill assessment tools come into play: these are tools that hiring managers can use to help determine whether or not potential candidates would be good fits for the roles. Such software developer assessment tests measure variables such as creativity, analytic skills, and teamwork with many questions aimed at determining specific strengths and weaknesses in these areas.Thus, rather than having a biased opinion about an employee due to his/her background, hiring managers can directly assess the skills of the candidate as per their needs.

Recommended read: 7 Steps To Eliminate Unintended Bias In A Hybrid Workplace

2. Invest in technology that supports a hybrid work environment

The role of technology in the workplace is constantly evolving. Telecommuting is rapidly becoming a standard option, with employee work-from-home days being an integral part of employee perks. This brings up great opportunities for companies to attract top talent by offering flexible work options, but can also create new consequences regarding employee productivity, company culture, and company images.Today's workforce must be equipped with the right tools that will allow them to thrive in their roles as remote employees.

3. Focus on the overall wellness of employees

Employees want to be valued for more than their professional lives, yet companies don’t always give them the opportunity to succeed in other areas outside of work. Today's workforce wants options that allow them to balance being productive at work with being physically and mentally fit. Companies can provide employees with flex schedules, exercise facilities, employee assistance programs (EAPs), employee education funds for mental health seminars, employee skills assessment tools to upskill, etc.With this increase in employee loyalty and productivity will come an increase in company reputation and customer satisfaction.

4. Conduct learning and development programs for continued learning

Learning and development programs allow employees time to hone their skills or learn new ones related to their current job role or even find novel ways to use existing skills in new ways. By providing continued learning for employees, companies are not only increasing employee satisfaction but also employee competence which benefits employee retention rates.Employee education is becoming more accessible than ever before, thanks to modern-day software tools like HackerEarth. With HackerEarth, you can continuously assess developers across 41+ programming languages and 80+ skills. Being the most advanced assessment platform out there to accurately analyze their progress, you get accurate reports on each candidate with highly detailed analysis!

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are still struggling to provide employees with the support they need. This is particularly true while managing diverse teams of groups of workers, who have had a hard time both at work and outside of it. With the above methods, companies can move one step closer to creating a truly diverse and inclusive workplace.

DEI Hiring

What Recruiters Forecast For Tech Hiring

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record-breaking 2.9% of the workforce quit their jobs in August 2021 to seek better opportunities. Many are demanding increased flexibility in their employment search—from remote and hybrid options to more work-life balance—as companies are desperate to fill roles.

HackerEarth’s 2021 State of Developer Recruitment Report is based on survey data from around 2,500 engineering managers and HR professionals from 79 countries; across industries including technology, pharmaceutical, retail, automobile, construction, banking, media, finance, and insurance. The report aims to outline the best practices for hiring professionals and developer candidates and determine what the post-pandemic hiring landscape looks like.

Here are some of the important tech hiring trends we forecast for 2022 based on our survey:

Doing away with the ‘generalist’ approach to hiring

Before the pandemic, we would hear a lot of recruiters talk about the ‘black hole’ in tech hiring. While the final veto on hiring a candidate lay with the CTOs and engineering managers, the lack of a proper communication channel between recruiters and tech hiring managers meant that many companies took a ‘generalist’ approach to hiring.

In 2022, companies are coming back to hybrid work with a very specific agenda - make business future-proof, update legacy tech stacks for flexibility; and adopt trustless, permission-less systems that do not require central governance. The use of AI will deepen across sectors - even verticals that have not traditionally been AI-dependent will open up to the use of smart machines for improved functioning.

Our survey shows that companies need to update about 42% of their legacy tech stack to make businesses impervious to rapid technological and process changes such as the one we saw in 2020. Many companies are looking to make architectural changes in their tech stack which is also one of the reasons why hiring top talent is so crucial in the coming year.

It is therefore important to hire based on data insights. Recruiters should create a specific profile or candidate personas for each role. This should highlight the outcome expected from the role, the competencies required from the candidate, the assumed interests and needs for each specific role. These details can be used to create a competency framework that aligns with the ‘persona’. Only then, do you get down to the business of hiring.

Dealing with attrition

2021 brought us the ‘Great Resignation’. A Forbes from April last year piece shows how employee burnout increased from 43% in 2020 to over 52% in 2021. It’s safe to assume the number must have grown over time.

Burnout needs to be addressed promptly and before your teammates start to leave for companies that put more emphasis on their ‘wellbeing’. As this survey from Microsoft points out, high productivity should not be a reason to ignore the emotional and mental wellbeing of our employees. One of every 5 employees feels that their company does not prioritize their work-life balance and over 54% feel overworked. Giving employees the choice and flexibility to pick their own work hours, location, might help in stemming some of this tide. However, proper processes need to be put in place to ensure developers do not feel pressured to overachieve.

It’s also important to note that employees have voiced concerns about the lack of training among managers to handle the hybrid new work paradigm. Yes, we have talked ad hominem about empathy and being ‘flexible’, but changing from a work model which revolves around a specific time and place, to an ‘anywhere, anytime’ model needs more than that. Flexibility is undoubtedly the number 1 reason employees are leaving current jobs for the ones that offer them the choice to work remotely, and without the constraints of time.

Protecting diversity when hiring at scale

The upsurge of hiring demands in 2022, and the aftermath of the Great Resignation, has shown us that there’s far too much demand for the average qualified developer. The priority is hiring someone, over hiring that perfect diverse candidate. Diversity as a criterion might just be an added burden in the current recruiting process.Our year-end survey shows us that in an ideal world, over 30% of recruiters would never compromise on candidate quality to fill a role. Compare this with 35% of engineering managers who said they would make the compromise to hire faster. When it comes to diversity though, recruiters are slightly split between wanting to hire diverse candidates and filling roles early. An overwhelming number of engineering managers, though, care more about shipping code than building diverse teams.

Candidate quality statistics - State of Development Recruitment Report 2021 - HackerEarth

Candidate quality statistics - State of Development Recruitment Report 2021 - HackerEarth

The spotlight is therefore on the HR leaders to uphold diversity mandates, and keep the focus on skills when hiring in such large numbers. Two years of statistics have proven that the pandemic disproportionately affects labor outcomes for minority groups. The focus areas for companies should include updating their brand research and outreach initiatives and integrate with grassroots communities. There is an imminent need to adapt policies, benefits, and messaging to the current market and prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in talent attraction and retention.

Also Read: 7 Steps To Eliminate Bias In A Hybrid Workplace

Tech hiring tools will rule the roost

When the pen-and-paper assessment method went out the window in 2020, tech hiring tools replaced the traditional.

One can argue that a tech interview can be done over a Zoom call, and candidates can showcase their coding experience via their resumes. However, there are proven benefits to using dedicated hiring tools. In our survey, companies that use assessment tools for their tech hiring reported a more standardized process. The process is also more objective, and more accurate. Neither engineering managers nor recruiters seem to be paying much mind to the fact that technical skill assessment software can also reduce TTH and CTH; proving that in most cases they care more about the bigger picture than immediate gains.

The survey also highlights the pains of using multiple tools/platforms when conducting a tech interview. Most of the time, candidates use a video calling tool, along with a code editor to be able to showcase their skills live. This is in stark contrast to our findings from our annual Developer Survey , where over 40% of coders said that they would like to be interviewed via dedicated interview platforms.

Of late, recruiters have come to recognize the importance of candidate experience during interviews. Companies that have taken the initiative to integrate tech hiring tools in their processes see the benefits in a more homogeneous, and equitable hiring environment. Using coding interview tools also helps provide a better candidate experience for developers and ties in with their expectations from interviewers.

The takeaways

2022 might not have started exactly the way we hoped (hello Omicron!), but the insights we have gained over the last two years remain. The empathy and people-first approach we have used to navigate the pandemic so far needs to continue, and maybe even stepped up in some cases. Coming back to some sense of normalcy in the shape of hybrid work might be nice, but it needs to be done with patience and with keeping employee welfare at the forefront.Leadership teams need to address difficult topics like burnout, and work-life balance, when discussing retention strategies. They also need to ensure that DEI does not take a backseat when it comes to hiring.The gains - both big and small - accrued over the last two years should not be let go of in the face of the high numbers and targets that the tech recruiting community is faced with in 2022.

Tech Assessment

How To Hire Tech Talent When You Don’t Have A Technical Background

You are reading this, nodding your head because you have been there before. You've tried hiring tech talent when you yourself do not have a technical background and it has been a total nightmare. You do not know where to start, how to assess their skills, or even if they are qualified for the position! Don’t worry—we got you.In this blog post, we will outline some technical recruiting tips on how to successfully hire tech talent even if you do not have a technical background. Let's get started!

If you're an entrepreneur

Seek help from your co-founder or Chief Technical Officer(CTO). In this day and age, it's not uncommon for companies to have a CTO. They're often responsible for making sure that everything from technology decisions to project management is handled with care, and sometimes they even look into more than just these two things.

Technical co-founders or CTOs can be invaluable in helping your company succeed because they understand the technology inside out which means less time wasted on research missions while recruiting tech talent!

If you're a recruiter or hiring manager

If you're from the hiring team, the best thing to do while hiring tech talent is to ensure that individuals who are specialists in that field are involved in the hiring process.If you want someone who can do a specific programming language, involve the experts in that field and ask them about their knowledge on job descriptions for different languages.

Recommended read: 3 Skills For Digital Transformation and How To Hire For Them

Tips for Hiring Tech Talent As A Non-Technical Recruiter

Tech Hiring Challenges - What NOT To Do When Recruiting Fresh Talent

Let them know what position they'll be applying for

Talk about the position - Give a link to the applicants for them to learn more about it. This gives them insight into what they can expect if hired and also helps you stay updated on their applications.

Be sure of what type of skills you need exactly

We all have different needs when it comes to hiring tech talent. What do you really need from them? For example, if your team needs an innovator with less experience in programming languages but who is motivated by solving technical problems and building products, then you should look for candidates that meet these criteria over somebody more specialized towards one particular skill set (even though this may be what they're most qualified in).

Have a standardized list of questions ready

Standardized hiring processes are great for reducing bias and putting together not just a skilled, but also a diverse and inclusive team. While there is a wide range of DevOps interview questions out on the web, your questions should be tailored to specific skills needed for this job. If you need fast-paced developers who can work quickly and efficiently in an agile environment then it won't help greatly if we come up with long lists containing very math-based queries - after all, they would only test what already exists within their abilities.A better idea would involve researching such jobs and talking to CTOs or team leads before crafting your own list of questions. It may require hiring managers to conduct some manual research of their own for questions that feel more suited to your company's needs.

Avoid yes or no questions

To get a sense of how experienced the candidate is, avoid leading questions like "Have you used Eclipse or Java before?" Instead, ask open-ended queries that will lead them into giving more detailed answers that will help you analyze their skills and problem-solving acumen.

Conduct virtual coding assessments

While hiring tech talent, non-technical hiring managers are often faced with the challenge of determining whether or not candidates have what it takes to work in their profession. Resumes might not always paint the complete picture, and asking questions solely on the basis of resumes could cost your company precious time and resources.Instead, conduct online coding tests via a reliable pre-employment testing software that can assess candidates accurately. Tech hiring platforms have a whole bunch of features that make it easy even for somebody with a non-technical background to pick out the top candidates. From a library of tech questions to automated leaderboards that highlight top talent, these platforms have all the tools you need to come to a hiring decision.

Recommended read: How To Create An Automated Assessment With HackerEarth

Recruiting Top Tech Talent Just Got Easier With HackerEarth

HackerEarth is the ultimate recruiting software for finding top-notch developers that will help you not only source tech talent but also hire, onboard, and upskill them along the way.Our assessments include -

1. 80+ skills with 13,000+ questions at your disposal

You can now create highly accurate coding assessments with minimal technical know-how using the rich library of questions available on HackerEarth Assessments. If needed, you also get access to custom-made ones for specific needs and requirements.

2. Project type problem questions

When simulating on-the-job problems, it is important to ask different types of queries. We provide you with 12 question sets that include project-type inquiries as well.

3. Automated invigilation

HackerEarth's automated invigilation helps you create robust proctors with powerful image processing and reporting. It also allows for customized settings that ensure completely fair assessments, eliminating any chance of impersonation or copying code from one assessment to another.

4. Real time code editor with Jupyter Notebooks integration

It has a real time code editor with 40+ languages that can be programmed in, Jupyter Notebooks integration to make it easier on you when collaborating between teams or simply saving your work offline without the worry of losing data if there's an internet connection failure which makes the tech recruiting process more manageable. And most importantly - HackerEarth assessments are highly dev-friendly.

5. Detailed Reporting

HackerEarth provides you with a detailed report on each candidate’s performance with insight-rich details that highlight their strengths and weaknesses in coding.

6. Facecode

FaceCode is a revolutionary tech hiring platform that lets you easily invite and conduct coding interviews on a real-time editor and also automates your summary notes.

With FaceCode, you'll never have to juggle more than one tool during your coding interview. A state-of-the-art collaborative code editor for all programming needs, it comes equipped with a built-in question library, a diagram board, and more. It has an HD video chat facility as well.

Hiring processes can be lengthy and time-consuming, but with the right tools, you can simplify them and find fresh talent that will help propel your business forward. Remember the above tips when searching for a new developer so you can hire someone who fits your company’s needs and culture!

AI Recruiting

Top Developers Point Out 4 Mistakes With Tech Hiring Assessments

Tech recruiting can get a bit dull at times. That’s when I turn to my tried-and-tested source of humor - Dilbert. A laugh-and-a-half helps me remember why I love doing this job - because it matters! I enjoy talking to recruiters and hiring managers and writing about real-life tech hiring problems and their solutions. Here's a recent Dilbert strip I chanced across while working on this piece.

Tech Assessments - Dilbert Cartoon

So, let’s talk about the problem at hand - Assessments - and the many ways in which recruiters can get it wrong. (Not intentionally, of course. No offense meant, amigos! I’ll leave that to Dilbert and his ilk :))

The Unintentional Mistakes Recruiters Make With Tech Assessments

Finding good tech talent is every recruiter’s dream. Sometimes, it can feel like you’re doing everything right; and yet the results are not coming in. We have asked this question to many recruiter friends and they say that many times, the problem lies in the assessment phase of the hiring funnel.Tech assessments sound simple, right? Send a developer a problem statement, ask them to hand in code submissions, review the code and voila! You have a match. In reality, quite a few things can go awry with your tech assessments. Let’s take a look:

1. Long Tech Assessments = Time Sink

Tech hiring is known to be a notoriously long process. However, before you send in another tech assessment that requires days to complete, ask yourself if that’s really necessary. The longer a take-home assessment requires to finish, the less likely it is that the candidate will complete it.Assume that candidates interested in your role are also talking to other companies, many of which will require them to complete take-home projects. As such their projects will stack up, and if your candidates are also working full-time jobs, they simply won't have enough time to complete long projects for free. Additionally, good engineers know how much their time is worth—asking for hours of free code is going to lead experienced engineers to drop off.

So, what can you do to reduce drop offs? Respect your candidate’s time. Keep your assessments short and timely as much as possible. If a certain role requires a long take-home project then consider making it a paid project to retain interest, and to not let the developer feel like their time has been taken for granted.

2. Take Home Assessments + Onsite = Too Many Expectations!

Many companies combine take-home assessments with an onsite test as well. For engineering candidates, this can turn out to be a severely demoralizing experience. Imagine spending hours on a take-home to showcase their best efforts, only to be called into an onsite interview where the manager clearly has no clue about your skills because they never looked at your submission.Recruiters in today’s day and age cannot expect candidates to be at their beck and call. If a take-home needs to be coupled with an onsite assessment, then begin by clearly defining these expectations during the initial screening round. If an engineer is walking through your office doors (virtual or otherwise) for an onsite project, they respect the time they put into the project.

How can you make the onsite experience better for your candidates? First up, understand if your candidate is ready for this. With the pandemic, many of us have become caregivers for our families, and it may not be possible for every candidate to dedicate extra time for both a take-home and an onsite test. If they do agree to an onsite, use the opportunity wisely to see how they integrate with the team. Talk through their code-writing process with them, understand their decision-making process, and become privy to how they think about software.
Don’t, and I repeat - don’t, make it just another hoop for them to jump through.

3. Picking Resumes Over Assessments for Lateral Hires

One of the biggest mistakes many recruiters and hiring managers make when selecting lateral hires is the decision to skip assessments for experienced developers. Sometimes this decision can also be taken in order to prevent any discord - experienced developers have been known to take offense at being asked to ‘prove’ their skill.Allow me to present an analogy - the recipe for baking cake is the same, innit, but not every chef cooks up the exact same dish. Oven temperatures differ. Techniques change. Even the minutest of alterations in the recipe can provide for amazing differences.

So while it’s true that experienced devs come with a proven skill-set, it does not automatically make them the right fit for your team. Technical assessments are a proven way of judging for this ‘team fit’, and you should not gloss over it just because someone has an impressive resume.

What is the secret to using technical assessments for better lateral hiring? When hiring experienced developers you are not looking at problem-solving ability, or a skill fit. Your candidate already has that. What you need to check from a hiring perspective, is what it would be like if the candidate worked on your production code in real time. The closer the prospect’s project is to the real work you and your team does, the better the signal that they are the right choice for your team.

4. Using Manual Reviews Without Proper Benchmarks

There’s proven data to show that top talent is ‘off the market’ within 10 days of them becoming ‘available’. There is a very small window to attract the best of the best, and the scope for errors is nil.Now, imagine you’re a recruiter trying to tap into this talent pool. You spend a couple of days talking to and screening candidates. Then you send across a 2-day project to a candidate. On submission, you can email it across to your hiring manager for review. The manual review takes another two days. By this time, a week has already passed and you just have 3 days to schedule interviews, and make an offer. Another company that uses automated assessments gets the edge over you because they used a much more efficient method of assessing and evaluating candidates. Developer Hiring Statistics - hackerEarth

Developer Hiring Statistics - hackerEarth

Automation ensures speed, accuracy, and an objective bias-free evaluation process where every developer is assessed according to standardized benchmarks. Apart from efficiency, automated assessments are also beneficial in removing errors during manual reviews. In short, by using automated assessments over manual reviews you are creating an error-free process where only the top skills filter through.

Creating The Perfect Tech Assessment

We’ve spoken to many tech recruiters over the years to understand what makes a good coding assessment. Here’s what we gathered:

A good coding assessment is true to the role at hand, and is customized to assess the exact skills required for the role. You cannot hire exceptional people with generic assessments.
It needs to be standardized. So, if there are 20 applicants for a given role, all 20 should be asked to take the exact same test, so that the results can be benchmarked.
A good coding assessment should provide a more accurate work sample than whiteboard interviews or timed challenges can ever do.
With a take-home coding assessment, the key is to allow the candidate to out their best foot forward. The assumption is that by taking the test in the comfort of their homes at their own convenience, they will be under less pressure and will perform better. So, there should not be an element of unwanted stress by making the assessment more complex than is necessary.
At all times, it is imperative to RESPECT the candidate, their time, and their skills. If you’re asking them to code for 10 days for free, that’s not the hallmark of a good employer.
Using automated assessment tools and question templates can go a long way in helping you make your assessment process error-free. At the end of it all, do remember that while there may not be a one-size-fits all solution, there are some tenets that will remain permanent.

Don’t use the take-home assessment as ‘just another step’ in the hiring process. Use it wisely, so you can save time in the interview process, and not lose out on hiring the top talent due to inefficient processes. A well-crafted technical assessment can help you better evaluate your talent pool, and take some of the stress off of your hiring managers -- but it works well only when you remember to respect and stay invested in your candidates.

AI Recruiting

Complete Coding Assessment Guide - Definition, Advantages, and Best Practices

Finding the right talent to fill a vacancy always poses a unique set of challenges. Most hiring processes and coding assessments, while having their advantages, are inherently flawed. There are many talented individuals who may never receive the right opportunity. Conversely, there are also many job posts that are filled with people that are unsuitable for the role.

Resumes can’t always be trusted, which is why it is important to have interviews and assessments. This way, you can accurately gauge the level of skill and expertise possessed by a potential candidate for hire.

When it comes to the technical hiring process, the importance of a coding assessment cannot be understated. Coding assessments are a way of evaluating the technical talent of an individual. The challenge of how to test coding skills needs to be solved as it can negatively impact the entire hiring process if it’s not set up correctly.

What is a coding assessment?

A coding assessment is a structured evaluation process where individuals are tested on their programming skills and problem-solving capabilities. It typically comprises coding challenges, algorithms, and real-world problem scenarios that aim to gauge the candidate’s proficiency in writing, analyzing, and debugging code.

These assessments are prevalent in technical hiring processes, where companies aim to measure the competence of prospective candidates in specific programming languages or tools, and in education settings where students’ understanding of coding concepts is evaluated.

In essence, coding assessments provide a more objective means of evaluating technical talent. Rather than relying solely on a candidate’s credentials or self-reported skills, recruiters and educators can gain a firsthand view of their actual coding prowess.

How to conduct a successful coding assessment

Be concise – It is impossible to test every area of a candidate’s knowledge of coding. This means that employers must prioritize certain skills and knowledge over others to arrive at an accurate assessment. High-level candidates are aware that they have plenty of opportunities, which is why they typically do not concern themselves with taking lengthy assessments.

Maintain objectivity – Creating an in-house coding assessment platform is something that many companies that are hiring, are willing to do. It is a common practice to design a custom coding assessment process that can’t even be solved by members of the hiring team! Custom coding assessments generally create more problems than solutions.

Narrow it down – When conducting a general coding assessment, ask yourself whether algorithmic knowledge is really required for a given role. If yes, can you measure the extent of knowledge that is required for the job? Also, try to understand the demographic that you are trying to target. Is it an industry-experienced coder you need, or a graduate fresh out of college? Answering these questions will give you a broad view of the qualities you want in a candidate.

Cover a range of topics – The tech stack required for any role keeps morphing constantly. Coding assessment platforms should cover new and pre-existing programming languages, advent in technology, and skill requirements to tackle the modern coding battlefield.

Avoid time sinks – Most candidates will not have a huge chunk of time to spend on coding assessments. This is why it is better to use assessments that can be completed within an hour. It is also beneficial to frame direct questions so that candidates can focus on how to answer them, as opposed to spending too much time deconstructing what the question implies.

Coding Assessment Platform Benefits - HackerEarth

Benefits of selecting candidates based on coding assessments

Optimal use of organizational resources – The recruitment process in any industry generally proves to be lengthy and arduous. This is because of the numerous steps procedures to be followed, as well as the fact that at the end of it all, landing the perfect candidate isn’t a given. Using the right technical screening tools can help you reduce the burden on your workforce by creating a more efficient recruitment process.

Retention of skilled individuals – Employees that possess a highly specialized skill set are aware that there is no lack of opportunities for them. A well-constructed coding assessment platform ensures that the skills of a potential candidate are noticed early on. Based on this assessment, recruiters can accurately gauge the right compensation and incentives for the role.

Scientific hiring process – Coding assessment practices ensure that the selection you make is based on hard facts and data. This means that there is a proper, structured method of finding the right talent by doing away with haphazard methods that do not paint an accurate picture.

Unbiased selection – It is all too common for managers and employers to select candidates based on favorable interactions, smooth communication, and shared interests. Unfortunately, this can lead to organizations choosing the wrong individuals to fill vacancies, as the selection is done solely based on the positivity of interaction between employer and candidate, and not much else. Coding skills assessments go a long way in aiding companies to make better choices when it comes to handling their hiring processes. It is essential that organizations select the right coding assessment platforms.

Quotes from developers on coding assessments

Choosing a coding assessment platform—What should you look for?

Diverse question library: A rich set of questions spanning various difficulty levels and categories ensures that you can tailor assessments to the specific skills you’re looking to evaluate.

Customization: The tool should allow you to create custom challenges that reflect real-world scenarios relevant to your industry or specific job role. On HackerEarth Assessments, engineering managers can add their own custom questions in the tests to make the process realistic and relevant to their industry.

Automated code evaluation: Immediate feedback is vital. Choose tools that can automatically evaluate code for correctness and efficiency, delivering instant results. On HackerEarth, for instance, the code submissions are automatically evaluated by our AI-driven engine and the results are benchmarked against previous submissions. This helps interviewers shortlist candidates easily and provide necessary feedback on their performance.

Plagiarism detection: Ensure the tool has robust plagiarism-checking features to maintain the integrity of the assessment. With the advent of ChatGPT, companies also have to look out for candidates using AI tools for answering test questions. HackerEarth Assessments has a new feature called Smart Browser which prevents this from occurring.

IDE (Integrated Development Environment) Features: An intuitive IDE with features like code auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and error prompts can enhance the candidateexperience. Most coders use an IDE to create code on a daily basis and are familiar with it. Providing the same during and assessments puts them at ease, and allows them a fair shot at the test.

Multi-language support: Given the diverse range of programming languages, it’s essential that the tool supports assessing candidates in multiple languages.

Reporting and analytics: Comprehensive reports detailing candidate performance, areas of strength, and areas needing improvement can be invaluable for making informed decisions.

Scalability: If you’re assessing large numbers of candidates simultaneously, the tool should be able to handle the load without any glitches or slowdowns.

Integration capabilities: A good coding assessment tool should seamlessly integrate with your existing HRM (Human Resource Management) or LMS (Learning Management System) solutions.

Security: Ensure the tool maintains high standards of data privacy and security, adhering to relevant regulations and best practices.

Mobile compatibility: In today’s digital age, many candidates may opt to take assessments on mobile devices. Ensure the tool offers a smooth mobile experience.

Customer support: Reliable customer support can be a lifesaver, especially when dealing with technical issues or requiring guidance on best practices. HackerEarth offers 24*7 support across all geographies so that recruiting teams can hire faster and easier.

How to Create the perfect coding assessments with HackerEarth

HackerEarth is an online coding assessment platform and technical screening tool that allows organizations to design specific tests and evaluate candidates to find the right individuals to employ.

These reasons set HackerEarth apart from its competitors:

Versatility – Create customized tests in just a few minutes
Wide reach – Scale the hiring process over a large region by enabling multiple recruiters to hire candidates
Futuristic – Automate the evaluation process to screen for the best candidates
Economical – Reduce the burden on the organization by bringing down manual effort and repetition
Scientific – Create reports on the performance of candidates for further analysis and evaluation
Diversity – Design and implement assessments using over 35 programming languages

Streamline your recruitment process with HackerEarth

HackerEarth enables recruitment teams to streamline their processes, thus bringing down turnaround rates drastically. Performance reports further allow recruitment teams to break down and analyze micro-details, such as the time in which the assessment was completed, replaying the keystrokes used while coding, and so much more. Organizations that use HackerEarth as a coding assessment platform observe a marked rise in the quality of candidates ready for hire. The interview-to-hire ratio was drastically improved in these cases.

Why choose HackerEarth?

HackerEarth has one of the largest databases of questions to choose from when it comes to designing coding skills assessments. The platform also supports international languages making it easier for recruiters to hire across geographies

Additionally, HackerEarth secures the privacy of candidates by masking personally identifiable information in video interviews. Going by these features, it is easy to see why HackerEarth is one of the most highly-rated and trusted coding assessment platforms on the market today. Get in touch with us to learn more.