Top 5 platforms to screen and hire programmers
How are you recruiting programmers? If you’re still using job boards, you’ve likely noticed that you only get a certain standard of applicants, many don’t show too much interest in round after round of interviews and, ultimately, you’re wasting time and money. Ideally, the right approach to hiring and interviewing programmers should include physical assessment. A CV can only tell you so much. Sooner or later you need to see how they actually code.
This is why most companies are turning to recruitment platforms to streamline this process. If you’re looking for a programmer, a dedicated platform offers an efficient solution designed to filter down and cut to the final, worthwhile candidates. That is, of course, if you choose the right one. The market is full of such answers, from broader platforms to niche products that directly serve the IT skills sector. So, what’s the best option for you? That depends on your unique circumstances, but here are 5 of the most effective platforms according to us for hiring developers and finding key tech talent!
CoderPad
CoderPad describes itself as a Google Doc for programmers, and it’s easy to see why. The product is designed to offer prospective employees a means to develop solutions in a semi-natural environment. In other words, they can be given a challenge and use the product to write, run and review their own code before submission. This effectively replaces the manual testing part of the interview process, while also allowing the recruiting company to review the coding process and, of course, the final solution. In this regard, it is a platform that fits neatly into an already established recruitment process.
The main difficulty with CoderPad, however, is that it is designed to help screen and recruit preselected people. If you want something wider a wider scope - and actively serves to draw people in - CoderPad alone will not suffice. While it does cover a wide range of languages, you still need your own internal HR team that are willing to go the extra mile to generate this buzz and find candidates. Similarly, while playback features are a very welcome inclusion, this can be difficult at scale. When you have to test 50 potential programmers, do you want to manually assess each and every one?
Source: CoderPad
HackerRank
HackerRank has established itself as a networking platform exclusively for programmers and developers. As a result, you can view from more than 5 million specialists. In return, these specialists can spend their free time running test challenges and interview questions, ensuring they are ready to engage with you. Recruitment itself can take place through various challenges and tests, with lots of post-assessment support with tools and analytics to help filter and process.
While a network of 5 million people is certainly a plus, it’s worth considering two key factors. Spread out over 30+ languages and specialities, this number isn’t so big. Globally, popularity can wax and wane based on the specific language. Some, such as Python, are immensely popular, while others, such as PHP and JavaScript, are not as common as they used to be. If you’re looking for skills in these latter areas, you need to ensure your platform is working to attract these people. Likewise, this only represents active candidates. If you want to attract passive candidates - those that aren’t actively looking for new opportunities but will engage if tempted just the right way, and also make up 60% of the market - you would still need a way to draw them into such a gated community.
Indorse
Indorse offers a novel approach to the traditional job board. On Indorse, specialists need to have their skills confirmed and assessed by their peers. If they want to advertise and proclaim that they are fluent in a specific coding language, then they need to prove their worth before they are able to apply for such roles. The platform then selects experts at random, who can either indorse or flag that specific person.
In this way, it offers a cross between the likes of HackerRank (mentioned above) and a typical job board. You can readily post positions, but you’re dealing with a smaller, closed community. The benefit of this is that it is very easy to see if someone is pre-approved by fellow experts, which readily cuts down on filtering. However, Indorse doesn’t offer much in the way of online challenges or further support. If you’re looking to bring someone into your team, you’re still going to want to test them for yourself, to see if their a team player, a creative thinker or just a good solver of on-the-sport problems. Indorse helps get past the first hurdle, but you still need to pair it with another solution to stay streamlined.
Source: Indorse
While it’s not purpose-built and dedicated to IT needs, it’s hard to talk about recruitment platforms and not mention LinkedIn. In terms of programmers, estimates indicate anywhere between 9-10 million specialists are on the recruitment network, which is potentially half the global market. The downside to LinkedIn, however, is that it requires a great deal of manual work. If you’re looking to select the ideal programmer and are willing to cast your net pretty wide, this can result in countless hours of searching. Furthermore, finding specialists is typically down to scanning for keywords or terms (such as location, language, job title etc).
Even when you find them, LinkedIn offers no assessment tools of its own, so you would need to combine it with another solution. Essentially, it is a platform that focuses on quantity over quality. That being said, knowing so many developers are actively on there (even if they are not looking for work) makes it a great place to advertise, disclose and generate buzz for any events, hackathons or challenges you arrange through other means, such as other entries on this list.
ChallengeRocket
Our platform aims to attract, test and assess IT specialists. We focus on both scope and scale, allowing companies to quickly assess results from a wide range of programmers, whether it’s ten or ten thousand. How do we do this? We offer custom hackathons and online coding challenges that people want to take part in, whether they’re looking for a job or not! While we also have our own extensive community, our network isn’t closed off from the wider world. Our events draw in those that aren’t actively looking for a new job, as well as from across the globe. These contests focus on fun, innovation and passionate, forward-thinking topics.
Additionally, our analytical tools allow you to readily filter down results to just a few, select final applicants. Our clients have found this to be a highly successful way of meeting the right people. Before they approach individuals, they already have a solid understanding of their practical skills in real situations. This is all down to the advanced analytical software that empowers are events. It’s not enough to simply know who solves each challenge. As developer recruiters, it’s vital to know how they acted. Our analytical package offers real time reporting, automatic results and even lets you compare candidates on the fly across a range of factors. You can even compare with existing staff in your own company, to better find the ideal team fit!
As an example, one of our hackathons with Mercari saw over 500 participants from 53 countries. This is a level of appeal that few other platforms, if any, can claim to generate. We also create engaging online coding challenges (such as our current Rockwell Automation C++ Challenge) that generate vast appeal with tech talent around the world. If this sounds like the solution to your recruitment gaps, we’re happy to help! You can request a demo today to get started - we’d love to talk to you about your companies needs, so we can plan the perfect challenge together and get you the in-house skills you require!
Source: ChallengeRocket.com
Make 2019 the year for streamlined developer recruitment
Smart recruiters find more effective means to filter and assess candidates, without sacrificing valuable insights or data. These modern, innovative platforms help recruitment teams to find key tech talents through the combination of large scale assessment and attractive events that draw in those who might not otherwise be tempted. Doesn’t that sound more effective than individual assessments and interviews? Transform your hiring processes and find programmers the smart way - try for free at ChallengeRocket.com!
