How to avoid those coding challenge blues

In mid-November 2017, a new company launched a social platform for developer recruitment in a bid to use the power of social networks to identify the best developers.

The idea of going digital, being multi-platform and customer-centric are among the technology-powered trends driving business, which often require new applications to be developed.

In recent years, there has been a shift in business to create in-house expertise around core technologies such as cloud computing, mobile, analytics and social software, but demand for these skills is exceeding supply.

A study conducted in 2017 for recruitment firm Mortimer Spinks revealed that 66% of business leaders had chosen cloud technology as their top area for investment in the next 12 months.

This was followed closely by security (63%), which was named as a high priority by organisations of all sizes across all industries.

However, 54% of business leaders said they outsourced technology because of a lack of access to talent or skills, either in the UK or within their own business.

Hiring the best developers relies on testing prospective candidates using automated coding tools, which some industry-watchers say can be too simplistic and may deter the very best candidates.

London startup Geektastic believes it has the answer with a new technology platform supported by a global community of skilled software engineers.

The engineers offer peer-reviewed coding challenges to evaluate developers as an alternative to more traditional, automated coding challenges.

Robin Beattie, a director at IT recruitment firm Mortimer Spinks, said: “Coding challenges have been around for quite some time. Now in almost every tech position a developer has to do some level of coding challenge. The problem is that it isn’t as simplistic as this. Recruitment is complicated and time-consuming.

“Predominantly, we find companies use an automated testing tool or their own bespoke challenges. Both have different concerns.”

In some cases, an automated coding test can see the candidate get a fail very quickly, said Beattie: “The computer says no.”

The tests are largely algorithmic in nature, designed to test competency in Java, .net or Scala. “Full stack developers say it is really hard to create a full stack challenge,” he said.

Separate language tests are also needed for object-oriented programming languages, said Beattie. “It’s a candidate-driven market right now and people are put off by companies that put them through lengthy coding challenges. This delays the hiring process. Companies need to take a different approach to hiring tech talent and improve the candidate experience.”

Automated testing can limit the pool of people a business can interview when looking to hire developers, he pointed out.

Mortimer Spinks has been looking at Geektastic’s alternative approach to the coding challenge. Beattie said: “Candidates are much more responsive to taking part in peer-reviewed assessments, rather than automated tests, and our clients value the depth and insight the assessments provide. By getting greater engagement from both candidates and clients, the platform is actively helping us make more successful placements – and that’s great for the software developer, our clients and, of course, us.”

The Rank Group is one of the companies that has been looking at Geektastic to help simplify developer recruiting. The gaming company, which owns Mecca Bingo, needs more developers to build new customer experiences.

Nick Boothroyd, director of talent acquisition at Rank Group, told Computer Weekly: “If you look at our business, we run casinos and need everyone from kitchen assistants to croupiers to heads of finance, project managers, corporate roles and developers.”