When hiring for a developer position, there is usually a target seniority to keep in mind.
If you are using a coding assessment platform, you’ll need to ensure the test matches the seniority you are hiring for. Sure, most technical testing sites put a snazzy tag on their tests with a seniority level – junior, intermediate, or senior. Of course, it is not difficult to choose the “correct” seniority level, but mistakes can be made, and there is often more to each developer than meets the seniority-boxed eye. Believe it or not, the better way to approach seniority in testing is to have each test accommodate all seniorities. Why is this so? Allow us to explain.
The everyday work developers do, just as with all professions, contains elements of all difficulty levels. Testing should reflect this reality. Let’s put this into context: Say a senior developer aces the difficult parts of a test but misses the easy things; this is an immediate red flag. As an employer, the last thing you want to be doing is constantly worrying about your employee’s inattentiveness and having to micromanage their tasking to only work on tasks of a specific difficulty or nature. In contrast, with a junior, why give them a junior-level coding test when, with a balanced test, you can see if they will overachieve and surprise you? Codeaid can help you do just that! I will tell you if a candidate scores in line with their seniority or if they under or overachieve.
If the results don’t align with the expected seniority, it’s time to take a closer look. Longer coding tests with balanced difficulty profiles are particularly well-suited to do this. For example, if a senior is sloppy, give them a chance to show that their lack of attention to detail is not part of their character. Conversely, perhaps you have a very motivated junior candidate that scored well, but you think they can do even better if given some feedback and time to test that theory.
Codeaid’s Feedback & Fix feature is excellent for such situations as it allows you to give automatically-generated, limited feedback to a candidate. With this, you can see if a concerning or promising aspect of a candidate’s initial performance continues.
As we mentioned above, longer coding tests support this comprehensive approach to seniority in testing. If a test is only 1-2 hours in length, it’s difficult to have meaningful elements of all difficulty levels. However, creating such a test requires careful calibration. Prior to publishing a Codeaid test challenge, we calibrate and fine-tune it using developers of known seniority. Once a coding test is public, the seniority scores are monitored to ensure proper separation and spread and can be adjusted by changing unit test weightings and by adding new content.
However, calibration is not only about scores. It is also about testing time. Juniors shouldn’t take 10x longer than seniors, but rather a 3x difference would be more reasonable. Keep in mind that it can take time for the calibration to settle into equilibrium. Calibration may look good at first glance, but as more test samples come in, problems can emerge, so long-term monitoring is essential.
The bottom line is that a properly designed coding assessment should have richness, duration, and calibration accuracy that allows candidates to surprise both on the positive and negative sides. Don’t put candidates in a box before you even hire them, get a truer view of all their capabilities within various levels with Codeaid.
In the rapidly evolving tech world, software engineers are some of the most sought-after professionals. Yet, the demand for skilled experts outstrips the supply, leading to a global shortage of qualified software engineers.
Read More
AI is reshaping landscapes across all industries, and the tech sector is no exception. In fact, about 92% of US-based developers already use AI-based tools for code writing and debugging.
Read More
Let’s face it: New hire retention is a continuing problem and ensuring high retention rates can be challenging.
Read More
Let’s face it: Nobody likes buggy software. But poor-quality software is a reality, and it has a large cost.
Read More
Developing software applications is not just about writing code. It is also about architecting the system to be understandable, extendable, reliable, and scalable.
Read More
In this buzzing era of universal connectivity, we’re noticing a seismic shift in how businesses roll out their operations.
Read More
In 2022, poor-quality software in the US cost about $2.41 trillion.
So, it’s no wonder that an increasing number of tech recruiters are searching for more effective ways to find the best talent.
Women have made significant strides in the tech industry in recent years, and they continue to propel change and innovation in the sector.
Read More
The coding assessment market is scrambling, just as many other markets are, to determine the risks and opportunities that ChatGPT brings.
Read More
While many software developers are proactive in learning new technologies on their own time, relying solely on this approach can leave gaps in their knowledge and skills. In a more direct nutshell, they might not be learning what you need them to learn.
Read More
Coding tests can tell you many things about a candidate, but what most don’t do is tell you how they respond to feedback.
Read More
To make sure everyone’s playing fair, most coding test platforms run plagiarism or similarity checks on submitted code.
Read More
Gone are the days when a piece of software’s success was determined solely by its functionality.
Read More
Let’s face it, no one is thrilled about taking a coding test, especially top-notch candidates who have their pick of the litter when it comes to job opportunities.
Read More
Finding good developers has become more difficult and you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince or a princess.
Read More
Globally, there is a significant developer shortage and that, coupled with remote work being the norm these days, incentivizes companies to go beyond the usual group of candidates and testing techniques.
Read More
Capturing the full spectrum of programming qualities that make someone a good developer is a hard task.
Read More
Tech recruiters are the gatekeepers of the tech industry. They get to decide which candidates have a shot at getting hired, and which ones don’t.
Read More
Why should you test coding skills? Let’s face it: it’s easy for developers to make themselves sound like Developer of The Year when you don’t have any evidence that proves otherwise.
Read More
Business owners and recruiters know how complex, time-consuming, and even expensive it could be to hire a talented professional.
Read More
Get 20% OFF – Valid for Entire Subscription, No Expiry Date!
Don’t miss out!
Receive a 20% discount code that can be used for the purchase of any plan.