Assessing technical skills of developer candidates
Nic Wortel
@nicwortel
About me
- Software Consultant, Trainer, Agile Coach
- PHP, Symfony, DevOps, Kubernetes, DDD, Agile
Shameless self-promotion
My experiences with job interviews
Goal of this talk
Define what you are looking for
What technical skills are you looking for?
What level of seniority are you looking for?
(junior/medior/senior)
How do you define seniority?
Assessment types
- Knowledge quiz
- Assessment platforms (Codility, DevSkiller, etc.)
- Live coding assignment
- Take-home assignment
- Live code review
Knowledge quiz
Pros
- Low effort
Cons
- Does not test actual skills
- In real-life Google, StackOverflow, etc. exist
- Can be demotivating
Assessment platforms (Codility, DevSkiller, etc.)
Pros
- Low effort
- Candidate is writing actual code
- Solutions can be automatically checked
Cons
- Scoring does not include code quality or best practices
- Does not determine seniority
- Online dev environment instead of local IDE
- Costs
Live coding assignment
Pros
- Candidate is writing actual code
Cons
- Candidate cannot use own IDE & tools
- Higher pressure can filter out good candidates
Take-home assignment
Pros
- Candidate is writing actual code
- Less pressure than live coding
- Candidate can show off their knowledge
- Questions about solution can be part of interview
Cons
- Big time investment for candidate can result in dropout
- More difficult to assess objectively
Live code review
Pros
- Gives insight in both technical knowledge and communication skills
- Less pressure than live coding
- Works well for all seniority levels
Cons
- Candidate is not writing actual code
General tips
- Let the candidate know what to expect
- Create a checklist of things to assess
- Avoid trick questions and ambiguity
- Give the candidate a chance to ask questions as well
Summary
- Define what you are looking for
- Choose an assessment type that does not filter out good candidates
- Be transparent and objective
Thank you!
Please give me feedback at https://joind.in/talk/ddb1c