Posted on: 06/28/2022 @ 02:47 PM
As I write this, I'm on the job hunt trail. Sending my résumé to multiple companies, people, and recruiters. I have had multiple interviews and some coding exercises. As I've done these assessments in the past, and probably more in the future, I have some thoughts about them that I would like to share.
Luckily, I have only ever done one whiteboard code assessment. It was nerve-wracking and unfamiliar. While thinking, writing, and drawing out how you (and your team) want to build something is extremely important, making a person do this under massive scrutiny shows prospective employers not much of anything. While they may be able to weed out people that may not know what they're actually doing, what it majorly does is limit what programmers/developers they will hire. Just because a person can do just fine under these manufactured stresses, does not mean they will succeed in real-word stresses. The prospective employer also runs the risk of not hiring the best person for the job. My thoughts on this model of code assessment is that it benefits no one and should be exiled into oblivion.
I have been the victim of this type of assessment a few times. While I can understand the logic from a prospective employer in wanting to see what kind of "rock star" they are getting, the person doing the assessment is most likely doing other interviews and assessments. Asking someone to do a full day plus of work just for the opportunity to continue in the process is assinine. I've also learned these employers tend to pay below market value. So you've dedicated a large chunk of job hunting to this one employer that most likely sucks. Be gone!
I do believe code assessments are neccessary, don't get me wrong. But being very specific on what you need to see and having the prospect show that is integral. Have them spend 2-3 hours on an assessment and review the work. If the work looks good (or OK), call the person back in and have them walk through the code with you. That is much closer to how the real world is going to work and you get to see code from a coder just doing their coding.