Coding Assessments

When it comes to coding assessments, there are may different types widely used in industry. One of the advantages of using a coding assessment is the evidence they can provide regarding candidates’ technical abilities. Also, some candidates may be unable to share past projects they have worked on due to non-disclosure agreements. Having an independent technical assessment that allows candidates to showcase their skills can help. Providing a coding assessment also allows the interviewer and the candidate to be on the same page during any subsequent interviews, so they can discuss the work in more depth, and dig a little deeper into some of the technical details.

Some of the disadvantages of using a coding assessment are that it does take time and, in some cases, if you use an off-the-shelf assessment tool (such as HackerRank) it will cost money. Another major disadvantage with using an assessment tool is that if you use the same one for multiple candidates, there’s a high likelihood it will have been shared on the internet (e.g. these are common on Glassdoor) so there is a possibility that cheating may occur.

While many companies use coding assessments with computer science algorithm questions (commonly found on platforms such as LeetCode and HackerRank), other companies may opt for a more open-ended take-home problem. For example, they may give applicants access to an API and ask them to query data that satisfies some criteria, or they may share a large dataset and asking applicants to perform some sort of data transformation.

At Insight, we use a hybrid approach where we give applicants a link to a problem statement detailed on a Github. The problem requires use of one or two foundational data structures and details some sort of analysis that we’d like performed on a dataset. Each submission is run through a series of tests to ensure that the desired output is produced. Each submission is also manually reviewed by a program director who is looking for code quality and software best practices.

Application Review

Coding assessments are reviewed first — even before the application is read. That allows us to reduce bias and fairly evaluate the coding assessment. The results of the coding assessment can help overcome gaps in a candidate’s technical background, while a poorly executed assessment can temper the experience an applicant lists on a resume.

After the coding assessment, we review a candidate’s application in advance of a technical interview so that we can be prepared for the areas we want to dig into during the technical video interview. The agenda for our video interviews are high-level and open-ended, primarily consisting of introductions, walk-through of the coding assessment, and then a conversation with the applicant.

Technical Video Interview

Reviewing the coding assessment during a live video interview is generally about ensuring that the applicant wrote the code and put some thought into how they solved the problem. We will also use the coding assessment as a starting point in assessing their interest in system design and working with data as challenges such as scalability become a factor.

After the coding assessment, we use the rest of the time during the video interview chatting with applicants about their career aspirations and what they hope to get out of Insight.

Following the video interview, we put together our notes on how the interview went. Most importantly, if we ran out of time and there were questions that were left unanswered, or there was more to discuss, it’s important to note all of that information. At that point, we will sometimes recommend that a second colleague conduct a follow-up interview to address any remaining questions.