Introducing Project Code Challenges
Our latest product update is our biggest strike yet in our war against synthetic coding challenges that test only algorithmic skills.
Existing Qualified customers are well aware that the core of our product is made up of challenges (specific coding tasks) and assessments (a set of challenges) to be solved by a student or job candidate. Using this format, Qualified customers can pull together a series of challenges relevant to any given role and deliver them to candidates as a fully tied together assessment.
While this format has served us well, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of Project Code Challenges. This is more than a new feature—it’s really a set of new functionality that will form the foundation of our challenges and assessments going forward. Here’s why we’re so excited about it.
Move from “can you code” to “how well do you code?”
Qualified’s success has always been driven by a simple idea—deliver coding skills assessments that better reflect real world programming, which in turn better surfaces candidates with the skills needed to deliver on-the-job. But most coding challenges have always been a bit restricted, typically asking candidates to complete a coding task while working with a single file that they can edit. These tests are easy to deliver, but that’s simply not how you write programs.
Our project code challenges support the use of multiple files, allowing us to mimic actual programming projects that much better and allowing candidates to structure programs the way that they would naturally do it. Companies can also control what files candidates can see and edit as they work through challenges in their browser.
Ultimately this functionality gives candidates the ability to really show off their skills and distinguish themselves in a way that they simply couldn’t with a single file coding test. This also gives companies a lot more versatility in terms of how they assess job candidates, really moving the conversation from “can you code” to “how do you code?”
This transition provides a much deeper level of insight into how candidates think and solve problems, making project code challenges a great fit for assessing more mid to senior level developers.
Use previews and code playback to watch an application visually evolve
Project code challenges also provide much better support for assessing front-end development skills, giving candidates the ability to write complete programs directly within their browser.
Our web preview functionality shows candidates the visual front-end output of what they’ve built as they are building it, so that they can see the progression of their app or program in real-time. Companies can then use code playback to watch the progression of the app as it was built, again providing a deeper level of insight into a developer’s thought process and problem solving ability.
Key Use Cases for Project Code Challenges
Project code challenges allow multiple files to be used when completing an assessment and enable an advanced set of configuration options for which files the candidate can see, edit and add. Here are three specific use cases that these challenges better support:
- Hiring mid to senior level developers
- Assessing front-end development skills
- Testing languages like Java and C# that are difficult to test in single file format
New Assessments For Project Challenges
We have added a number of new challenges, and some new pre-built assessments, to go along with this release. Their use-cases range from front-end developer pre-screens to full-blown take homes that will give you a deep dive into a developer's skillset.
- Node: Advanced File Handling
- Python: Advanced Take Home
- React: Pre-Screen
- React: Fundamentals
- React: Intermediate
- React: Forms and Sanitizing
- React: Advanced Take-Home
- Vue: Intermediate
Interested in learning more about how your team can best leverage project code challenges? Email us at [email protected] to setup a 1-on-1 consultation with a Qualified product expert or join us on Thursday, August 29 at 11:00am PT for a live webinar introducing Project Code Challenges with Qualified CTO Jake Hoffner.
Register today!
