It’s no secret that software engineers and data scientists are in high demand. Even with the changing economic landscape, companies continue to hire, and the market is competitive. Moving fast enough to identify and hire top talent - before candidates receive competing offers - is the only way to hire quality engineering and data science talent. 

Technical hiring has always been challenging, but the rise of remote work during the pandemic made everything harder. Candidates expect a more streamlined interview process, while employers at the same time face greater risks related to remotely verifying identity, building trust, and assessing candidate skills and fit for the role.  

On top of it all, constrained budgets are now forcing a limited number of available recruiters and busy hiring managers to screen and interview candidates with less time and resources

‍We Need to Improve How We Evaluate Technical Talent‍

Today’s technical interview process takes too long and falls short of candidate expectations. 

A typical evaluation process could include a HR screening call, a technical screening call, a coding test, and multiple interview rounds, with the entire process taking approximately 30-45 days. In today’s market, moving this slowly turns off candidates and leaves hiring teams at a competitive disadvantage. 

Technical interviews are also typically unstructured, with very little training going toward how to interview well, or what criteria to evaluate candidates against. This can lead to significant bias, works against diversity and inclusion goals, and result in poor hiring decisions. 

Coding Tests Were Supposed to Help But Have Made Things Worse

Introducing coding tests as a way to automate part of the technical evaluation process has a lot of appeal. According to a recent study, 56% of organizations use pre-employment assessments to screen out unqualified candidates early and accelerate their hiring process. 

Unfortunately traditional coding tests don’t work for most candidates. Why? Coding tests today are like the SATs - they are a series of multiple choice questions and coding brain teasers that assess entry level computer science taught in the classroom. 

For recent college graduates looking for entry level work, these tests can be helpful to understand what they learned in school. But for the majority of candidates who are already in the workforce, these tests feel highly irrelevant, and for many, they are perceived as downright insulting. 

Good candidates often drop out of the process when they see tests that do not respect their skill level or depth of experience. To identify great technical talent, you need to understand much more than just whether the candidate can pass a coding quiz. 

Our Modern Approach: Job Simulations

We believe in a fundamentally different approach to evaluating technical talent. That’s why we created industry-first Job Simulations to provide an assessment that’s better for both companies and candidates.

Job Simulations give candidates access to a virtual desktop where they can complete real-world skills assessments in a tech stack that mirrors the hiring company. It’s the equivalent of shipping a candidate a company-configured laptop, with all necessary apps and packages available, to complete a short, gradable assessment. 

These types of job simulations are the future of technical hiring: managers can more quickly and accurately assess candidates by simulating the kind of work and environment that mimics “Day One” on the job. Candidate performance can be scored with automated grading scripts that not only judge output, but also evaluate candidates on the key steps they take along the way, grading them on their progress even if they don’t perfectly complete the assessment. 

Job Simulations also give candidates a better understanding of the role they’re applying for, as they get to experience work similar to what they would do on the job, and include video questions where candidates can explain their solutions and critical thinking. Hiring managers can review these recorded responses alongside the results of the simulated technical assessments for a more complete picture of the candidate’s abilities.

By having candidates complete technical evaluations similar to those they’d actually be working on in the job, companies respect candidates’ experience level and give them the appropriate tools to showcase their skills. Over 50,000 job candidates have given Filtered a 4.6 out of 5 rating, highlighting the innovative and unique candidate experience. 

If you’re interested in learning more, please reach out. We’d love an opportunity to learn more about your organization and how we might be able to help.

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