08 February 2024 – Bristol-based technology startup Deazy has continued its growth and expansion by acquiring Geektastic, which provides customisable, peer-reviewed technical assessments that generate deep technical insight to allow enterprises to quickly identify the best developers.

Deazy works with enterprises such as the RAC and Popeyes, helping to address the problem of accelerating digital delivery by bringing the best global development talent to a challenge. Developers are selected from Deazy’s curated community of 85 global development partners and managed by their highly experienced, in-house product and delivery experts, who provide the support and resources to guarantee success. 

The acquisition of Geektastic – with its mixture of technical assessments and code challenges - means Deazy can now readily demonstrate the skills and quality within its developer community to potential customers.

“We’ve worked with Geektastic since 2022 and saw such positive returns that it made perfect sense to bring them into the Deazy family,” said Andy Peddar, CEO, Deazy. “We always aim to make digital delivery easier for our clients by giving them access to the best developers and full product delivery teams, and Geektastic helps us achieve that. We know how good our developers and teams are, but we can now be 100% transparent about that quality and communicate that to clients.”

“We can also now take ownership of vetting and quality within our community from a holistic perspective, vetting for code quality and soft skills, such as communication, cultural fit, and the ability to work in a team.” 

Geektastic provides both pre-built and bespoke code challenges on demand. Its customisable platform allows customers to build their code challenges and review guidelines integrated into their HR Platforms for streamlined recruitment.

Geektastic is the only technical assessment platform to offer a fully managed human review process to provide deeper insights into candidates’ coding skills. Using a network of expert peer reviewers – the Ubergeeks – comprising 300 of the world’s greatest technical minds from companies such as Google, Amazon and Accenture, they streamline the assessment process, reducing time to hire, freeing up valuable internal resources from the recruitment process and increasing the likelihood of hiring the best developers. 

“Every single tech leader in an enterprise will be only too aware of the challenges in finding the right talent to deliver their product roadmaps and projects quickly and effectively,” continued Andy Peddar, Deazy. “I have seen so many digital projects in the past struggle due to a poor cultural fit or a lack of soft skills in delivery teams, and that type of vetting will be an integral part of our proposition later in 2024. It’s a better customer experience and removes a potential barrier for people using Deazy’s services.”

Part of the acquisition will see Geektastic co-founder and CEO Rick Brownlow join as Vetting and Quality Lead, bringing his experience, know-how, and approach to Deazy. One of his primary objectives will be to integrate the measurement of soft skills and cultural fit into the assessments, as he explained:

“Our methodology and proposition are a wonderful fit with Deazy. Enterprises have an almost insatiable need for high-calibre experts in software engineering, machine learning AI, and data engineering to complement the gaps in their teams, but some perceive working with external developers as risky. We remove that risk entirely and will be expanding the offering to include soft skills and cultural fit assessments later this year.”​

About Deazy

To learn more about Deazy, please visit www.deazy.com

2023 has seen a paradigm shift in tech recruitment. 

What has been a candidate-driven market for as long as anyone can remember has shifted to a hirer-driven market. 

Until recently finding good candidates to apply to your role was hard and required dedicated outreach, whereas now, hiring teams are swamped with hundreds if not thousands of applicants from a single LinkedIn job post. 

We were chatting with a team the other day who had to pull their job ads because they already had 750 applications for a Jnr Full Stack Software Engineer based in London. 

With so many developers looking for roles, job applicants are taking a scattergun approach and applying for roles that aren’t right for them, making the job of making the hiring even harder.

The proverbial needle in a haystack scenario.

To combat this deluge of applications hiring teams need to employ some new tactics to avoid damaging their employer brand.

How to avoid damaging your employer brand.

With all the automation tools at your disposal, there is no excuse for ghosting job applicants 👻. Just because you are inundated with applications, some of which might well be unsuitable, doesn’t mean you can’t send a response.

What’s even worse is ghosting further into the hiring process, where applicants have spent time (and money) attending interviews and completing assessments only to be left hanging. Nobody likes sharing bad news, but leaving them not knowing is even worse.

Similarly, having one standard templated response to all applications saying “If you don’t hear back in 2 weeks, you can assume it’s a No” is bad practice.

Leaving candidates waiting two weeks is bad enough, but not even responding to them is killing your employer brand.

Stage 1 - High Level Filtering

Firstly, you need to assess the candidates’ suitability for the role based on their skills and experience. These details are available from a candidate’s CV or the form they fill in on your careers page / Linked In application form. 

Please don't ask for these details twice! This is the fastest way to lose good candidates from your process as it's one of the most complained about faults in a company's hiring process. 

You can use ATS automation to filter based on data parsed from CVs matched against your role or you can eyeball applications to decide which ones to reject (nicely, see above) and which ones to move to the next stage. 

Stage 2 - Short technical assessment or Intro call

Ideally, at this point, you start to engage applicants on a short video call. Lots of companies refer to this as a ‘Phone Screen’. Whilst you will be eliminating candidates at this stage in the process, this is your opportunity to start engaging the candidates and enthusing them about the company and the team they will be working with. If you leave this element to a later stage you’ll lose good candidates who just feel like you battered them with 20 screening questions without telling them anything about the role, plus it adds an additional step lengthening your whole hiring process.

If you throw candidates into technical assessments too early you risk losing candidates so giving them the option makes it their choice. However, you’ll also need to bear in mind that if these calls are taking days to schedule you might risk losing candidates through lack of engagement so offering to take some challenges keeps them engaged, particularly if they do well.

Why not offer your candidates options? 

Take our short technical skills test OR arrange a call with one of the team.

Giving flexibility in a process is key to moving fast and making the candidate feel positive about the experience. If they know they’ll need to complete these assessments at some stage in the process some will jump in and complete them straight away, others will wait until they know more about the role.

For high-volume tech roles this first stage should be automated, it should take the candidate around 30-40 minutes and should provide instant feedback. You can’t afford to send out 750 take-home assessments and dedicate human resources to evaluating them all.

Multiple Choice challenges like Geektastic’s Express Challenges are perfect for this stage in the process as they are cost-effective at scale and establish a baseline set of skills to give the hiring team a degree of comfort before engaging the candidate in more detailed and labour-intensive processes.

Once you have a positive initial call with the HR team and the initial technical assessment shows promise it’s time to start investing time with the candidate and for the candidate to invest more time in the process.  At this point you should have a good feeling about their fit from the initial call and also about their skills, both technically from the initial high-level tech assessment and their CV.

Again, flexibility is key to giving a positive experience and keeping the process moving. 

Stage 3 - Take-home assessment or Technical Interview with some of the dev team

Believe it or not, we’re not going to argue why take-home challenges are better than pair programming / technical, face-to-face interviews, mainly because we don’t think one is ‘better’ than the other. They both have a place in the hiring process and suit some candidates more than others. Ideally, you have a flexible process that allows candidates to choose which route they want to take.

Some candidates prefer the interaction with the team that a face-to-face session offers and allows them to make mistakes that they can then discuss and explain during the session. It also allows the team to take a broader view of the candidate and give the benefit of the doubt.

Other candidates prefer the privacy of their own IDE and uninterrupted thinking time to complete their take-home task.  

Offering candidates a choice here is more effort than choosing one option.

It takes a lot of time to craft a good take-home assessment and then review the submissions. It also takes a lot of human resources to manage face-to-face technical assessments. Luckily there are solutions like Geektatsic’s take-home assessments to help free up internal resources with our team of expert assessors and our library of code challenges.

One thing to factor into your process is feedback. It’s vital you provide detailed feedback to the candidate in return for their effort. This comes up time and again when talking to candidates as their pet hates from hiring processes, in particular the tech assessment stage.

But how can you ensure that you are getting the most out of your skills and experience?

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the factors that influence software engineering salaries, tips for negotiating your compensation package, and strategies to advance your career and earn even more. Whether you are just starting out or have years of experience under your belt, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and tools to take control of your earning potential and thrive in the competitive world of software engineering.

So, let’s dive in and unlock the secrets to maximizing your earnings in the tech industry!

Factors that Impact Software Engineering Salaries

Software engineering salaries are influenced by a variety of factors. One of the key factors is the location where you work. Tech hubs such as Silicon Valley and Seattle tend to offer higher salaries due to the high demand for software engineers and the higher cost of living. On the other hand, salaries in smaller cities or regions with a lower concentration of tech companies may be lower. It’s important to consider the cost of living in a particular location when evaluating a job offer.

Another factor that impacts software engineering salaries is experience level. Generally, the more experience you have, the higher your earning potential. As you gain more years of experience, you become more valuable to employers and can command a higher salary. However, keep in mind that experience alone is not the only factor determining your salary. Other factors, such as your skills, the demand for specific technologies, and the company’s financial situation, also play a role.

Education is another important factor in determining software engineering salaries. While a formal degree is not always required in the tech industry, it can significantly impact your earning potential. Many companies prefer candidates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science or a related field. A higher level of education demonstrates a deeper understanding of software engineering principles and can make you more competitive in the job market. However, it’s worth noting that experience and practical skills are also highly valued, so a combination of education and experience can be a powerful combination.

Average Software Engineering Salaries by Location

United Kingdom

Average Salary: £40,000 to £60,000 per year.

The United Kingdom has a well-established tech industry, with London being a major global tech hub. The demand for software engineers is high, but the average salary is affected by various factors, including regional variations, the cost of living (higher in London), and the availability of skilled IT professionals. Despite uncertainties surrounding Brexit and other economic factors, the UK remains an attractive destination for tech talent. 

Netherlands

Average Salary: €45,000 to €65,000 per year.

The Netherlands has a thriving tech scene, with Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven being major tech hubs. The country’s economy is advanced and diversified, with a focus on innovation and technology. However, the average salary for software engineers is relatively low compared to some other European countries due to a higher supply of skilled IT professionals and a competitive job market.

Germany

Average Salary: €55,000 to €75,000 per year.

Germany’s average software engineer salary is relatively lower compared to countries like the US and Switzerland, but it is still competitive. The reason for this is the country’s well-developed tech industry, with major cities like Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg housing thriving startup scenes and established tech companies. The cost of living in Germany is generally lower than in some other European countries, which can impact salary levels.

United States

Average Salary: $110,000 to $130,000 per year (will vary depending on location, type of role/technology and experience).

The United States has one of the highest average salaries for software engineers due to several factors. First, the country has a well-established tech industry with major tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Austin, Seattle, and Boston, which attract top talent and offer higher salaries.

Second, the demand for skilled software engineers in various sectors, including technology, finance, healthcare, and entertainment, is significant, contributing to higher pay scales. Lastly, the cost of living in some tech hubs is high, leading to higher compensation to retain talent.

Brazil

Average Salary: BRL 60,000 to BRL 120,000 per year.

Brazil’s average software engineer salary is influenced by its emerging tech industry and growing demand for skilled professionals. The country has a vibrant startup ecosystem and is home to many multinational companies. However, economic factors, currency exchange rates, and local cost of living considerations play a role in determining the average salary, making it lower compared to more developed economies.

The relatively low average salary and high density of talented software engineers makes Brazil an excellent place to hire remote developers.

Switzerland

Average Salary: CHF 95,000 to CHF 115,000 per year.

Explanation: Switzerland is known for its high salaries across various professions, including software engineering. The country’s strong economy, stable political environment, and emphasis on innovation contribute to the high demand for skilled software engineers. Additionally, Switzerland’s high cost of living and competitive job market drive companies to offer attractive compensation packages to attract and retain talent.

Spain

Average Salary: €30,000 to €45,000 per year.

Explanation: Spain’s average salary for software engineers is lower than in Northern European countries. The tech industry in Spain is growing steadily, especially in cities like Barcelona and Madrid, but the cost of living is generally lower compared to other Western European countries. This, along with a larger pool of software engineering talent, contributes to the relatively lower average salary.

Portugal

Average Salary: €25,000 to €35,000 per year.

Explanation: Portugal’s tech industry is experiencing growth, particularly in Lisbon and Porto. The country offers competitive salaries within its local context, but they are generally lower compared to more developed European nations. Portugal’s lower cost of living is a significant factor influencing the average salary for software engineers.

Like Brazil, thelow cost of living and average salary make Portugal very attractive for hiring highly talented software engineers remotely.

Italy

Average Salary: €30,000 to €45,000 per year.

Explanation: Italy has a growing tech sector, with Milan and Rome being notable tech hubs. The average salary for software engineers is influenced by factors such as the country’s economy, demand for tech talent, and the overall cost of living. While Italy offers competitive salaries within its local market, they are relatively lower compared to some other European countries.

The Role of Education in Software Engineering Salaries

Education plays a significant role in determining software engineering salaries. While a formal degree is not always a requirement in the tech industry, it can have a positive impact on your earning potential. Many companies prefer candidates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science or a related field. A higher level of education demonstrates a deeper understanding of software engineering principles and can make you more competitive in the job market.

However, it’s important to note that education alone is not the only factor determining your salary. Practical skills, experience, and the ability to solve real-world problems are highly valued in the tech industry. In fact, some employers may prioritize practical skills and experience over formal education. Therefore, a combination of education and experience can be a powerful combination to maximize your earning potential as a software engineer.

Negotiating Your Software Engineering Salary

Negotiating your software engineering salary is an essential step in maximizing your earnings. Many candidates are hesitant to negotiate their salary, fearing that it may jeopardize their job offer. However, negotiating your compensation package can have a significant impact on your long-term earning potential.

When negotiating your salary, it’s important to do your research and gather data on industry standards and average salaries for similar positions in your location. This information will provide you with a benchmark to evaluate the job offer and determine if it aligns with your expectations. Additionally, highlight your skills, experience, and achievements during the negotiation process to demonstrate your value to the employer.

Remember, negotiation is a two-way process. Be prepared to compromise and find a mutually beneficial solution. Consider other elements of the compensation package, such as bonuses, equity, and benefits, which can add significant value to your overall earnings. Don’t be afraid to negotiate these aspects as well.

Benefits and Perks in the Tech Industry

In addition to a competitive salary, the tech industry is known for offering a wide range of benefits and perks. These additional benefits can significantly increase your overall compensation package and improve your work-life balance. Some common benefits in the tech industry include:

Health Insurance: Many tech companies offer comprehensive health insurance coverage for their employees and their dependents. This can include medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts.

Retirement Plans: Tech companies often provide retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, with employer matching contributions. These plans allow you to save for your future and take advantage of potential tax benefits.

Stock Options or Equity: Some tech companies offer stock options or equity as part of their compensation package. These can provide significant financial rewards if the company performs well and its stock value increases.

Flexible Work Arrangements: Many tech companies offer flexible work arrangements, such as remote work options, flextime, or compressed workweeks. These arrangements can improve work-life balance and increase job satisfaction.

Professional Development Opportunities: Tech companies often invest in their employees’ professional development by offering training programs, conferences, and workshops. These opportunities can enhance your skills and open doors for career advancement.

Employee Assistance Programs: Employee assistance programs provide support and resources for personal and professional challenges. These programs can include counseling services, financial planning assistance, and legal advice.

Strategies for Maximizing Your Software Engineering Earnings

While salaries are important, there are various strategies you can employ to maximize your software engineering earnings. Here are some key strategies to consider:

1. Continuous Learning: The tech industry is constantly evolving, and staying up to date with the latest technologies and trends can give you a competitive edge. Invest time in continuous learning through online courses, certifications, and attending industry conferences.
2. Specialize in High-Demand Technologies: Some technologies are in higher demand than others, and specializing in these areas can lead to higher-paying job opportunities. Research the current and future trends in the tech industry and develop expertise in areas that are in high demand. 
3. Seek Career Advancement Opportunities: Advancing in your career can lead to higher salaries and increased earning potential. Look for opportunities to take on leadership roles, manage projects, or mentor junior engineers. Additionally, consider pursuing higher-level positions such as software architect or technical lead.
4. Build a Strong Professional Network: Networking is crucial in the tech industry. Attend industry events, join professional organizations, and connect with other professionals in your field. Building a strong network can lead to job opportunities, mentorship, and valuable connections that can help advance your career.
5. Freelancing or Consulting: Consider taking on freelance or consulting projects in addition to your full-time job. Freelancing can provide additional income and the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and gain diverse experience.
6. Start Your Own Tech Company: If you have an entrepreneurial mindset, starting your own tech company can be a path to significant earnings. While it involves more risk and effort, the potential rewards can be substantial.

Additional Ways to Increase Your Software Engineering Income

In addition to the strategies mentioned above, there are other ways you can increase your software engineering income. Here are a few ideas to consider:

1. Create and Sell Software Products: If you have a great idea for a software product, consider developing and selling it. This can provide a passive income stream and potentially lead to significant financial rewards if your product becomes successful.
2. Write Technical Articles or Books: Share your knowledge and expertise by writing technical articles or books. This can help establish you as an industry expert and potentially generate additional income through royalties or speaking engagements.
3. Teach or Mentor: Consider teaching or mentoring aspiring software engineers. You can offer coding workshops, online courses, or one-on-one mentorship. Teaching can be a rewarding experience and can provide an additional income stream.
4. Offer Consulting Services: If you have specialized knowledge or expertise in a specific area of software engineering, consider offering consulting services. Companies often seek external consultants for specialized projects or to provide guidance on complex technical issues.
5. Invest in Real Estate or Stocks: Consider diversifying your income by investing in real estate or stocks. These investments can provide additional income streams and help you build wealth over time.

Remember, these additional income sources require additional time and effort. It’s important to carefully consider your priorities, availability, and risk tolerance before pursuing these opportunities.

Conclusion and Final Tips for Maximizing Your Software Engineering Salary

In conclusion, maximizing your software engineering salary requires a combination of factors, including location, experience level, education, and negotiation skills. By understanding the factors that influence software engineering salaries and implementing strategies to enhance your earning potential, you can take control of your financial future in the tech industry.

Remember to continuously update your skills, stay informed about industry trends, and seek career advancement opportunities. Additionally, don’t underestimate the value of a strong professional network and the benefits and perks offered by tech companies.

Lastly, consider diversifying your income by exploring additional sources of revenue, such as creating and selling software products, writing technical articles or books, teaching or mentoring, offering consulting services, or investing in real estate or stocks.

With the right knowledge, skills, and mindset, you can maximize your software engineering salary and thrive in the competitive world of the tech industry. Good luck on your journey to achieving financial success as a software engineer!

Tech assessments are used to evaluate the skills and abilities of candidates and ensure that they have the necessary technical expertise to perform the job. However, the assessment process can be time-consuming and sometimes ineffective, leading to poor hiring decisions. In this blog post, we will discuss ways to improve your technical assessment process to make it more efficient and effective.

1. Be clear about the process up front  and make it as streamlined as possible - One of the most common reasons candidates drop out of the hiring process is because of its length and complexity. Simplifying the process and reducing the number of steps can make it easier for candidates to navigate and increase their engagement in the process. Review your hiring process and look for opportunities to streamline it.
2. Clearly Define the Job Requirements - Before you start assessing candidates, it’s essential to define the job requirements clearly. This includes the technical skills, experience, and knowledge required for the role. Without a clear understanding of what you’re looking for, you’ll struggle to evaluate candidates effectively. Make sure you have a job description that outlines the specific technical skills and experience required.
3. Develop a Consistent Assessment Framework - Having a consistent assessment framework ensures that all candidates are evaluated using the same criteria. This helps to eliminate bias and ensures that candidates are assessed fairly. It’s essential to develop a framework that covers all the required technical skills and knowledge for the role. You can also include behavioral and communication skills to ensure that the candidate fits into your team culture.
4. Use a Variety of Assessment Methods - Using a variety of assessment methods helps to evaluate candidates’ technical skills and knowledge more effectively. You can use online coding tests, technical interviews, whiteboard sessions, or even ask the candidate to complete a real-world project. Different methods allow you to evaluate different aspects of the candidate’s technical ability, providing a more comprehensive assessment. Here’s a page we wrote about two types of assessment we have at Geektastic.
5. Keep the Assessment Realistic - When assessing candidates, it’s essential to keep the assessment realistic. Avoid asking candidates to solve problems that are unrealistic or not relevant to the job. Instead, focus on real-world problems that the candidate is likely to face in the role. This helps to evaluate the candidate’s ability to solve problems in a real-world environment.
6. Provide Timely Feedback - Providing timely feedback to candidates is crucial. Candidates invest a lot of time and effort in the assessment process, and they deserve to know how they performed. Providing feedback also helps to improve the assessment process. You can ask candidates for feedback on the assessment process and use this to improve future assessments.
7. Use clearly defined review guidelines - Assessors play a crucial role in the assessment process. They need to be trained to ensure that they are evaluating candidates fairly and consistently. They also need a clear set of pre-definied guidelines that are updated and recalibrated. Training assessors can help to eliminate bias and ensure that all candidates are assessed using the same criteria. Here’s a page we wrote about How to review a Code Challenge.
8. Evaluate the Assessment Process Regularly - Evaluating the assessment process regularly helps to identify areas that need improvement. You can use candidate feedback, assessors’ feedback, and data on hiring outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment process. Use this feedback to improve the process continually.

Conclusion

Improving your technical assessment process is essential for ensuring that you hire the best candidates for your team. By defining job requirements, developing a consistent assessment framework, using a variety of assessment methods, keeping the assessment realistic, providing timely feedback, training assessors, and evaluating the process regularly, you can create a more effective assessment process. This will help you to identify candidates with the necessary technical skills and expertise to perform the job and build a successful tech team.

There are two primary types of technical assessments used in the hiring process: take-home coding challenges and multiple-choice code challenges. In this article, we’ll explore the difference between these two types of assessments and the pros and cons of each.

Take-Home Coding Challenges

A take-home coding challenge is a type of technical assessment that requires a job candidate to complete a programming task within a given timeframe. Typically, the candidate is given a problem statement or a set of requirements, and they are expected to write a program that meets those requirements. The candidate is typically given anything from a few hours to a few days to complete the challenge and submit their solution (more on how long a take-home code challenge should be here.)

Pros: 

One of the benefits of take-home coding challenges is that they give candidates a chance to showcase their coding skills in a more realistic environment. Candidates can use their own development environment, take their time to think through the problem, and demonstrate their ability to write high-quality, maintainable code.

Another advantage of take-home coding challenges is that they are less stressful than in-person assessments. Candidates don’t have to worry about performing in front of a panel of interviewers. This allows them to focus on the problem and put their best foot forward.

Cons:

One of the potential downsides of take-home coding challenges is that it can be difficult to verify that the candidate actually completed the challenge themselves. Some candidates may be tempted to ask for help from friends or search online for solutions to the problem. This can make it harder for hiring managers to gauge a candidate’s true ability.

The best way to combat this is to use the solution provided by the candidate in the next stage in the hiring process and ask them to explain their choices.

Another issue with take-home coding challenges is that they can be time-consuming for both candidates and hiring managers. Candidates may need to spend several hours or even days working on the challenge, and hiring managers need to review each submission in detail. This can slow down the hiring process and make it harder to evaluate a large pool of candidates (which is where Geektastic can help with our expert team of reviewers to free up your internal resource).

Types of Take-Home Coding Challenges:

There are several types of take-home coding challenges that can be used to evaluate candidates:

1. Algorithmic Challenges: These challenges focus on a candidate’s ability to write efficient algorithms to solve complex problems. Candidates may be asked to implement sorting algorithms, search algorithms, or other data structures.
2. Design Challenges: These challenges test a candidate’s ability to design scalable, maintainable software systems. Candidates may be asked to design a REST API or a distributed system.
3. Bug-Fixing Challenges: These challenges present a candidate with a piece of broken code and ask them to debug and fix it. This type of challenge is useful for assessing a candidate’s ability to debug and troubleshoot code.
4. Code-review: The candidate is presented with some code and asked to review it. This could be a few take-home code challenge solutions where the candidate is asked to review the submissions and grade them for things like code quality, solution design and problem solving skills.

Multiple-choice Code Challenges

Multiple-choice code challenges are a common type of technical assessment used to evaluate the skills of software engineers during the hiring process. These assessments consist of a set of questions with multiple-choice answers that candidates must complete within a given time frame. While multiple-choice code challenges can be an effective way to test a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of fundamental programming concepts, they also have their own set of pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Easy to administer: Multiple-choice code challenges are relatively easy to administer and grade. Hiring managers can quickly evaluate a candidate’s responses and determine whether they have the required knowledge and skills for the job.
2. Standardised: Multiple-choice code challenges are standardised, meaning that all candidates are evaluated on the same set of skills and knowledge. This makes it easier to compare candidates and ensure that everyone is evaluated fairly.
3. Efficient: Multiple-choice code challenges can be completed quickly, making them an efficient way to evaluate a large number of candidates in a short amount of time.
4. Objective: Multiple-choice code challenges are objective, meaning that there is only one correct answer for each question. This eliminates the potential for subjective grading or bias on the part of the hiring manager.

Cons:

1. Limited evaluation of skills: Multiple-choice code challenges only evaluate a candidate’s knowledge of fundamental programming concepts, and don’t provide insight into their problem-solving abilities or coding skills in a realistic environment.
2. Lack of creativity: Multiple-choice code challenges don’t allow candidates to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to come up with their own solutions to problems, as they are presented with pre-defined problems and solutions.
3. Potential for cheating: Multiple-choice code challenges can be prone to cheating, as candidates may be able to find answers online or get help from friends (at Geektastic we have a few safeguards in place to combat cheating)
4. Unrealistic environment: Multiple-choice code challenges don’t simulate a realistic work environment, where engineers must work on real problems in a team setting.

In conclusion, while multiple-choice code challenges can be a useful tool for evaluating the skills of software engineers during the hiring process, they should be used in conjunction with other assessment methods to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of a candidate’s abilities.

Hiring managers should consider the pros and cons of each type of technical assessment and tailor their approach to the specific needs of their organization.

1. Define clear objectives and constraints: Before creating a take-home challenge, it is important to define clear objectives and constraints. What skills and technologies do you want the candidate to demonstrate? What are the requirements and limitations of the project? This will help ensure that the challenge is focused and relevant to the position.
2. Use a real-world problem: The challenge should be designed to simulate a real-world problem that the candidate may encounter in the job. This will give them an opportunity to showcase their problem-solving skills and creativity.
3. Avoid trivial problems: The challenge should not be too simple or trivial, as this will not accurately reflect the candidate’s coding abilities. Instead, it should be challenging enough to demonstrate their skills, but not so difficult that it becomes discouraging or overwhelming.
4. Provide clear instructions and resources: It is important to provide clear instructions and resources to help the candidate understand the requirements and limitations of the challenge. This will help ensure that they are able to complete the challenge to the best of their ability.
5. Include evaluation criteria: The challenge should include clear evaluation criteria to help the candidate understand what is expected of them and how they will be assessed. This will help ensure that the evaluation process is fair and consistent.

To make it difficult for AI to solve or to detect if AI has been used, you can include the following:

1. Time-limited: A time-limited challenge will make it difficult for AI to complete the challenge in a short amount of time, as they may need to spend time training or adapting their models to the specific challenge.
2. Realistic data and scenarios: Using realistic data and scenarios will make it more difficult for AI to generate accurate results without access to real-world data.
3. Randomized elements: Including randomized elements in the challenge will make it more difficult for AI to predict or generate the correct results.
4. Human-centered evaluation: To detect if AI has been used, the challenge should include an evaluation process that is based on human judgment and expertise. This may include a code review or an interview with the candidate to discuss their approach and thought process.
5. Originality checks: To detect if the code has been copied or generated by AI, the challenge can include originality checks using tools like plagiarism detectors or machine learning models.

Overall, creating a good take-home coding challenge requires careful planning and consideration of the specific skills and abilities required for the position. By making the challenge realistic and challenging, while also incorporating measures to detect and deter the use of AI, hiring managers can ensure that they are evaluating candidates based on their actual skills and abilities.

When it comes to solving a take-home coding challenge, AI could make several types of mistakes that may make it easier for a human evaluator to detect that the work was not done by a human. Here are a few examples of the types of mistakes that an AI might make:

1. Misinterpretation of instructions: The AI may misinterpret the instructions given for the challenge, leading to errors or incorrect results.
2. Incomplete or incorrect solutions: The AI may generate incomplete or incorrect solutions that do not fully meet the requirements of the challenge.
3. Code structure and style: The AI may generate code with an unusual or inconsistent structure or style that is not typical of human-written code.
4. Lack of creativity or critical thinking: The AI may lack the creativity or critical thinking skills required to come up with innovative or optimal solutions to the challenge.
5. Overfitting: The AI may overfit the model to the specific dataset provided, which could result in a solution that does not generalize well to new data.

Overall, while AI can be very good at certain types of tasks and may be able to generate solutions to coding challenges, it may still make mistakes that can be detected by a human evaluator. By using a combination of evaluation methods, including automated checks and human review, hiring managers can ensure that they are accurately evaluating candidates based on their skills and abilities.

When evaluating a take-home coding challenge for a software engineering position, the hiring team should evaluate several areas of software engineering to assess the candidate’s skills and abilities. Here are a few key areas that should be evaluated:

1. Code quality: The team should evaluate the quality of the candidate’s code, including its readability, maintainability, and efficiency. They should look for clear and concise code that follows best practices and standards.
2. Technical skills: The team should assess the candidate’s technical skills, including their knowledge of programming languages, data structures, algorithms, and software design patterns. They should look for code that demonstrates mastery of these skills and the ability to apply them effectively.
3. Problem-solving ability: The team should evaluate the candidate’s problem-solving ability, including their ability to understand the problem, identify and analyze the key issues, and come up with effective solutions.
4. Creativity and innovation: The team should assess the candidate’s creativity and innovation, including their ability to come up with original solutions and approaches to problems.
5. Communication skills: The team should evaluate the candidate’s communication skills, including their ability to clearly document and explain their code and thought process.
6. Adaptability: The team should assess the candidate’s ability to adapt to new situations and technologies. They should look for evidence of the candidate’s ability to learn quickly and apply their knowledge to new problems and scenarios.
7. Teamwork and collaboration: The team should evaluate the candidate’s ability to work effectively in a team and collaborate with others. They should look for evidence of the candidate’s ability to communicate effectively, listen to others, and contribute to a positive team dynamic.

Overall, by evaluating these key areas of software engineering, the hiring team can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the candidate’s skills and abilities, and make an informed decision about whether they are a good fit for the role. It is important to remember that each evaluation should be based on objective and relevant criteria that are clearly defined before the challenge is issued, to ensure fairness and consistency in the evaluation process.

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The rules for hiring people are changing a lot, and this will keep changing well past 2023. It has become a case of chance, with every company vying to get the best out of the recent crop of developer incumbents in the market.  

Since geographical boundaries are no longer a concern, talent acquisition has become further entangled. Ambitions, goals, and the challenges of getting deliverables on time have made organizations put in all sorts of lures to onboard the top crop. 

While it’s all very good for technical talent such as developers and engineers, it makes it difficult for those who work on limited budgets. Yes, we’re talking about startups and their initial struggle to gather valuable resources before reaching the unicorn stage. 

For startups, there are better options than compromising on the quality of developers. However, when the bigger players are engaging in proactive recruitment strategies, what with putting in resources and money, startups need to reserve them for the next round.  

Global tech teams are well suited for companies that want to make their name in a competitive market, but don’t have deep pockets.  

Defining Global Tech Teams

Global tech teams are geographically dispersed workforces that come together to work on projects that complement their skill sets. They hire employees as a team instead of individual talents with different technical expertise.  

Such global teams can work for startups looking to scale up their team with minimum struggle. 

While such international talent teams can bring many benefits, let’s discuss the “top 3 must-haves” for startups. 

Scale up quickly without digging into your resources 

Do you want the best from the team, yet limit your hiring expenditure within your budget limits? Global tech teams can answer this distress call perfectly. 

As a company entering a global market, you can pick out the best bet without digging into your funds. Talent hiring platforms allow you to find dream teams within a specified budget. 

You quote a price, check out the resources, and hire the best team that meets your expectations.

Customer-focused approach to projects

When a skilled team is in hand, the project deliverables take a turn for good. With a customer-focused approach, the global tech teams can create a lasting impression on the market- the primary goal of any startup. 

With teams in place, it is also much easier for companies to take up new assignments without worrying about resources. The teams come as a collective entity and can adapt to taking on anything that comes their way, within the range of their skill sets, of course! 

Hassle-free, time-saving hiring

Hiring global tech teams from talent management platforms is much simpler, and definitely time-saving. There are no requirements to scan countless applications to pick individual developers or interview the short-listed candidates.  

The tech teams come with the responsibility of hiring out as a team and, therefore, a much simpler hiring process. Concerns like the paperwork, invoices, and so on are handled by the talent management platforms, making it a hassle-free hiring process. 

Apart from the above three, let us sum up some of the simple ways global tech teams can change the dynamics of working. 

• International teams or talents at your disposal 
• Hire a structured global tech team instantly to work on your projects 
• Limit expenditures by project-based hiring of teams 
• Save on paperwork, work permits, and other hiring hassles 
• Explore beyond geographical boundaries and limitations 

The future of work and hiring global tech teams 

Global tech teams will redefine the hiring process and the future of work in 2023 and beyond. 

Technology has made it much easier to put together tech teams by eliminating barriers like communication and team monitoring. It can do away with the constant exodus of tech talents in the market and the attrition rate.

 Attrition is very much here to stay, even with the level of layoffs. The companies are worried about attrition rates that are quite alarming in the tech sector. When we think about it, it comes as quite a surprise because when the market is so volatile, why do people leave their secure positions? 

The reason is simple-there are many startups coming up with unique products and equally good opportunities for engineers and developers. Be it UI/UX designers, data scientists, NFT developers, or any other, and technical specialists are constantly in demand.  

That makes hiring agile teams as a collective entity even more promising. With a skilled set of people to handle the projects, the companies need no fear of one of them dropping out and delaying projects. The tech teams take on the responsibility of picking up the slack in case of an emergency, thereby managing deliverables. 

Project deliveries aside, having the best developers from all parts of the globe working for your startup is definitely a win. The technical experts may come from anywhere and handle your projects, managing their communications and taking care of all the back-end operations. Now, that’s a thought that is quite rewarding if we consider it deeply. 

With the vetting and verification process done through a platform like CodeMonk and with access to external code review platforms and partners, such as Geekastic, the whole idea of hiring from anywhere is further simplified. There is nothing like a technical expert who has cleared the technical assessments and everything else to prove the mettle and all set to settle into the project instantly.

To sum up:

The years 2023 and beyond may see a difference in how companies hire and retain talent. With global tech teams in place, there is no requirement to individually onboard developers and specialists to make up a team. A tailor-made team with a group of developers can impact the market, especially with startups. 

If the startups understand the trick of deploying the best teams or employing them for multiple projects, they may have hit the jackpot.  

Thanks to the pandemic, we have learned to work remotely and manage our teams and employers from anywhere, with limited monitoring. The motto of the future of work and hiring is “deliverables as against several hours of working or quality against quantity of work.”  

We are not yet there, but we are closer than we think! 

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We’ve even heard horror stories of teams saying “Well, if they want to work here, they’ll spend their weekend working on our tech assessment” (hint: No they won’t)

Let’s explore how long a technical assessment should take from a couple of different angles.

Before we jump in we should be clear about a few things, there is a difference between the time a candidate is expected to work on the challenge and how long they have to complete it.

It is possible to have a challenge that gives the candidate a week to complete it, but they should only spend a few hours actually working on it, we call these open ended.

Alternatively you can have challenges that are time capped to the actual time the candidate should spend working on their submission. There are pros and cons to of each of these.

Be guided by the data

Most of Geektastic’s library of technical assessments take between 1 hour to 3 hours to complete. We also migrate our clients’ own challenges to Geektastic, these have a similar range.

We manage a mixture of time capped code challenges (where the clock is set to the time the candidate can spend on the challenge) and open ended (where the candidate is given say 5 days to complete the challenge but are advised to spend only 2-3 hours actually working on it).

Top Tip: If you are looking to increase the completion rates of your technical assessments, make them time capped not open ended.

We’ve looked at the data from our platform and measured average completion rates of challenges to compare those that are time capped and those that were opened ended.

• Time capped challenges had a 12% increase in submissions.
• That means 12% more candidates went through the process.

When you think about how much time and effort you put into sourcing candidates, getting 12% more through your process makes a huge difference.

Overall we see >70% of candidates proceed through our assessment process. A well honed process should deliver over 85% of candidates. How does this compare to your current process?

Why do time capped challenges work better?

From our tracking we can see that candidates start an open ended challenge but don’t submit their solution, whereas with a time capped challenge they block out the prescribed time and submit just before the clock stops (in most cases - you do need a back up plan if they miss the deadline).

With open ended challenges candidates start the challenge and leave it until later in the week to complete it. During that time any number of things can happen.

• The candidate starts and finishes a time capped technical assessment with another team
• They get an offer from another hiring team who moved faster
• They get frustrated continually refactoring and optimising their solution
• They worry that other candidates will have spent longer than the prescribed time and want to perform better, so they continue to work past the suggested time.
• Time capped challenges allow you to fairly compare apples with apples as candidates have all spent the same amount of time on their solution. If one candidate has spent 2 hours and the other has spent 5, then the submissions are hard to compare.
• Time capped challenges allow you to calibrate a challenge. You don’t want a challenge that’s so difficult or the technical bar is set so high that nobody passes, likewise you don’t want a challenge that lets too many candidates through to the final stages of your process, defeating the object of having the challenge in the first place.

The team that moves candidates through their process fastest, with the least friction, **hires the best candidates. **

So come on, how long should they be?

We looked at the data and combined that with candidate feedback.

Anything less than 1 hour doesn’t provide enough insight and means you still need to do more assessments, lengthening the process and frustrating candidates. Anything longer than 3 hours puts candidates off. They feel that you are asking too much from them.

Our 2 hour time capped challenges have the highest rate of completion.

When asked, candidates felt this is a reasonable amount of time to ask to allow them to show off their skills whilst not needing to spend too long on the challenge itself.

Here are a few more things to bear in mind:

• Provide prerequisites to the candidate before they start the challenge that describe what they need set up to start the challenge and a very high level description of what the assessment will involve. You don’t want the candidate starting the challenge and then realising they need to download new tools or software versions.
• Provide a little extra time to make sure the challenge is achievable within the time frame. You don’t want the candidate freaking out because they think it’s an impossible task.
• Reduce the number of steps in your process. Please don’t try and ‘do a Google’ and implement a 10 step hiring process. Engineers are in such high demand they are not going to engage in your process if it has too many steps.
• An ideal process looks like this
  • Initial call (this used to be a called a phone ‘screen’, but the reality is this is a phone ‘sell’, this is where you find out about the candidate and what they are looking for and for you to ‘sell’ the team, the tech, the product, the vision etc
  • Take-Home coding challenge or F2F (or rather zoom call as everyone is hiring remote now, aren’t they?) pair programming / technical assessment. Make sure you are getting the results back to the candidate in less than 24 hours or you will risk missing the opportunity (if you are struggling with this Geektastic can help - we review all code challenge submissions in less than 24 hours)
  • Final meet the team interview; deep dive in their technical assessment, allow the candidate to meet as many of the team as possible
  • Make your offer or provide detailed feedback why it didn’t work out.

For more tips on creating a code challenge please take a look at our blog post by Andy Davis here

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It’s important to use the right type of challenge at each stage of your hiring process, and now more than ever it’s important to think about candidate experience.

The days of expecting candidates to spend all weekend working in your technical assessment are long gone.  Good software engineers are in high demand and will make choices about which companies they interview with, based on their process. 

This post covers the different types of technical assessment that are available and provides a balanced view of the pros and cons of each.

Things to think about when considering which type of tech test to use.

• How relevant and informative the results are
• Candidate experience
  • Time commitment
  • Feedback 
  • Completed at home or face to face / over zoom
• Turnaround time (how quickly can you process the assessment and get the results back)
• Impact on overall time to hire

The different types of technical assessment:

1. Automated tech test

These are generally short, algorithmic based tests sent to candidates early on in the hiring process, candidates complete an online test where they write some code in a browser. Candidates are given a problem statement and asked to write code to solve it. The testing platform then runs unit tests against the code to see whether the tests pass.

Alternatively these automated tech tests can take the form of multiple choice questions where the candidate is given a question with multiple answers and has to select the one(s) they think are correct.

Pros

• Instant results - because these are ‘scored’ by a machine the results go back to the hiring team immediately.
• They are relatively cheap to run because they are automated by a machine.
• Because the coding is done in the browser the screen can be recorded which allows for the hiring team to play back the candidate’s key strokes. This allows the team to see if large chunks of code have been copy / pasted.
• Saves the hiring team doing any form of assessment as this is all handled by a platform such as HackerRank, Codility or CodeWars.

Cons

• They produce binary pass / fail results - teams generally set a bar (say 70%) and those that fail to hit the bar are out - there is little scope for borderline cases to be considered.
• They can fail good software engineers. Simple syntax errors can result in unit tests failing, whereas the rest of the code might have been good.
• They aren’t designed to test a wide range of skills, they tend to focus on algorithmic knowledge.

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2. Take-home code challenge

These are much more in-depth challenges. Take-home tests are problem solving code challenges which are designed to be more ‘real world’ than automated tech tests. The idea is to create a problem that might be something you would be asked to do if you were working at the company.

The candidate is given a problem and usually started off with some base code to work from. They work on their own machine, in their own IDE and once they are done they either submit their solution to be reviewed via a platform like Geektastic or they email a link to their GitHub repo or attach a zip file containing their code. 

The duration for the challenge will either be capped (usually somewhere between 1 and 3 hours) or it can be open ended. We talk about the pros and cons of time capped and open ended challenges in another post you can read here.

Other than being completed in the candidate’s own IDE the main difference with take-home challenges is they are reviewed by a human. Usually a senior member of the engineering team will look over the submission, run it themselves and evaluate it across a number of key areas. This means that even if there are silly syntax errors the human can fix them to look more objectively at the solution than a machine can.

Pros

• If they are designed well the challenges are engaging and aligned to the business where the candidate is applying to join. 
• They allow the candidate to show a wide range of skills including code quality, solution design, test coverage, problem solving, code maintainability. 
• Candidates prefer to code in their own IDE than a browser 
• Humans are able to provide a  much more thorough assessment of the individual’s skills compared to a machine running some tests. 
• Provided the code submission is anonymised the reviewer should be reviewing the code objectively without any bias. 

Cons

• They can be too long. Some companies are asking candidates to commit too much of their time to the challenge. 
• Badly designed challenges can be ambiguous and the instructions too broad to allow the reviewers to compare solutions.
• Without a well constructed rubric (set of reviewing guidelines) there is a risk that reviewers do not align their scores and you end up with some being more generous than others when grading the submissions.
• Because each review is carried out by a senior member of the engineering team this can lead to delays. This means candidates can be waiting up to a week for the results. This leads to bad candidate experience and missed opportunities where candidates take roles with teams that move faster (this issue can be mitigated by using Geektastic’s team of expert reviewers who carry out the reviews in less than 24hours).
• Zip files can get caught up in overzealous email spam filters causing submissions to go missing.

3. Pair programming / Technical interview

These are interactive sessions where the candidate and one or more of the engineering team spend 1-2 hours on a video call or face to face session working through a code challenge or series of technical questions. 

They can either be carried out in a browser based environment or a user’s own IDE.

Pros

• These sessions allow both parties to interact and have the ability to be fluid. This allows the interviewing to focus in on specific areas as the interview progresses. 
• It allows for both the candidate and the hiring team to get a feel for each others’ personalities. 

Cons

• They require extensive training on the part of the interviewer to carry out these types of sessions. 
• Being face to face can increase anxiety and adversely affect someone’s ability to think straight. 
• There is a risk of bias influencing the outcome of the session because they are face to face and not anonymous.
• Arranging a mutually convenient time can lead to delays in scheduling the session.

Of course we are biased, we’ve built our platform around take home code challenges but we do believe there is a place for both automated tech screens and pair programming. We sit alongside both of these tools with our clients. Some will use automated tech screening for high volume applications where they need to quickly filter, they then offer those that pass the initial stage a choice to complete a take-home code challenge at home or arrange a face to face pair programming session.

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Most of Geektastic’s library of take-home technical assessments take between 1 hour to 3 hours to complete. We also migrate our clients’ own challenges to Geektastic, these have a similar range.

As you can expect, we work with all different shapes and sizes of company, from early stage startups to global enterprise businesses. Each company’s hiring needs are different; some are looking for Full Time Employees to join their distributed team, while others are looking for domain experts to deliver on a single fixed term project.

They all have one thing in common, they are all looking for high calibre candidates without breaking the bank.

The demand for software engineers has been on the increase and is seeing no signs of slowing down.

When we first started Geektastic back in 2016 we were focussed on providing human reviewed Assessments as a Service (we decided against calling it AaaS for obvious reasons) to recruitment agencies, but quickly released that the vast majority are not focussed on quality. However we did work with some who shared our quality driven values and ended up adding our assessments to their proposition, they have become our Hiring Partners.

Roll the clock forward and we are now working with some of Europe’s fastest growing businesses who use our assessments to free up their internal resources, to speed up their hiring processes and provide excellent candidate experience. Case Study: Bulb, How Europe’s fastest growing company Bulb, scaled so quickly using Geektastic’s assessments .

Of course all these companies are also looking for candidates, whether that is via an agency, using an embedded team or any of the new ‘hiring platforms’ that are springing up and trying to disrupt the market.

This demand for talent led us to create our Hiring Partner Marketplace, to help our amazing clients access hard to find talented candidates, who have been qualified using our technical assessments. You can see a sample profile here.

What is the Geektastic Hiring Partner Marketplace?

It’s a collection of partners we have worked with that not only source but technically qualify candidates using Geektastic technical assessments.

We have tried to select a cross section of businesses to cover a mixture of commercial models and types of candidates that our clients will be looking for.

• Type of candidate: Full time employees, freelance, pre-built teams
• Mode of working: Onsite, remote and hybrid working
• Commercial model: Agency fees, fixed day rates, embedded teams

How to use the Geektastic Hiring Partner Marketplace?

We have broken down our partners into categories as follows

• Geographies covered
• Skills covered (programming languages, skills eg DevOps)
• Commercial models supported (success fee, monthly retainer)
• Location models (onsite, hybrid, remote, nearshore, offshore)

We also have a team who can help you find the right partner - you can schedule a time for a call with them here.

Once you have found the right partner for you, all you need to do is complete the form telling them what you are looking for and your contact information and once of their customer success teams will be in touch with you immediately.

Looking to hire remotely and need help with local compliance, tax and employment laws?

We have partnered with market leading Remote to help companies hire remote developers.

Remote provide you with a complete solution to manage:-

• Solutions to cater for both Employed and Freelance hiring
• Global Payroll
• Local Compliance
• Benefits
• Local taxes
• Employment laws

Whilst giving you complete control over your IP and retaining the day to day management of your team.