Why a Tech Test?

With the return to work after being on furlough for so long, who’d of thought the tech world that I’d known for 5 years could change so much in just 5 months. Coming back felt slightly alien and understanding how businesses have adapted to the changes and become completely remote so quickly was incredible. There was one thing that I did notice since COVID-19, that is the number of businesses that are asking developers to complete a tech test, these come in so many different shapes and forms, to name a couple:

-         Do in your own time task created by the company

-         3rd party tests

-         Presentations on a previous project they have worked on

-         Pair programming session (live with the developers)

-         Live task

With so many businesses having different approaches to a technical task it can be overwhelming. With the market the way it is now some are juggling a lot, struggling to prioritise and decide what is the right opportunity but nervous to lose out on something “that could be”. I wanted to bring to light a few things which were greatly increased today by the Community Xperience Round Table event I ran on what businesses are looking for, how to manage things better, how companies could do better, problems with some approaches, what has worked and what does not.

With the market being so competitive and the nature of programming roles I do not think the technical part of the interview will ever disappear, I personally think this is a good thing. It is great to see a CV and the vast amount of experience they have but this doesn’t give a lot to someone reviewing a CV. It definitely gives you an insight to what they have worked on, but it really depends how instrumental they were within that team or on that particular project, so gauging skill levels is very important. When looking at skill levels the tech test may not be the decider on whether you get the job, but it gives the hiring manager an understanding of particular areas you might need support in for a junior role for example.

I think as a business the key is streamlining this process and making it as engaging as possible to then gain commitment from candidates who might be in the position of being approached by multiple agencies. You need to make these candidates want to be involved and think me doing this is exciting with the chance of joining the business. It can feel quite impersonal when after a brief chat or on some occasions not at all a test is sent out which takes 4-5 hours to complete with no real engagement or understanding of the business where you can fit in. As Toby Wilman from Infinity Works said on the discussion as much as the candidate is interviewing for the position, they should be interviewing the company also to know if its where they want to be.

From the conversation I took that the pair programming style test seems to be the most diligent and gives a lot of opportunity for both the developer and the hirer to know if this is the type of person they need. Being put under a light bit of pressure is healthy but also getting the chance to collaborate with who could be your next potential colleague, see how they work and get to know them. The way they are laid out is for you to get involved ask questions and be able to describe why you are making these decisions so they can understand you. Doing this takes away the isolation which you would not get in an office or even collaborative remote environment as you would be working within a team.

This does come with obstacles as a recruiter to explain to a candidate who might get nervous at the thought of coding in front of people or under that kind of pressure, but this often is not as daunting as it might sound as the individuals on the call are there to guide and work with you. The way the market is moving is more towards a pair programming approach and sometimes with delivery deadlines which will then create pressure so you need to be able to adapt to work within the environment otherwise you could be left behind.

My key takeaway points from the speakers involved in the meet up were.

Erin Kirtley (Talent Acquisition Manager @ SoPost) – Pressure is healthy, doing the technical task is not about trumping people it has put there to see how you work with as much support as possible given by the business!

Paul Lawes (Squad Lead @ AND Digital) – Understanding the individual is key, being able to understand the processes they take and how they work amongst a collaborative team both internally and for end clients.

Toby Wilman (Talent Acquisition Lead @ Infinity Works) – How you market your brand, engage the candidates in the process and sell the company is so important to retain people within a process.

Marc Wilding (Technical Director @ McCann Health) – Before the technical part of the interview it is key to understand the person and know if the personality is one that fits into the team.

In short, I feel that businesses need to do as much work as they can to engage potential candidates to join their business, making the technical part of the task be as interactive as possible. The result of this will increase retention of candidates throughout the process which is what I am noticing is the difficult thing to do with so much competition out there. Brand, culture & community are so important!

I really enjoyed doing that round table event, I look forward to what 2021 bring in terms of events and new challenges in hiring within tech and hopefully we can bring back face to face meet ups!

Have a lovely Christmas & New Year all, enjoy the break, you’ve all earnt it!