Is HackerRank a Great Solution for Assessing Candidates?

Digital solutions greatly simplify many work processes for us. But how do we understand when we take tasks off an employee’s shoulders and transfer them to a digital platform or when we excessively rely on algorithms, the principles we do not even understand? And what consequences can this have?

A pre-employment assessment is a huge deal for any business. Interviewing each candidate in person takes a lot of time and resources. Therefore, companies began looking for different digital solutions to help them assess applicants` professional skills. Among these answers is an online platform called HackerRank. Is it a practical solution? In this article, we’ll look at what HackerRank is, how it works, and some of its pros and cons.

How HackerRank works

HackerRank is a popular service for pre-employment assessment with a 3.01% market share. Adobe, Bloomberg, IBM, and many other well-known companies use it.

The working principle is elementary: the candidate is given a task, and they should write a code to solve it. The employer sets the time limit for solving the problem. HackerRank has a wide range of functions for different programming languages. They are divided into categories: easy, medium, and hard. 

Pros of HackerRank

Let’s take a look at why this digital tool has become so popular:

• To evaluate a potential employee, an employer can choose standardized tests or prepare their own on the platform. This type of flexibility definitely works in HackerRank’s favor.
• Tasks are of different levels of difficulty, therefore it will be helpful if you look for specialists of various levels.
• The employer sets the time limit for solving the problem. This can help to assess both – the technical skills and ability to work under pressure.
• Fair assessment – the system is designed so the employer cannot influence the results.
• Fast result – you will receive the assessment results immediately after the candidate has completed it.

Cons of HackerRank

This tool’s opposing sides are less often discussed than the positive ones. But they are essential, and you should familiarize yourself with them before deciding whether HackerRank will help your business find the right specialists for it. StaffingPartner has a lot of experience with this tool, so we will tell you what can`t be found on the Internet.

• Top candidates often refuse to take HackerRank tests.

Look at the situation from the candidates’ side: they will prioritize  communicating with potential employers with fewer stages to pass. HackerRank’s assessment can be an additional stage that scares away a valuable candidate from you.

• An interview is often more effective than an assessment with a digital tool.

It is easier to persuade the candidate to communicate with a real person. In addition, the interviewer can assess the train of thought of a potential employee and understand their style of solving complex issues. Without such details, you can miss out on a really valuable candidate.

• HackerRank may be costly.

One insidious detail lies in the fact that employers have the opportunity to offer tasks instead of already available and publicly available ones. Not everyone takes into account the time spent on the development of such tasks. Plus, you have to pay for using the service, and the assessment cost is already increasing.

What alternative assessment solutions do we have?

Several alternative pre-employment assessment tools are available, both digital and non-digital.

Some digital solutions include:

• Kaggle is a Google-owned platform for data science competitions with 19.06% market share. Companies can use Kaggle to host competitions to find the best data science talent.
• AON is a digital assessment platform with 11,43% of the market share that provides an opportunity to assess a range of skills, including cognitive abilities, emotional intelligence, and job-specific skills.
• Pearson VUE offers digital assessments for various professions, including IT, healthcare, and finance.
• CodinGame is a platform that offers programming challenges to test candidates’ coding skills.
• HackerEarth is a global startup that helps companies find and hire great tech talent. It is done by running online coding challenges and hackathons, which help assess a candidate’s coding skills. The application also has an online code editor, where candidates can solve challenges at their own pace.

Some non-digital solutions include:

• Coding interviews – a type of interview where candidates are asked to solve coding challenges on a whiteboard or via a collaborative coding environment.
• Take-home projects – a type of assessment where candidates are given an assignment to complete in their own time, typically within a set amount of time.

Conclusion

HackerRank is a popular pre-employment assessment tool that has its pros and cons. In conjunction with other assessment methods, it can give you a well-rounded picture of a candidate and their skills. Like any tool, it requires proper understanding and use to be effective. It is important to remember that traditional technical interviews may work better in numerous cases. Therefore, contact professional recruiters who can assess the market and choose the most suitable solution. Our experts will select perfect recruitment methods so that you get the best candidates in the shortest time possible – 3 business days.

Read also: How to Hire Employees More Efficiently, and 12 Resume Tips That’ll Get You to the Interview