For the last two entries, I detailed how a candidate for a software job was sent a coding test before he was personally contacted.
Coding tests are quite common, and can be quite onerous. A web design company sends this one out. This is quite a test, requiring a database, OAUTH to Twitter, and creates a marketable app. Here are the instructions to this test:
This test was created in an effort to gauge a candidate’s capability as an ASP.NET developer. The primary skills we are reviewing are: knowledge of C#/ASP.NET, MVC, knowledge of database design and implementation, usability, attention to detail and ability to interface with public APIs.
As with all code, there is no single correct way to build this web application. We will be looking at your submission to better understand your thought process when writing an application. Although this test must be written without any other person’s help, any standard reference material that is used during a normal programming cycle may be used (such as online help or books). No third party class libraries or code snippets may be used.
Overview
The purpose of the application is to allow end-users to search Twitter for topics of interest and
determine which users they might want to follow based upon the number of times tweets by that user appear in search results.
The Task
Create an MVC ASP.NET web application written in C#.
Required Features
1. Connection to Twitter (uses OAUTH)
2. Perform search against keywords supplied by end-user
a. Display tweets matching results, with profile photos
3. Collect profile data on everyone sending those tweets
a. Store in database, relate to tweets by that profile
4. Rank users whose tweets appear in search results most often – sort by # of matching tweets
descending
a. Tweet counts persist across multiple searches
b. If the same tweet appears in two separate searches, it is count as a single hit against its
author, not as two
c. Every time a tweet is recorded, the search terms should also be recorded
5. Click on the list of twitter users to display all tweets that have appeared in search; for each tweet, indicate which search terms caused it to appear
General Information
Make any modifications/additions you feel are necessary to enhance the usability of this application. Keep the code clean, well organized and well commented. The quality of the application should be at the same level that you would create for a paying client/employer. If you have any questions about the description of the application please feel free to ask.
Submission
Your submission must be in the form of a zip file containing a fully working solution that can be compiled and run without any further external requirements aside from those listed below:
External Requirements
Include a script file that can be run to generate the required SQL data store.
Now, isn't that quite the task to get a job.
In the previous example where the applicant complained about the impersonal test, he received the following reply:
I'm a member of development team. I was forwarded me your comments about our hiring process. I want to thank you for your feedback, because I've been thinking something along those lines myself and have been pushing for some change here recently. Your response is the first concrete evidence I have that our process is flawed. I'm not officially in any kind of HR position, I just stepped in very recently due to my own personal concerns about how it is being done.
We do get a lot of coding exercise responses doing it this way, including from each of us when we were hired, so I guess that makes us think it is an appropriate process. My primary concern was that the best people are probably a) already employed, so don't have a ton of free time to put into the exercise, and b) likely have numerous offers on the table, and so putting the time into the exercise just to possibly get another interview is just not worth it to them. But beyond that, you're right, it's not a very person-oriented approach.
What I have just recently started doing (unfortunately a few days after we asked Tara to send you the coding exercise), is reach out via email to candidates and offer to answer any questions they might have about the company.
If you are still interested, please fire questions my way. Either way, please accept my apology for the way we have approached you. I will be sharing your comments with the team and will hopefully affect change as a result.
So, there you have it. I think that coding exercises are here to stay for developers, but the way that they are administered has to change.
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