Tests for programmers during the recruitment process – a very neglected process

Recruitment is a process. Big, complicated, full of connected vessels. Neglecting one step of the process can have a negative impact on the next. An example of this is unprofessional contact with the candidate and lack of preparation for the interview (e.g. knowledge of the project). The situation is not dangerous for the recruiter if the conversations take place via e-mail, but it becomes dangerous if the conversation is over the phone or even worse - in person. Then comes the lack of preparation, lack of competence and arousing the feeling in the candidate that we are the reason for his constant lack of time. In terms of the process, we can see how one unpreparedness for the interview affected the course of further stages of the recruitment process. Most likely, such a candidate will not want to cooperate with us or will refuse to cooperate in the future. It's a poor prognosis. As a recruiter, we have to build our reputation over the years to become recognizable and appreciated in the world of programmers and IT specialists in general.

On the IT recruitment market, we encounter the problem of verifying programmers more and more often. Many agencies spring up like "mushrooms after the rain" due to the desire to earn good money quickly. Fast and at the same time - disposable. After all, it is impossible and physically unrealistic to keep a group of regular and returning customers in a company that does not attach any importance to the priorities in the recruitment process, such as professional verification of the candidate. What matters today is time. Time is important both from the client's perspective (he trusts us and signs the contract with us) and the candidate - he wastes his time talking to the agent, and very often he does not have to do it.

The example given earlier with the unpreparedness and lack of competence of a single recruiter is just one of the many mistakes we can make - both as a freelance headhunter and a large recruitment agency. Technical verifications are also a very important factor. Of course, many companies give up this stage due to the costs and ignorance of the subject. They recruit programmers because they make good money doing it. And the willingness to deepen the (short-term) capital in the company ends with thinking and having aspirations for further, more effective and hard work.

Why is this happening? The effect of the so-called spychology. I can't, I don't know myself, it's new and unknown - I'll send my CV to the client, and let him worry about what to do next. If the candidate does not meet his expectations, he will not hire him. This is a common gamble of weak people who are "afraid of their own shadow". Effect? Your client is wasting his time, the candidate is treated as an insignificant link and feels like a "goods" that are being moved from container to container. There is a lack of understanding that the client commissions certain activities to the agency so that it does not provide him with people who are unable to bend over a simple issue of a given technology. Often, clients verify candidates themselves because they believe that no one else will verify the candidate like their team - but this still does not release the agency from the obligation of initial verification. Often recruitment interviews of agency employees end with the verification of the content entered in the submitted CV - sometimes sprinkled with a short question about a foreign language. This causes us to act short-sighted and expose ourselves and the company in which we work to a significant drop in trust from both the candidate and the client.

So how do you verify candidates? First of all, programmers of various technologies are part of a good recruitment team. This is one of the reasons why at Talentica we do not only deal with recruitment - thanks to the fact that we create projects ourselves, we know technologies and we are in contact with software engineers every day. This allows us to maintain standards and quality. The verification process often looks like the programmer has a conversation, e.g. via Skype with another programmer. He gives him short tasks to solve, but they allow him to verify his skills. After solving them, it has a short report that the recruiter must understand and draw appropriate conclusions - whether the candidate meets the requirements specified by the client or not. If we do not have such competences in the team, we should outsource verification services to other companies, e.g. development houses, which can verify candidates for us (of course, for an appropriately sized invoice). Another way is online tests such as https://codility.com. The tests on this website are effective and helpful especially for those companies that are not "in the subject" and that need to verify candidates and have not done so before. However, it is impossible to generalize because this service is also successfully used by large entities with an established position on the market, such as Amazon, Intel or Bank of America.

Summary: IT recruitment should be thought of as a holistic process in which neglecting one stage has negative consequences for the entire process. Many recruitment companies do not verify (even initially) their candidates and send unverified persons to their clients. This is unprofessional and short-sighted thinking. Recruitment processes are complicated, but only thanks to this we can stay in the minds of our clients and, more importantly, the candidates themselves.