Why do your algorithm tests keep giving you bad developers?
Algorithm tests are designed to make the interviewer seem smart rather than check the prowess of the developer. It was the fact that so many companies use algorithm-type interview questions while still getting bad results that lead me to co-found Devskiller, a platform that tests devs on task and condition that mirror their first day at work. Of course, algorithms have their supporters so why do people like them?
Algorithms are a basic part of software development, like really basic
Algorithms are like words and phrases in a language. They are the building blocks that we use to build something larger. We all need to know them or else others won’t understand what we’re saying. So if algorithms are as essential to coding as vocabulary is to language, why wouldn’t you want to test if somebody knows them?
If algorithms are like vocabulary, then a program is like a blogpost, a combination of basic instructions put together to do something that the individual parts couldn’t do on their own. So it would stand to reason that if an algorithmic test works so well for programmer then a vocabulary test would be a good way of assessing a content writer.
Now I will let you in on a little secret and save you a walk over to the marketing department:
Nobody has ever given a content writer a vocabulary test to see if they should get a job. That doesn’t mean that content writers don’t have to know how to use words, it means that their value comes from how they put words together. Rather than memorizing every word in the language, they know how to use a dictionary or a thesaurus when they need to make a description more vivid.
A good developer uses tools and resources efficiently
In the same way, a good software developer isn’t good because they know all the algorithms off by heart. It is because they can put them together efficiently, using outside resources like libraries, frameworks, and Google to produce powerful and streamlined code in a timely manner. As a result, a great developer might suck at an algorithm-type interview question because they haven’t committed every algorithm to memory. Just look at this guy:
So if algorithms aren’t the answer, what is?
Well, take a cue from the marketing department. If you want to know if a content writer would be a good fit for your company, you ask them to write a blog post on a topic they would write about on their first day at work. You can then see if the content is good, is delivered on time, there are any mistakes, and they can write on the topics your customers care about.
It is the same for developers. By using a platform like Devskiller, you can test developers, using your code, in work conditions, with access to outside resources. You will then be able to see if they can actually do the job, rather than whether they can memorize an algorithm.
