3 Smart Ways to Test a Developer Before Making Your Decision

By Ashutosh Jha → Last Updated on Monday, August 13, 2018
You're looking for technical talent and you think you've found the perfect person. The problem is that judging a potential employee's coding ability can be difficult just by looking at his or her portfolio.

They may have gotten help or used tricks to make their portfolio to make it look better than it really is. If you want to ensure that you really have a good developer, then here are three clever ways that you can test him or her.

3 Clever Ways to Test a Developer Before Making Your Decision

Automated Tests

These are tests that are often acquired from a third party that can be customized with your logo or brand name to personalize it. These tests will ask the potential employee about HTML, JavaScript or any other coding language that developers commonly use at your establishment. The point of these tests is that it will show how much the developer knows to ensure that they truly are a master of the coding language. Scores will be directly delivered to you once the developer is done.

These tests usually have a deadline of a few days to a week or two, depending on the platform. This makes it easier for both you and the developer because he or she can take it at their leisure, but the problem is that cheating can occur. The developer can ask friends for answers. These tests tend to be accurate, but be on the lookout for cheaters.

Manual Tests

Want a more accurate answer? You may need to get a testing area involved or have a section of your business dedicated to taking tests, but this type of testing can be even more helpful. Manual tests or those that developers have to sit down and take within an allotted time. Depending on how long they are, these tests can take a few minutes to a few hours.

Many tests for developers are intention deceptive. They will seem incredibly easy, but that's the point. They only seem easy. These tests are designed to trick developers to help separate the truly skilled from those who definitely need to brush up on their knowledge. If you want to hire quality technical talent, then you need to be smart about how you test them.

Live Coding

This is perhaps the most effective method of testing developers before allowing them on your team. In this case, you will either give a developer access to an existing project or a sample project that has some coding issues. He or she will then have a chance to show what they can do to resolve the issues. This tests the developer's ability to read code, use the coding language and work in a more stressful environment because they are being watched.

It's best to have another developer watch him or her so that they can judge whether the potential employee is making smart and sound decisions during the live coding session. If this is difficult to implement, then you can also have your developers scout out nearby hackathons. These are events where developers are split into teams and each team tries to make a professional program by the end of the event. This shows if the developer can work on a team, understand coding and effectively solve the issues that always come up when building software.

Conclusion

There are many ways to test developers before you add them to your team. From tests to live coding sessions, you will be able to see if the developer truly is skilled and worth adding to your business. Try to have one of your other developers help with the process as they will have an easier time spotting cheaters or those who aren't that skilled.

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Ashutosh Jha

Ashutosh Jha is a professional blogger, Blog and IT Consultant. He writes about Blogging, SEO, Making Money, Internet Marketing and Web Design.
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