Hire the Best – With an Online Coding Test

Technical assessments can represent a formidable challenge for candidates. With in-person interviews out of the question for the foreseeable future, online coding tests represent the only way for candidates to demonstrate their skills. Online code testing often fails to provide a good experience for candidates, however. Without the features of a traditional IDE or the ability to run code, candidates often find themselves floundering even when presented with relatively simple questions.

With CoderPad, we set out to develop a better coding test platform. When your interview runs an online code test with CoderPad, you retain the ability to work with the programming language you’re familiar with, use productive IDE features such as autocomplete, and debug your code. In short, the ordinarily stressful experience of an online technical test has been replaced with a coding test platform that more accurately simulates the workplace environment.

What is a Coding Test?

Put simply, an online coding test is designed to ensure that the skills you put on your resume are skills you actually possess. During the job application process, you’re likely to encounter three kinds of online programming test:

  • The Take-Home Project: During the early recruitment phase, companies will often (but not always) post coding problems for candidates to solve. These will be timed or untimed problems adapted from challenges the company faces. 
  • Technical Screening: In this round of online code testing, your interviewer will provide a series of simpler timed challenges. These are designed to validate your skills and make sure you didn’t receive outside help during the take-home project.
  • Technical Assessment “On-site”: This kind of online code test will measure the outer limits of your ability. Expect multiple complex problems based on the company’s real-life challenges, with three-hour time limits, administered by various department heads.

With such complicated questions involved, it can be extremely challenging to prepare for these online coding tests—and even more challenging to face them in real life. Fortunately, CoderPad can help.

How Candidates can Practice Online

With CoderPad, candidates can master online coding tests by using a fully functional, browser-based IDE that lets you run code as you write it. The platform is very simple—the left pane is where you write code, and the right pane displays its output. There’s also built-in video calling to make the interview process seamless.

In addition, CoderPad has a host of adjustable settings, including autocomplete, bracket auto-closure, Vim keybindings, and more. Boot up our sandbox mode—free with your candidate account—and start practicing for your next online code test today!

Whiteboard Testing

Back in the days of in-person testing, almost all code assessments were done with a whiteboard. With CoderPad, online code tests can replace most whiteboard sessions, but there are still some questions that require a more freeform approach. 

CoderPad’s coding test platform supports Drawing Mode where applicants can draw out systems or describe technical architectures using just their mouse. During online code testing, candidates can just click the “Drawing Mode” button at the top of their screen. It’s easy to use from there—if you can use MS Paint or PowerPoint, then you can use Drawing Mode to articulate your thoughts and visually represent a system architecture discussion. 

Remote Coding Tests

Lastly, candidates that have their most experience with in-person interviews will want to mentally prepare themselves for an online programming test, especially during the last round of the interview process. When your interviewer specifies that CoderPad will be the platform for your online technical test, it’s very much worth your while to practice with it and explore its features.

The idea behind CoderPad is that the traditional interview process for developers is often more challenging than it needs to be. By limiting the tools the developer can use and by making them write perfect code the first time, interviewers add stress—without learning any useful information. By adapting to CoderPad, however, you’ll be able to demonstrate your skill and creativity without having to rely on rote memorization.

Hire Better Candidates Faster

If you’re an interviewer, CoderPad makes sense. You want to hire candidates with drive and imagination—not just those who can memorize how to create a breadth-first search algorithm. If you want to select a coding test platform that can speed up interviews while selecting for better candidates, get started with CoderPad today!