The employment market for software developers and other roles in tech is more competitive than ever. In 2023, over 263,000 employees were laid off from tech companies in 2023, and almost 90,000 so far in 2024. Recruiters are now contending with a larger pool of highly qualified candidates competing for a smaller number of coveted tech roles. How do they ensure that a developer’s real technical skills match their portfolio? 

Conducting remote coding challenges for developers during the technical interview is one of the most effective ways for hiring managers to evaluate coding skills in real time, including the candidate’s thought process as they’re building the code. Observing how well the candidate works under pressure and their techniques for troubleshooting any coding issues can give you raw insight into whether or not they’ll meet expectations for the role.   

If you’ve never overseen a remote assessment like this, read on to learn what our pros at Techtrust consider a thorough remote coding challenge, and our strategies for conducting effective coding challenges to assess the skills of developer candidates as part of your recruiting process. 

What is a remote coding challenge?

The remote coding challenge is one way that hiring managers can evaluate a developer’s technical skills during the interview. Coding challenges will present problems that the candidate must endeavor to solve while the interviewers observe on their screen and listen as the developer talks through the issue and creates a solution. 

This type of online testing gives talented developers the opportunity to distinguish themselves as someone who can provide solutions along with following instructions. They can show how they apply their analytical skills to real-world problems they may encounter on the job, problems with algorithms or other project-specific issues, or they’ll be asked to check existing code, identify bugs, and troubleshoot on the spot.  

Keys to conducting effective coding challenges

1. Choose appropriate tools

There are several tools available that can help you streamline the remote coding challenge process, including Codesignal, GitHub, Codility, and HackerRank. Make sure to consider how the review tool integrates with your version control system and workflow, which languages and frameworks it supports, and its capabilities for commenting, annotation, and producing code quality reports and metrics. FinTEch Staffing Agency, Techtrust, partnered with CodeSignal to create a custom coding assessment visualization for each candidate they share with their clients. This assessment visualization has helped hiring managers save 150 hours in the screening process this month alone. 

2. Define your expectations 

Clarify which skills are your “must-haves” for the role, and ensure those skills are assessed in the test, ensuring that the challenge is equivalent to one they might have to work on in their new role. This can mean stating which languages to use, how much written or verbal commentary is required, and how much time it should take them to complete the challenge.    

3. Set clear parameters

While the test is meant to assess the candidate’s ability to think quickly and find solutions in real time, it should not be an impossible task. Give the developer a reasonable amount of time so they can complete the task as they would under normal conditions. It is also helpful to let them know how many questions will be in the exam. We’ve found that developers will spend more time on the first 2 questions than any other as they aren’t aware just how much they’ll need to get through. 

4. Be flexible and communicate clearly

During the challenge, make sure the candidate understands all the requirements and that you’re available to answer questions if they need clarification. If they need any accommodations or extra time to complete the challenge, be flexible to ensure that every candidate has the chance to execute the task to the best of their ability.   

The bottom line

The remote coding challenge is a common aspect of most virtual interviews for developer roles, but it takes planning and foresight to put an effective coding challenge in place. A powerful alternative to this is to let Techtrust handle your placement needs. By working with our team of technical hiring experts, you can confidently and quickly fill your vacant developer roles without having to conduct a remote coding challenge of your own.