One of the unique challenges of technical recruiting is learning about developer skills. Software development is a complex, evolving discipline with its own set of technologies, terms, and jargon. As outsiders to the developer community, it can be hard for recruiters to know where to start. In this post, we break down the six concepts developers wish technical recruiters knew.

Front End, Back End, and Full Stack 

Web development consists of two environments: the front end and the back end. 

The front end is everything that a user sees and interacts with in their browser. Front-end developers create buttons, text, links, design, and the overall user experience.

In contrast, the back end is what you don’t see that underpins the digital experience. Back-end developers build server-side infrastructure, including servers, applications, and databases.

Full-stack developers have the unique ability to work with front-end design and interactivity, as well as back-end databases and architectures. Full-stack developers have a combination of front-end and back-end responsibilities, and their specific tasks vary depending on the company and role. 

Understanding the nuance between front-end, back-end, and full-stack developers is key for hiring the right technical talent. Technical recruiters hiring for web development roles should pay careful attention to the distinctions between these roles. 

Technical Interviews

Technical interviews are the process of evaluating developers through questions that place an emphasis on technical skills. Hiring teams use individual assignments such as coding questions, projects, or data structure problems to test and score a developer’s proficiency in key skills. These interviews gauge a developer’s problem-solving skills and technical proficiency in various programming languages and frameworks. And they also give a glimpse into soft skills — like collaboration or communication style. 

The reason this is helpful for recruiters to know is that developers are going to have questions about the screening and interview process. 34% of developers we polled reported that the quality of interview questions influences their decision to accept an offer. Being able to communicate the format and technologies of the interview demonstrate the efficacy of the interview early in the hiring process. It also gives developers more time to prepare for an interview, which is helpful, considering that 41% of developers we polled spend weeks preparing for technical interviews. 

A Basic Understanding of the Role

Job titles for technical roles can be confusing. For example, web developers, software developers, software engineers, and back-end developers use similar technologies and have overlapping job titles. However, each role comes with a different salary and set of responsibilities. Confusing these distinctions during a candidate search has consequences for the talent pipeline. Continuing with our example, if you submit a software developer for a software engineering role, they might not have experience in system design, a core requirement of software engineering.

Each job requirement comes with a general description of the role and the skills the role requires. However, in-depth research into technical skills is necessary to understand the unique technical requirements for your role. Recruiters who have fluency over technical concepts have a competitive advantage while recruiting for technical roles.

As a general rule, a technical recruiter should research the following for each role:

• The general discipline
• Key terminology
• Required programming languages (and what they’re used for)
• Required technologies (and what they’re used for)

Say, for example, you’re hiring a data scientist role. Start by researching the following information before beginning a candidate search:

• What is data science?
• What are the key terms for this discipline?
  • Big data
  • Relational database
  • Non-relational database
  • AI (artificial intelligence) 
  • ML (machine learning)
• What languages are important for this role?
  • SQL (Query language for relational databases)
  • Python (high-level, general purpose language)
  • C/C++ (General purpose programming languages)
• What frameworks are important for this role?
  • Apache Spark (data processing)
  • Apache Hadoop (big data processing)
  • TensorFlow (neural networks)
• What other technologies are important for this role?
  • Tableau (data visualization)
  • AWS (Cloud computing platform)
  • JavaScript (front-end programming language)
  • MySQL (Relational database management system)

Impossible Job Descriptions

In 2020, developer Sebastián Ramírez created a viral post about a job description that mentioned a framework he developed. The employer required four years of experience in FastAPI, which was only one-and-a-half years-old at the time. Posts like these are extremely popular in the developer community. (The post received 176,000 likes.) 

I saw a job post the other day.

It required 4+ years of experience in FastAPI.

I couldn’t apply as I only have 1.5+ years of experience since I created that thing.

Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate that “years of experience = skill level”.

— Sebastián Ramírez (@tiangolo) July 11, 2020

At first, it seems like a lack of due diligence is to blame for unrealistic job descriptions. But if we take a closer look, we can see that the underlying problem is that employers and developers measure skill in different ways.

Employers typically assess skill based on years of experience. The assumption behind this approach is that years of experience is a direct indicator of a developer’s skill level. For roles working with new technologies, this can lead to employers seeking an experience level that is quite literally impossible.

In contrast, developers recognize that the only indicator of skill level is, well, skill. A developer with two years of hands-on experience in a framework that’s two years old is an expert in that technology.

To be fair, hiring managers are responsible for setting correct experience ranges. But verifying the accuracy of this information before starting your search saves recruiters from wasting countless hours, and saves developers the frustration of having to explain why the qualifications for the role are impossible.

Java and JavaScript Aren’t Related

Java and JavaScript have extremely similar names, making it easy to think the two languages are related. But the reality is that the two technologies have nothing to do with each other. 

In 1995, Netscape created a scripting language and – inspired by Java – named it JavaScript. The reason for this is disputed, with developers stating that it was either a marketing tactic or a reference to Netscape’s technical support for Java.

Regardless of how the names came to be so similar, Java and JavaScript are distinct languages with unique characteristics and use cases.

Java is a high-level, back-end programming language used to create complete applications. Java is a fast and secure language with nearly endless use cases. Developers use Java to create applications, create video games, build back-end infrastructure, and even control Mars rovers. Java is the second most popular programming language in the world.

JavaScript is a dynamic scripting language used for adding interactive behavior to web pages and applications. Developers use JavaScript for creating web and mobile apps, building web servers, and designing interactivity. Technically, you can use JavaScript for back-end development, but it’s generally used and known as a front-end programming language. JavaScript is the most popular programming language in the world.

Why does this distinction matter for recruiters? The key to hiring the right candidate for a role is to identify developers with the necessary technical skills. A recruiter who understands the difference between Java and JavaScript is likely able to identify the wrong candidate for the role.

Skills-Based Hiring

81% of tech employers require developers to have college degrees. Unfortunately, focusing on pedigree unnecessarily limits the applicant pool. But competition for talent is driving employers to adopt a skills-based hiring approach, which prioritizes real-world skills to make strong hires and access a larger talent pool.

In addition to furthering DEI initiatives, skills-based hiring helps recruiters by significantly broadening the results in candidate searches. To demonstrate the relationship between skills, education, and talent pools, we studied data from LinkedIn Recruiter.

If you search LinkedIn Recruiter for professionals with a bachelor’s or master’s degree and a back-end developer job title, the search results in over 190K developers worldwide. If you try the same search but remove the education criteria, the talent pool expands to over 270k developers. That’s a 42.1% increase in the total talent market achieved by dropping a qualification that doesn’t necessarily equate to the ability to succeed in the role. 

So what happens when you conduct an even broader search? Instead of searching for job titles, try a skills-based candidate search. Searching for professionals with back-end development skills expands the talent pool to over 790k developers. Compared to the initial search, that’s an extreme 316% increase in the talent pool! 

Skills-based searches yield a larger talent pool because they include:

• Developers who have a different but related title
• Developers who don’t have a job title
• Professionals who have backend skills but aren’t back-end developers

This trend holds true for all major technical roles, including front-end developers, cloud engineers, and data scientists.

*Result is for cloud computing skills.

The tech industry loves to talk about the developer shortage crisis. But by looking at the data from a skills-based perspective, we can see that the problem is perception, not scarcity. If you’re a recruiter hiring for a technical role, the right developer is out there. You just need to look in the right place.

The post 6 Things Developers Wish Technical Recruiters Knew appeared first on HackerRank Blog.

Full-stack developers have the unique ability to build both the visual and server environments that define the internet as we know it. With an understanding of both  front-end and back-end development, full-stack developers are able to work at every level of the website development process. 

This mix of generalization and specialization can make it challenging to write job descriptions for full-stack roles. Each full-stack developer job description has to capture the specific technical requirements and opportunities for the role. In this post, we break down how hiring managers and recruiters can write successful full-stack developer job descriptions.

What Does a Full-Stack Developer Do? 

The first step to writing a compelling job description is having a clear understanding of the discipline of full-stack development and the core requirements of the role.

Full-stack developers have the unique ability to build both visual and server environments. Full-stack developers have an understanding of front-end design and interactivity, as well as back-end databases and architectures. Their specific tasks draw from both disciplines depending on the company and role. With competency in both environments, full-stack developers are able to work at multiple levels of the website development process. 

Any company that’s building its own website or online applications need to hire developers to build the front-end and back-end environments. Often, companies hire developers who specialize in one of those two environments. However, companies also hire full-stack developers who can work throughout the tech stack.

What Should a Full-Stack Job Description Include?

Company Value Proposition

From 2020 to 2030, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the number of employed software developers in the U.S. to grow by 22% — almost triple the 8% average growth rate for all occupations. With this level of demand for their skills, full-stack developers have endless opportunities to choose from. What makes your open role stand out? The first section of your job description needs to address this question.

Communicating the opportunity of the role at – along with the employer brand, value proposition, and company culture – is essential to crafting a successful job description.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities section lists the core activities of the role. There are a number of different ways to represent these responsibilities, including daily tasks, monthly responsibilities, objectives of the role, and key outcomes. 

In this section, it’s important to clarify the specific type of full-stack development skills the position requires and the depth of expertise in each skill. Each full-stack developer will have a unique combination of generalization and specialization across the entire stack. Even a senior full-stack developer might have working knowledge of both the front and back ends, with true expertise in only a few layers. What specific front-end and back-end skills are you looking for?

Common front-end responsibilities include:

• Designing front-end interfaces
• Building tools that improve site interaction 
• Creating and implementing UI/UX designs
• Coding in client-side programming languages

Common back-end responsibilities include:

• Designing back-end systems
• Supporting the full application lifecycle
• Building relational or non-relational databases
• Coding in server-side programming languages

Responsibilities required by any development role include:

• Planning
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Agile development

Basic Qualifications

The basic qualifications section has two main components.

First, list any degree requirements. A common qualification for full-stack roles is for the candidate to have either a BS/BA degree or equivalent experience. If the role is open to applications from bootcamp graduates and self-taught developers, this is also the section to communicate that.

Next is the required years of experience scaled to the seniority of the role. This requirement is communicated with either a range or minimum requirement. 

For example:

• Entry-level: 0-2 years
• Mid-level: 3-5 years
• Senior-level: 5+ years

Some companies also use this section to list experience with a minimum number of programming languages as a basic qualification.

Required Qualifications

The required qualifications section is one of the core sections of a job description. While basic qualifications focus on education and experience, this section gives employers the space to list the must-have technical competencies and soft skills required for the role.

Common front-end languages found in this section include:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• TypeScript

Common front-end frameworks found in this section include:

• Angular
• Ember
• jQuery
• React
• Vue.js

Common back-end languages and technologies found in this section include:

• C/C++
• Go
• Java
• PHP
• Python
• Ruby
• Rust
• SQL
• AWS
• Azure
• GCP

Common back-end frameworks found in this section include:

• Backbone
• Django
• ExpressJS
• Laravel
• Ruby on Rails
• Spring Boot

Common technical competencies found in this section include:

• Hands-on development experience with front-end and back-end languages
• Familiarity with key front-end frameworks
• Mobile-first development experience
• Strong sense of web and user interface design
• Knowledge of system design and infrastructure architecture disciplines
• Knowledge of cloud computing and infrastructure
• Advanced knowledge of user experience design, accessibility standards, API development, and information architecture
• Knowledge of industry-wide technology trends and best practices

Common soft skills found in this section include:

• Technical communication
• Project management
• Time management
• Problem solving

Other Desired Skills & Nice-to-Haves

While not present on every job description, some companies elect to mention additional skills that the company desires but not required to succeed in the role. An example of a “nice-to-have” skill for a full-stack developer is experience in search engine optimization.

Sample Job Description

The job descriptions for full-stack roles can vary widely, depending on the responsibilities, compensation, and seniority of the position. That said, there are commonalities between descriptions you can take advantage of. Here’s an example of a job description for a mid-level full-stack development role.

Title: Full-Stack Developer II

Full-time. Associate.

Responsibilities

Development – Responsible for design, development, testing, deployment, and support of front-end and back-end software.

Delivery – Agile delivery of solutions aligned to business needs while maintaining a high standard of quality. Participate in code reviews and troubleshoot bugs.

Collaboration – Partner with product owners to understand business and product requirements to translate them into design solutions.

Communication – Clearly communicate roadmap, backlog, and team updates across the organization.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in software development
• BS/BA degree or equivalent experience

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on front-end development experience with HTML5, CSS, JS, Vue, and React.
• Prior experience with a server-side programming language
• Advanced knowledge of user experience design, accessibility standards, API development, and information architecture
• Hands-on experience with SQL and relational database management systems (Oracle, MySQL)
• Knowledge of industry-wide technology trends and best practices

Other Desired Skills

• Experience with search engine optimization
• Experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP

Resource for Hiring Full-Stack Developers

Front-End vs Back-End vs Full-Stack Developers: What’s the Difference?

What Does a Full-Stack Developer Do? Job Overview & Skill Expectations

Best Practices for Hiring Software Developers: Front-End, Back-End, & Full-Stack

18 Full-Stack Developer Interview Questions + Checklist

A Data-Driven Guide to Hiring Full-Stack Developers

The post How to Write a Full-Stack Developer Job Description [Template] appeared first on HackerRank Blog.

Technology moves at a pace that’s getting faster by the minute. As the pace of innovation accelerates, bad actors track those same advancements for opportunities to exploit. Hackers attack a computer in the United States every 39 seconds, using increasingly sophisticated methods to target information systems. No one is immune to cyberattacks — not your grandmother, and not your organization. They affect everyone. 

The global cybersecurity market is projected to grow from almost $218 billion USD in 2021 to more than $345 billion by 2026. In contrast, the cost of cybercrime is predicted to balloon to $6 trillion globally in 2021. According to Cybercrime Magazine, that number is anticipated to grow by 15% per year in the upcoming years, costing the global economy more than $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. 

What’s more: the shift to remote work will further challenge companies to fortify their cybersecurity architectures. A 2020 report that surveyed 2215 IT professionals revealed worrying statistics: Only 44% of organizations felt they were sufficiently positioned to protect against cyberattacks, and 31% said they didn’t require remote workers to use authentication methods.

As work computers move outside of the office and inside the home, there is a stronger need for cloud security solutions, VPNs and other security endpoints. The need for cybersecurity and cloud security engineers is becoming more important than ever. The popularity of cybersecurity and cloud security roles has increased at companies across a variety of industries, with demand for these types of roles expected to increase by 39% by 2029. A growing reliance on cloud-based services and an increase in cyberattacks means hiring for these in-demand roles is vital to every company's growth and success. 

“The demand for cybersecurity and IT security engineers is far exceeding the available talent market, making it all the more important that companies understand the skills they need and how to screen for them.” — Cole Goeppinger, Senior Vice President of Engineering at HackerRank

At HackerRank, we monitor trends in the popularity of technical job functions and skill sets closely. That’s why we added two full new roles — Cloud Security and Cybersecurity Engineer — and a host of accompanying skills to our Developer Skills Platform this October. As demand for these skills continues to grow, we’re committed to developing the fair, valid and reliable assessments hiring teams need to assess and hire the technical talent they need to thrive.

Meet Tech’s New In-Demand Roles: Cloud Security and Cybersecurity Engineers

Typically, “cloud security engineer” is an umbrella title for someone who has experience with engineering, architecture, and development. At a minimum, they should have three to five years of experience with cloud services and a background in building or designing web services in the cloud. 

When hiring a cybersecurity engineer or IT security engineer, you should look for someone with substantial experience performing information security functions that include the design, development, and implementation of highly secured network solutions that protect against cyberattacks and hacking threats.

HackerRank recognizes the need to effectively screen candidates in this growing field and have launched new assessments for these two cybersecurity roles within the HackerRank Library. Within these roles, we support five critical skills:

• Network Security
• AWS Security
• Kubernetes Security
• Application Security
• Cryptography

Additionally, we have added 20 new DevOps Kubernetes challenges, 14 new capture-the-flag (CTFs) challenges, and 85 new multiple-choice questions. These questions, challenges and pre-defined tests are available to all HackerRank customers. Kubernetes Security, however, is currently available only for customers with Projects enabled. 

For those interested in learning more about these roles, or to see the full listing of skills we can assess, check out the HackerRank Skills Directory. 

Stay tuned for future blogs on the importance of the growing fields of cybersecurity and cloud security. If you're currently hiring for cybersecurity or cloud security engineers, you can gain full access to these screening questions and more by signing up for our Developer Skills Platform. It's completely free for 14 days — register today!

The post With Cybersecurity On the Rise, HackerRank Adds New Roles and Skills to Help Companies Stay Protected appeared first on HackerRank Blog.

By Vivek Ravisankar, CEO and co-founder, HackerRank

Historically, many employers have limited their searches for entry-level technical talent to universities with top-ranked computer science programs. As the world begins to emerge from COVID-19 – with companies hiring in droves and demand for software developers far outweighing supply – it’s an ideal time to rethink that approach. To remain competitive, employers must seek tech talent in new places. 

To help them find it, we analyzed more than 1 million certification attempts conducted by university students on HackerRank’s platform, then found which universities around the world have the largest populations of students with these skills–many of which companies are hiring for. This can serve as a guide for companies looking to attract new talent that will power their innovation as global economies reopen. 

What are students’ strongest language skills?

We started by evaluating student certification success rates in the languages they test themselves on most frequently. Several of these languages – namely JavaScript, Python, Java and Go – are also among the top language skills companies are looking for. 

Student Popularity Rank	Company Popularity Rank	Skill	Pass Rate
1	2	Python	61%
2	-	SQL	68%
3	3	Java	71%
4	1	JavaScript	27%
5	-	Rest API	14%
10	9	Go	28%

% of certified students globally for the most popular skills.

Python, SQL and Java stay strong; Go goes mainstream: Python is developers’ most preferred language in which to earn certifications, and the second most in-demand by companies. Its versatility means it’s loved by beginner developers and those working on heavy industrial applications alike. SQL skills are crucial for budding data scientists – a role that’s seeing steady growth in demand – and most companies still need these skills to access data stored in a relational database. SQL continues to hold strong among students, and we see similar success with Java certifications. Go is the popular new kid on the block: developed by three Google employees to solve pain points of building with other languages, its speed, lack of huge documentation and concurrency mean it’s gaining traction with big names across the industry including Uber, Dropbox, and (of course) Google.

JavaScript and Rest API skills are less strong among early talent: Despite its widespread use by companies like Netflix, PayPal and Instagram, there is a palpable dislike of JavaScript in the developer community, and its certification success rate hovers at just 27%. Still, it’s the top skill companies are seeking. Meanwhile, companies like Twitter and Slack moving away from REST means developers are less interested in learning it.

Around the world, which universities do students with these skills attend?

Technical Talent Is Dispersed Across the U.S.

As more American companies embrace long-term remote or hybrid work, they have their pick of top tech talent across several U.S. regions – and beyond schools with computer science programs that often top academic rankings, like Carnegie Mellon University or MIT. When we examine practical skills, students at New Jersey Institute of Technology top the charts in four out of five languages, while there are pockets of great talent just outside New York City at State University of New York at Buffalo and Rochester. Moving west, top talent emerges at University of Texas at Arlington and Dallas – notable as some companies open new office spaces in Texas. Oregon State University is another standout.

Top Universities in the United States by technical skill
Rank	Python	Java	JavaScript	SQL	Rest API
1	New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey	New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey	New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey	University of Texas at Dallas Texas	New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey
2	University of Texas at Arlington Texas	University of Texas at Arlington Texas	Oregon State University Oregon	State University of New York at Buffalo New York	Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Illinois
3	University of Colorado at Boulder Colorado	Oregon State University Oregon	Rochester Institute of Technology New York	Columbia University New York	Oregon State University Oregon
4	University of Maryland at College Park Maryland	University of Central Florida Florida	Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia	University of Texas at Arlington Texas	McGill University Montreal, Canada
5	Oregon State University Oregon	University of North Carolina at Charlotte North Carolina	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Michigan	University of North Carolina at Charlotte North Carolina	State University of New York at Buffalo New York

University of Mumbai and PICT Take the Lead in India

In India, University of Mumbai leads skilled tech talent pools for Python, Javascript, and REST API, while PICT has the country’s best Java and SQL early talent pools. VIT, Chennai also makes a strong showing across languages. Historically, companies have searched for top tech talent in India only in the IITs, NITs and BITS – especially because hiring managers didn’t have the bandwidth to conduct in-person interviews at more universities in such a large talent market. With the emergence of platforms like HackerRank, this challenge is fading. Now, hiring managers can quickly assess candidates’ skills remotely. 

Top Universities in India by technical skill
Rank	Python	Java	JavaScript	SQL	Rest API
1	University of Mumbai Maharashtra	PICT, Pune (Pune Institute of Computer Technology) Maharashtra	University of Mumbai Maharashtra	PICT, Pune (Pune Institute of Computer Technology) Maharashtra	University of Mumbai Maharashtra
2	VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu	VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu	Anna University Tamil Nadu	University of Mumbai Maharashtra	Anna University Tamil Nadu
3	VIT, Vellore (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu	VIT, Vellore (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu	MSRIT, Bangalore (MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology) Karnataka	MAIT, Delhi (Maharaja Agrasen Institute Of Technology) Delhi	VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu
4	SRM University, Chennai (SRM Institute Of Science & Technology) Tamil Nadu	LPU, Jalandhar (Lovely Professional University) Punjab	Savitribai Phule Pune University (formery University of Pune) Maharashtra	KIIT, Bhubaneswar (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology) Odisha	JIIT, Noida (Jaypee Institute of Information Technology) Uttar Pradesh
5	KIET, Ghaziabad (Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology) Uttar Pradesh	University of Mumbai Maharashtra	VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu	VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu	MSRIT, Bangalore (MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology) Karnataka

Students in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka Shine

Companies seeking tech talent across other countries in APAC can find highly skilled students in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, at schools including Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Binus University and University of Peradeniya. Strong tech talent will likely continue to emerge in this region over the coming years: Indonesia is now among the top ten countries with the most billion-dollar startups, while the young labor forces in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are growing.

Top Universities in APAC (outside of India) by technical skill
Rank	Python	Java	JavaScript	SQL	Rest API
1	Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology Bangladesh	Jahangirnagar University Bangladesh	American International University Bangladesh	University of Dhaka Bangladesh	Rajshahi University of Engineering And Technology Bangladesh
2	University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka	University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology Sri Lanka	Telkom University Indonesia	Binus University Indonesia
3	Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Bangladesh	Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology Sri Lanka	Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia	Institut Teknologi Bandung Indonesia	University of the Philippines Diliman Philippines
4	University of Sydney Australia	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong	University of Karachi Pakistan	University of Melbourne Australia	The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
5	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong	Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Bangladesh	Binus University Indonesia	University of Sydney Australia	University of Karachi Pakistan

From Ireland to Turkey: University Talent Rises Across EMEA 

While traditionally highly-ranked European computer science programs like the University of Oxford and ETH Zurich make appearances, the distribution of early tech talent in Europe is much more widespread than many traditional rankings suggest. Universities in Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and England hold the top honors for students with Python and Rest API skills. For companies looking to expand outside high cost countries, several schools in Egypt, Turkey and Poland offer students with Java and SQL chops.

Top Universities in EMEA by technical skill
Rank	Python	Java	JavaScript	SQL	Rest API
1	ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Switzerland	Technical University of Munich Germany	Alexandria University Egypt	University of Warsaw Poland	University College Dublin Ireland
2	Technical University of Munich Germany	Istanbul University Turkey	Helwan University Egypt	Cairo University Egypt	Technical University of Munich Germany
3	University of Oxford England	Istanbul Technical University Turkey	University of Bucharest Romania	University College Dublin Ireland	ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Switzerland
4	University College London England	AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow Poland	KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden	Ain Shams University Egypt	Sakarya University Turkey
5	The University of Edinburgh Scotland	Hacettepe University Turkey	Ain Shams University Egypt	AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow Poland	The University of Manchester England

These findings build upon our 2019 analysis of university students’ skills, showcasing the wealth of global tech talent beyond traditional high-ranking programs. Now more than ever, it’s critical for companies to quickly find, attract and hire that talent as they strive to innovate in a digital- and remote-first world.

Methodology: 

Between January 2020 and April 2021, HackerRank reviewed more than 1 million certification attempts in 14 skills made by university students. This included 1149 universities from 102 different countries. We included universities with only statistically significant volumes of attempts, including (but not limited to) those like MIT, Stanford University, Harvard University, CalTech and the University of Illinois. From this data, we established a performance-based University ranking for different skills.

The post The Best New Tech Talent May Not Be Where You Think: A Guide to Hiring from Universities in 2021 appeared first on HackerRank Blog.

The post 6 Proven Recruiting Strategies to Attract New Graduates appeared first on HackerRank Blog.

The post Overcoming Bias in Recruiting to Create a Culture of Diversity & Inclusion appeared first on HackerRank Blog.

Technology is truly revolutionizing the way we work. From streamlined communications with Slack to Wework’s shared workspaces—there’s an influx of new companies constantly innovating the future of work. 

Dialpad is no different. Dialpad brings simplicity to the professional phone experience with features that make us most productive, when and where they work best.

As Dialpad continues to grow, finding quality tech talent is becoming more of a top priority. In our latest webinar, we spoke with Dialpad’s Director of Recruiting, Kirk Okenquist, to learn how they’ve been so successful with their technical recruits. Read on for the highlights.

How do you foster that recruiter/hiring manager relationship?

As a recruiter, building trust with your hiring manager is about more than just taking an order. It’s important for recruiters to establish that trust with their hiring managers by using data and their professional knowledge of the marketplace. Oftentimes, hiring managers have unrealistic expectations for the candidates they’re looking for—recruiters need to push back, respectfully, to encourage more communication in that relationship and help their hiring managers understand the candidate market.

Recruiters should prioritize alignment; sit down and make sure they’re 110% on the same page as the hiring manager. What is the profile we’re looking for? Oftentimes recruiters will engage with candidates that don’t even fit the profile the hiring manager is targeting. Make sure to find common ground with your hiring managers. They need you just as much as you need them. It’s important to establish that in that relationship. You’re not just there to execute, you’re there to engage and coach the hiring manager on what you can and can’t deliver on and set those expectations.

What are the key skills you look for in candidates?

Teachability is a big one. Testing a candidates’ coding ability at the front end of the recruiting process will help you test their problem-solving ability. But we’re not focused on whether they get the problem right, we’re more interested in how they’re attacking that problem and whether they’re open to feedback and being coached on their approach. HackerRank has been especially helpful for us during the coding assessment and video CodePair sessions, to really nail into this. So that we know this candidate we’re bringing on-site is definitely going to pass by a certain percentage the whiteboard sessions they have to complete.

How does your team put together your coding assessments?

When I got here I got to work with 2 engineers who were very passionate about our current HackerRank assessments. But I put together some data and found that they weren’t very challenging enough and the types of candidates we were bringing onsite, the population was failing. We had 3 assessments, now we have 7. Breaking it up by different levels of qualification/experience/background per candidate, measuring the success of those assessments with our HackerRank Customer Success Manager. Internally, working w/ the different stakeholders and looking at the pass-through rates and how these upfront assessments are helping us save time, save candidates time. And continuing to calibrate and align on that proper background.

How do you ensure you’re bringing the right candidate on?

Again, it goes back to calibration and alignment with your hiring manager. Ensuring everyone is on the same page about what is most important for the candidate is a great start. 

You should also take a look at your process and content. Does it resonate with who you are targeting and why you are targeting them? Continuously assess your process and look for ways to optimize. You can do this by A/B testing everything. Recruiting is such a heavy lift so try to automate as much as you can.

When you do find the right candidate, don’t take no for an answer. Obviously, don’t be rude. Know that there are ways to be tactful. You need to keep in mind there’s a lot of noise in the marketplace. Send multiple messages. If you’re adding value to their career and their career trajectory they’ll notice you. If you stay relevant with them you will eventually get that yes. Be mindful of their background, who they are, where they worked, where they went to school. The customization and the way you reach out to candidates, the humanistic style of approaching them–it won’t go overlooked. You have to get creative in this candidate-driven market. 

How important is your talent brand?

If you’re going to spend all this time and effort with sourcing you need to be mindful of your brand. In my experience, talent brand is massive. I’ve worked at companies where we’ve brought on a dedicated marketing person just for the talent brand and it’s done wonders.

If you’re just getting started, I’d say a great place to start is by looking at your company web page. Try to understand the story it’s telling your prospective candidates. Who have you included in the pictures? Is it an inclusive message? 

The same goes for your career page. Are you sharing stories from current employees? Don’t underestimate the power of sharing these stories. Candidates want to hear experiences from their peers. Candidates don’t always want to hear from a recruiter. Those stories land a 100 times over when it comes from one of your employees. If you’re a smaller company looking to establish your brand you’re at a strong advantage. Set it up today. Just make sure the story you’re telling carries over to a larger theme of who the company is, what the company is about, what those cultural aspects are that make it great. Everything should tie back to the company’s culture, what you’re trying to build and what the vision is. Another channel to tap into is social media. Candidates will take a look at your social media presence so it’s important to stay active while remaining authentic.

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This is part of HackerRank’s hiring checklist series, where we share insights to help you screen developers. You can find our other checklists here: 

• Junior vs. Senior Developers
• Data Analysts vs. Scientists vs. Engineers
• DevOps Talent
• Back-End Developers
• Front-End Developers
• Full-Stack Developers

Quality Assurance (QA) Engineers are the unsung heroes of a successful engineering organization. They make sure your software won’t break when it matters.

Chosen correctly, a QA Engineer can safeguard your team from errors, inconsistencies, or even downtime. Ultimately, a good QA Engineer means less issues. And less issues means less lost revenue. 

So, what makes an effective QA Engineer? In this post, we’ll discuss what QA Engineers do, how they contribute to a team, and most importantly: what separates top candidates from the rest.

It’s worth noting that the term “QA Engineer” has different meanings for different teams. They can fall into a number of specialities: from load and performance QA, to security QA, to networking QA, and much more. For the purpose of this checklist, we’ll be focusing on key skills for web QA roles. 

How QA Engineers work on a team

In a nutshell, QA Engineers are the last line of defense between development and production. Without their approval, things don’t get shipped. Their goal is to ensure new software won’t break once pushed to production.

They do this by designing and carrying out tests—most frequently, automated tests—on proposed contributions to the codebase. Utilizing their codebase knowledge, and the software use case, they put the contributions through high-stress trials. The goal is to replicate the demands of the production environment as closely as possible.

In turn, those stress trials that help surface potential software quality issues. The QA Engineer’s job is not only to identify quality issues, but to find their root cause. Once the root cause is clear, they can suggest fixes to the code’s author. 

The role isn’t designed to point out faults. The goal is to work collaboratively with developers to ensure the overall health and stability of the codebase.

TechBeacon put it best:

The relationship between development and QA shouldn’t be the same as the relationship between an artist and an art critic. It should be more like the relationship between a writer and a copy editor, both applying their specialized skill sets to make a quality product.

They play a key role in the testing phase of the development cycle, are often involved in other phases in order to inform better testing:

Like most development roles, the scope a QA Engineer is up to the interpretation of the team. Make sure you understand how your hiring manager intends to utilize the role.

Key skills for a QA Engineer

If you’re looking for a QA Engineer, start by asking these questions. Note: qualifications may change from team to team. But these asks are some of the most common:

Expertise

• Do they have strong logic skills, and good basic programming skills?
• Are they comfortable preparing testing notes, test cases, and documentation for a variety of scenarios? Do they have a strong grasp of QA methodology?
• Do they show strong creativity in their work? Can they think up relevant uses cases independently, and test accordingly? Do they test to break?
• Can they thoughtfully interpret test results, and advocate for quality throughout the development process? Do they carefully track and monitor issues through resolution?  
• Do they have strong debugging skills? Are they able to analyze issues and their root causes?
• Are they familiar with your team’s go-to test automation tools (e.g. Selenium)?

Team Compatibility

• Will they be happy working on the “behind the scenes” side of development?
• Are they team-oriented and diplomatic? Can they tactfully work with a diverse mix of developers (spanning many job functions, experience levels, and personalities)?
• Do they have a knack for process? Can they manage and maintain quality procedures?
• Do they have strong technical communication skills (both oral and written)? Can they report issues with clarity and accuracy?
• Are they comfortable with self-direction?

Soft Skills

• Are they careful, and detail-oriented to a fault?
• Do they have strong non-technical communication skills (both oral and written)? Can they relay technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders (e.g. product and support)?
• Can they stay calm under pressure? Are they comfortable acting as the final approver for their team’s work?
• Are they able to triage requests based on priority and severity? Can they maintain a laser focus on their task list?
• Do they have strong business and product savvy? Can they quickly grasp the business objectives of a new project?
• Are they reliable? Do they show strong ownership of their deliverables?

Check on your candidate’s long-term plans

QA Engineers are unique in the professional landscape. After all, candidates that seek out QA roles aren’t always pursuing careers in QA. Entry-level developers, especially, will sometimes pursue QA roles as a stepping stone to development work, or to get a foot in the door at your company.

Make sure you understand the candidate’s long term vision. Are they looking to stay in QA long term? Or is QA only one step in their career path? There isn’t a wrong answer. Both types of candidates can add value to your organization; it all depends on the needs of your team.

Align with your hiring manager on what they need. Are they willing to create a career path to software development? Or are they looking for a tried and true QA veteran? No matter their answer, make sure they’re aligned with your candidate. It’ll help shore up retention down the line.

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