Why Should Developers Take Skill Assessment Tests?

“Not another coding test…” – Almost all developers.

You’ll hardly find a developer who doesn’t find the coding tests awful, tedious, or even demeaning.

But is it the long hours of brain-racking or ignorance that leads to such beliefs?

Let’s flip the coin and explore the other side too.

In this article, we’ll see what skill assessment actually is and why every developer should take it?

Skill Assessment vs Test

While both assessments and tests are designed to gauge an individual’s ability, one can’t use these terms interchangeably.

Tests judge the knowledge of a specific skill through a set of related questions. It has a standard scoring method to rank the person.

Whereas an assessment simply measures the skill level for a particular topic without necessarily judging. It usually requires interpretation to evaluate the abilities. And this evaluation can be made through standard and some custom questions.

How Do Skill Assessments Benefit Developers?

Pinpoint Your Strengths & Weaknesses

You could be juggling three different languages at a time, but which one you should fall back on when push comes to shove?

You can make this decision only when you are tuned in to your core strengths and weaknesses.

Assessments can ease the hassle for you. All you have to do is attempt the evaluation and analyze where you scored the highest or need a slight nudge for improvement.

Understanding your strengths and weaknesses prepares you better for your career journey and to take projects with sound judgement.

Wriggles You Out of Your Comfort Zone

Working on projects you understand feels easy and good. But do you really want things to be always easy?

Sometimes, taking on new challenges can throw you out of your comfort zone and teach you a thing or two.

Assessments give you problems to work on that you might not come across on a daily basis. Thus, providing you with a different perspective and approach to code.

And when challenges don’t seem to scare you anymore, that’s when you realize that you have levelled up your skills.

Powers You to Compete With Peers

There are millions of developers out there, many better than you.

But unless you take part in the competition, you’ll never be able to set yourself apart from it.

Other developers sign up on the online assessment platforms to learn from the community, stay updated, and compete with the rest.

You can also join to see what your peers are working on and how can you do it better.

Adds New Skills to Your Arsenal

If you wish to learn a new language, you can’t rely on just theoretical knowledge. You will need practical expertise to gain prowess over a language truly.

And what’s a better time than now, when the market has a high demand for remote software development skills and the talent isn’t enough to meet it.

You can get an edge over others through the assessment portals that offer dedicated problem statements for hundreds of languages.

If you want to explore a new one, you can simply do it by trying your hand at the available questions for it.

It’s a wholesome way to acquire a new skill that is up-to-date with the current times and market demands.

Master the Art of Problem Solving

Coding is all about answering a problem with the simplest solution.

When you work with clients, they want better results at a lesser cost. You can’t spend resources on building a program that just gets the job done. It should do so optimally.

Assessments evaluate the quality of your solution too, and score you based on that.

That’s why it’s a perfect way to improve your problem-solving skills irrespective of which language you choose.

Get Noticed By Your Dream Team

Almost all big organizations scout talent through online assessment platforms.

And you wouldn’t want to miss out on the action.

Companies publish their own problem statements or assessment on the platform and welcome solutions from everyone interested.

It’s how you can connect with your dream team and get hold of opportunities.

Also, it helps you understand their expectations better in terms of which language they prefer, what level of expertise they demand, and how they judge the developers. And once you have this golden nugget of information, you can also find other ways to work with your dream clients.

Offers Flexibility & Freedom

The biggest reason developers worldwide choose to take these online assessments is that it allows flexibility to engage anytime, even from your couch.

You don’t have to drive to a test center or fill out an application form with a fee.

Developers who are focused on enhancing their skills can use this hassle-free method for themselves.

You can attempt an assessment daily, weekly, or monthly and set the bar for yourself.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You can shape your coding muscles only via practice.

But how to pick the questions, the language, and the evaluation methods?

All these dull logistics are figured out through carefully designed assessments to make your job a lot easier.

You just have to set daily goals to practice the languages and improve your skills.

With new developments happening almost every day, thinking you know it all is a wrong assumption.

That’s why applying your knowledge is a must to stay relevant.

Enjoy the Rewards & Recognition

Assessments aren’t that boring if you know how to make the most of them.

You can enjoy the whole process with live challenges where developers attempt to solve a problem across the platform. Usually, these challenges are accompanied by rewards and cash prizes for the developers.

And who doesn’t like that!

Along with the prizes comes the recognition and respect you earn from your fellow participants and organizers for your hard work.

It boosts your confidence to take on better challenges and help your peers.

Motivates You to Do Better

Since assessments don’t label or judge you, it is considered a healthy motivation to improve yourself.

You even have the freedom to choose whether you want the scores to be published publicly or not. It takes off the performance pressure over you and gives you a real shot to explore your capabilities.

You can take daily assessments and see the progress you have made along the way.

And you don’t even need to spend hours on it. Learn about a new algorithm and spare 30 minutes of your day to implement that learning through assessments.

How to Get Started?

Now, the question arises– which platform to get started with?

There are enough assessment platforms online to confuse and overwhelm you.

But before you start your hunt for the right platform, here are some essentials to look out for.

Rich Question Library

Choose a platform with a whole collection of questions for each programming language. It will give you enough to practice and master a skill.

Fair Grading System

Next to see is the platform’s grading system. Choose the one that offers transparent criteria to evaluate performance and maintains a standard scoring card.

Performance Report

Without analytics to review your performance, you are just working hard and not smart. Analytical reports give you clarity on your best and worst executions so that you can practice or move to the next level at the right time.

Reliability

Since you’ll be investing a lot of time and effort in the assessment platform, you should choose one trusted by the community. Test out the consistency of the platform, the accuracy of the results, and what else they offer to make assessments smoother.

“My biggest pet peeve with these types of tests is this: there are a lot of companies out there, and I’m sending out resumes to each one that I can find,” says Brandon Savage, Owner at Tailwinds. “I simply do not have the time to write fifteen code samples a day, just because you want to evaluate me against your coding test. Period.”

Repetitive tasks can frustrate any developer. ellow understands this, which distinguishes it from the rest.

Here’s how you can take the assessment test with ellow & get connected to employers paying top dollar for your skills, while you work remotely from the convenience of your home or a place that you like:

Simply select the skills for which you want to take the test.

Post this assessment test, there will be an algorithm and coding test which is approximately 40min.

Ellow will then consolidate the results you will be matched with the employers that match the criteria. When you are connected to the company, you won’t need to take the test again. This test is valid for multiple companies for many months. So you simply connect with the right employers and start working.

You can sign up as a developer here and complete the screening process to join the global talent pool and work with brands like PayPal, Disney, and Walmart. It’s a global hub for niche service providers, work-from-home enthusiasts, and freelancers to engage in reliable projects.

Sariga Gopalan

Sariga Gopalan works as an HR Generalist at ellow, a platform specializing in tech recruitment. With experience working across the globe, she has an experience of working more than 10 years in the HR industry.