Codility, the leading technical hiring platform, is excited to announce the launch of its groundbreaking Engineering Skills Model (ESM). The ESM, now integrated into our products and focused on skill-level assessment,

Codility Introduces Groundbreaking Engineering Skills Model (ESM) to Transform Software Engineering Talent Management

Enterprises rely on Codility to power valid technical interviews, assessment programs, and coding tests to build high-performing teams that drive business outcomes. Our customers worldwide rely on the most trustworthy signal to hire the best technical ...

48. Codility

Tech Assessment Platform Market Survey Report 2023 Along with Statistics, Forecasts till 2030 | Codility, IMocha, CodeSignal The report titled Tech Assessment Platform Market 2023-2030 has ...

Tech Assessment Platform Market Survey Report 2023 Along with Statistics, Forecasts till 2030 | Codility, IMocha, CodeSignal

The Code Assessment Platform Market is competitive, featuring established players like HackerRank, Codility, and LeetCode, offering coding assessment and skills evaluation tools. Startups and ...

Code Assessment Platform Market Comprehensive study explores Huge Growth in Future | Codility, IMocha, Geektastic

Fintech scale-ups made this year’s TOP 25 Swiss Scale-ups Awards organized by Venturelab. The scale-ups ranking was created to recognize Swiss companies aged five to 10 years who are

The Top 5 Swiss Fintech Scale-up Startups in 2023

I'm sure there are many benchmarks out there. However, since I once enjoyed solving Codility problems (Fig. 1) under the pretext of preparing for a job interview, I wanted to see how efficiently ...

Emperor's New Clothes? No, Request for Assistance: Where GPT and Other LLMs Struggle

Technical Skills Screening Software Market Size, Booming Worldwide By KeyPlayers-HackerRank, Codility, Interview Mocha Report this article B2B Market Growth

Technical Skills Screening Software Market Size, Booming Worldwide By KeyPlayers-HackerRank, Codility, Interview Mocha

Global Technical Skills Screening Software Market Research Report 2023 begins with an overview of the Market and offers throughout development. It presents a comprehensive analysis of all the regional and major player segments that gives closer insights ...

Technical Skills Screening Software Market 2023 SWOT Analysis and Key Business Strategies by Leading Players -HackerRank, Codility, Interview Mocha

Advance Market Analytics published a new research publication on “Global Coding Interview Platforms Market Insights, to 2028” with 232 pages and enriched with self-explained Tables and charts ...

Coding Interview Platforms Market is set to Fly High Growth in Years to Come | CodeSignal, Mercer, Codility

It also provides detailed analytics to help track the progress of candidates. Codility stands out as a versatile coding assessment tool that caters to the needs of both beginners and experienced ...

Top 5 Best Coding Assessment Tools in 2023: Empowering Hiring Managers and Tech Recruiters

Codility

codility

Why Developers Hate Coding Skills Tests (And What Hiring Managers Can Do To Change That)

Recently I came across a . I found it interesting enough to post here. Codility demo task At first, I wanted to use a , tracking the minimum positive integer . Take the following array: [1, 3, 6, 4, 1, 2]. Let’s iterate it. The first number is 1. So the minimum integer that is not in this array so far is 2. Then there is 3. So the minimum integer that is not in this array so far is still 2. Everything’s great until I finally encounter 2 in the end of this array. So how am I supposed to come up with an answer — 5 — with this approach? Well, I’m afraid it simply doesn’t work here. So it became obvious that I need to remember somehow all the encountered numbers. greedy algorithm so far What is the best way to spot them? The approach that comes to mind first is to have some pattern array, kinda sieve, the one that contains all the positive integers within a given interval. And it would be very handy if its keys would coincide with values. So with every integer I encounter in input array I find a corresponding key in a pattern array, and mark its value as, say, null: $pattern = (0, 100000); range ($a $value) {$pattern[$value] = ;} foreach as null After that all I need is to iterate it and find the first key with a non-null value. But before that I want to make sure that I won’t get 0 as an answer since it’s not a positive integer. So I unset the first element in my pattern array. And there is an edge case. What happens if I get all the integers within a given interval, [1, 100000]? The answer should be 100001. So I create a pattern array with the equals to 100001: supremum solution( $a) {$pattern = (0, 100001); function array range **foreach** ($a **as** $value) {  
    $pattern\[$value\] = **null**;  
}  

**unset**($pattern\[0\]);  

**for** ($i = 1; $i <= _count_($pattern); $i++) {  
    **if** (!_is\_null_($pattern\[$i\])) {  
        **return** $i;  
    }  
} } Voilà!

Codility Demo Test Solution

Solución de prueba de demostración de Codility

Following Traditional Advice Isn’t Enough to Switch From QA to Developer, So What to Do Instead?

It’s still dark out when my alarm rings at 5:00am and I begin the familiar shuffle down the hall to the kitchen and the coffee machine. I pour a steaming cup as my computer boots up, the steam mixing with the early morning fog that’s spilling in through an open window. Headphones on, Zoom meeting link located, and I’m still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I connect to the call. But almost as soon as I begin chatting with Maya Neria, Senior Product Manager at , the inflection in her voice stirs me to life. Andela “What our founders realized is that brilliance is evenly distributed in the world,” says Neria. “And Africa has the fastest growing market of people entering employability age.” Neria is talking to me from Nairobi, Kenya, a city nicknamed “Silicon Savannah” where she’s lived for the past two and a half years. “You have a national park that has lions in the middle of the city and you have booming skyscrapers, development everywhere,” says Neria. “There are tech hubs and co-working spaces of all shapes and sizes. You see really vibrant tech meet-ups across different technologies, anywhere from JavaScript to blockchain.” Nairobi has quickly become one of Africa’s leading tech hubs, along with Lagos, Cairo, Johannesburg, and Dar es Salaam. But it’s the people rather than the geography that led Neria to leave the US and relocate to Kenya. “I don’t know how to say it in less cliché words, but the people I’ve met here are the most driven I’ve ever met,” she says. “I met a fisherman who had virtually nothing and taught himself to code on his Android phone before he found Andela and I just thought to myself, ‘This in incredible.’” Meet Andela While most of our tech news feeds are jammed up with stories of Facebook’s most recent privacy scandal, stories like Andela’s far too often slip under the radar. But companies that you know—Gusto, Invision, GitHub, and Skillshare among them—are already building their products using Andela software engineers. And tech giants like Microsoft have taken notice, moving into Nairobi as the global competition for software engineering talent continues to heat up faster than a Sub-Saharan morning. Founded in in 2014, Andela was built around a simple idea—identify high potential software developers, invest in their training, then place them on global engineering teams where they begin to contribute and continue to grow. The company handles talent assessment, on-boarding, and continuous improvement of the software developers accepted into their program, supporting their mission of “catalyzing the growth of tech ecosystems across Africa.” The company has hired software developers in 17 African countries to date and . Andela’s investors include Google Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation amongst others. Nigeria recently raised a $100M series D investment Aspiring Andela engineers must first apply to the program, where they’re screened for basic technical skills, general aptitude, and learning velocity. The company has received over 130,000 applications to date, leading to the hire of more than 1,300 software engineers. Once accepted into the program Andela engineers work for six months in simulated product environments similar to what they would encounter on global engineering teams. They build real products, contribute to code standups, learn agile methodology, and also have team skill sessions where they work on developing confidence, public speaking, and learn best practices associated with being a distributed team member. “A lot of developers that are coming out of Andela are interested in reinvesting in Africa—they aren't being pulled out of Africa,” says Neria. “They’ve gotten broad experience in international companies, but they stayed locally the entire time so all of that money is being reinvested into the local ecosystem. They're founding startups here. They're able to mentor here, locally. And we're seeing a huge boom in the startup scene here in Nairobi.” Searching for a partner to help assess the technical skills of a continent While Andela’s mission is an easy one to get behind, the logistics of their operation include a wide myriad of challenges. The challenges of growing tech ecosystems in the developing world aside, Andela’s success is directly tied to a challenge much more familiar to even the best funded tech companies in Silicon Valley—the company needed to find a repeatable way to . Sorting through more than 130,000 applications for their fellowship program was only the beginning. identify, assess, and hire engineering talent at scale In the early days, Andela relied on a combination of psychometric tests and a technical assessment tool that their internal team hacked together. “The issue was the internal tool was always buggy, and it assessed knowledge way more than application of knowledge,” says Neria. “I also noticed that we didn't really have a framework for hiring that was consistent throughout our entire recruitment model, so we set out to create that framework.” The recruitment model that Andela landed on seeks to assess developer candidates on three dimensions: 1. Values alignment and cultural fit 2.  Output quality (the degree of excellence in which people are showing skills and producing work) 3. Learning velocity and ability to incorporate feedback “I did a big industry review of over 100 tools, both for values fit, technical skills, and psychometric evaluations,” says Neria. “We looked at software like Codility, HackerRank, and GapJumpers and I was really trying to see whether or not they'd give us more than just the standard technical knowledge testing. The big thing that I was looking for was also if candidates were getting feedback.” What we saw was Qualified is taking a really, really interesting approach in terms of their dedication to mimicking a real work environment. So many technical tools out there basically don't—they only test theory and algorithms. " gave us a deeper level of insight into each applicant by providing insights into things like ‘How are you applying and thinking through technical questions? And based on the curriculum that we provide, how are you applying that knowledge to answer coding challenges?’” Qualified “A lot of our developers were self-taught and so their in-depth understanding of algorithms wasn't necessarily that high—but they could still build great products, were still mathematical, and could apply the concept of an algorithm to the way that they were building products." That's what really drove us to use Qualified—it was a combination of a push to be more rigorous in the data that we collect from our applicants and Qualified's dedication to having people showcase the work that they would do in a real product environment. The technical skills assessments are really aligned with the real work environment which we were hoping for in order to better predict on-the-job performance.” Learning to find, assess, and hire software developers at scale With Qualified identified as a strategic partner to help Andela assess technical output and predict on-the-job performance, Neria’s team set out to build a consistent recruitment process capable of scaling alongside Andela’s lofty ambitions. While the process continues to be refined and improved, talent acquisition and engineering leaders would be wise to borrow from Andela’s approach. —All applicants are provided home study materials that cover computer science basics using either Python or Javascript. Home study materials —After applicants receive their home study materials, they’re asked to complete an initial screening that’s delivered via Google Forms. This first cut in their recruiting funnel is used to help sort through the sheer volume of applications that they receive, by testing an applicant’s understanding of the home study materials as well as their cultural and values fit. Initial screen —Applicants that pass the Google Forms assessment are then invited to take a Qualified assessment, which is designed to test their technical skills and ability to incorporate real world feedback. Currently about 15% of students who complete the are ultimately hired. “Our goal is to continuously bump that up and make Qualified even more predictive,” says Neria. “Right now we’re assessing junior developers, and I think for them technical skills are less indicative of quality and it’s more about cognitive ability and learning. I think the predictive power of Qualified could be much higher for developers that have more experience.” Qualified assessment Qualified assessment —Applicants who are accepted into the program continue to be trained for six months, during which Andela captures thousands of data points on their relative strengths and weaknesses. Six months of paid training —After training is completed, Andela developers become a member of a global engineering team. Their skills continue to be assessed and the company invests heavily in mid-to-senior level developers that provide ongoing mentorship to junior developers. Paired with a global engineering team When I asked Neria about the benefits Andela has realized since injecting Qualified assessments into the recruiting funnel, she’s quick to cite the scalability of the process. “I think one of the things Qualified does really well is offer the entire package of ‘How do you assess software developers at scale?’ It’s not only the technology around automated assessments and customization; it’s also the pre-loaded database of questions that you can work through that are tagged and easily searchable. The keyword here is ‘at scale’ for me. When you have 4,000 developers per month applying to your program you need a system where you can pull questions, easily change or customize assessments, and see the results over time." Our recruitment team has definitely grown less exponentially than our candidate pipeline has and a big part of that is thanks to Qualified assessments. We’ve been able to keep our overhead costs down with Qualified as a growth partner. It’s a very holistic package—I’ve seen software products that provide one piece of the puzzle, and I see Qualified as really being the full thing.” What’s next for Andela and Qualified While Neria’s search for a technical screening methodology that predicts on the job performance was undertaken with the recruitment process in mind, Andela has also begun experimenting with to upskill their existing engineers. Qualified Educate “For internal leveling, the platform allows us to test learners multiple times,” says Neria. “One use case we tried was testing knowledge and behavioral reinforcements by continuously testing our developers on important use cases like certain types of testing or debugging. We wanted to make sure that developers are consistently being tested throughout our training program on those things. We saw that Qualified helped with knowledge retention, which was really promising.” Neria also sees Qualified playing a significant role in benchmarking developers of different skill levels objectively—a need of increasing importance as the prevalence of remote work continues to grow. “The fact that Qualified provides so much data from their community on how developers across the globe perform on different technical questions is huge. I would say that's a really big asset for anyone looking to hire more senior talent.” Andela’s team is now nearly 2,000 strong, but their work in developing tech ecosystems across Africa is just getting started. I know it’s only a matter of time before I find myself chatting with an Andela engineer on my next early morning conference call.

Andela Is Building Africa's Tech Ecosystem—And Companies Like Microsoft Are Following Suit

6 Skills Junior Developer Should Prioritize

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have most likely heard of the term “freelance economy” — which currently makes up and is projected to reach . 35% of the U.S. workforce 50.9% by 2027 Online freelance marketplaces for high-skilled workers, such as ( ) and , have been key players in shaping the freelance ecosystem. They will certainly not miss the opportunities ahead. As new platforms emerge and old ones try to stay in the game, we‘ll likely see a new wave of innovation in this space within the next 2–3 years. Upwork recently IPO’ed Freelancer.com As a former product manager at , a freelance and 1-on-1 mentorship marketplace for software developers, I’d love to share some personal observations and predictions about this rapidly-growing space. Codementor Freelance Marketplace Explained Let’s first look at the key functions of a freelance marketplace. Feel free to skip this section if you are already familiar with them. Sourcing & Vetting Immediate access to a large pool of clients is the No.1 reason why This simply wouldn’t be possible without the sourcing and vetting functions of a platform. 73% of freelancers look for work via online marketplaces. Sourcing refers to the user acquisition effort a platform dedicates to increase its overall supply and demand pools, whereas vetting refers to the mechanism a platform has set up to ensure a basic level of quality among its users, such as skill tests and background checks. Matching However, having an abundance of supply and demand is useless if clients cannot quickly find suitable freelancers for their projects. This is where a platform’s matching function comes in. The ability to efficiently connect the two sides sets good platforms apart from the bad ones. It involves a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work users don’t see. To give you an example, back when I was working on , a platform for companies to hire elite freelance developers, each request would go through four matching steps: CodementorX A phone call between hiring consultant and client to gather requirements ML-based algorithm to rank freelancers by structured data such as expertise, availability, timezone, hourly rate, etc Dedicated matcher to shortlist three candidates based on qualitative factors, including soft skills, personality, work experience, etc Hiring consultant to facilitate interviews between client and candidates This process has proven to cut down the average hiring time for a senior freelance developer from 4–8 weeks to less than two weeks. — the value of a platform’s matching function depreciates over time for quality freelancers and clients. The longer they stay in the ecosystem, the easier it is for them to find each other through referral. This is the reason a platform must provide value beyond merely connecting freelancers and clients to maximize their LTV. But here is a problem Engagement Facilitation: Over 90% of freelance marketplaces generate revenue by taking a cut (typically between 10–25%) of transactions occur on their platforms. Therefore, they better give users strong incentives not to circumvent them other than a hefty penalty. Offering SaaS tools and simplified logistics to facilitate ongoing engagements is one way of doing so. Generally, working through a platform cuts down the hassles clients and freelancers must deal with in terms of paperwork and payment, especially when an engagement is cross-border. It can also provide a certain degree of protection in case of dispute. But are these really enough to prevent circumvention? The answer: . You have to consider factors such as project size, the cost of alternative solutions, and the trust between the client and freelancer. In my experience, large companies using freelancers for short-term projects usually benefit the most from working through a platform due to the logistical convenience. It depends Observations Now, let’s dive into some interesting observations I’ve made in the past two years. 1. Growing Focus on Enterprise Clients The Intuit 2020 Report estimated that in the coming years. Accenture also pointed out that (likely more if you count other platforms) to prepare themselves for the workforce transformation. 80% of large corporations plan to increase the use of freelancers 20% of Fortune 500 companies are already using Upwork The trend is well-supported by the increasing number of freelance platforms and services targeting enterprise clients in the past few years, such as the launches of and in 2016. These services were born for an obvious reason — Upwork Enterprise Upwork Pro enterprise clients pay more. A lot more. In Upwork’s case, in the first half of 2018 came from a single client — a budget only obtainable by enterprise clients. 10% of its $121.9 million revenue Whereas SMBs hire freelancers for a variety of reasons, enterprise companies typically hire freelancers for one-off or experimental projects that require highly-specialized skills. They are happy to pay high rates if the freelancers are top-notch. If you consider the time, resources, opportunity cost, and associated risks it involves to hire a senior full-time employee at a large company, a $150–300 hourly rate is like pocket change in comparison. However, simply offering top-tier talents is not enough. Enterprise clients also expect platforms to deliver exceptional white-glove services to justify the premium price tag. Currently, platforms targeting enterprise clients can roughly be divided into two categories: — focusing on completing deliverables. Responsible for the entire lifecycle of a project. Full-service Model ( ), (acquired by ), , , , Examples: Gigster pivoted to focus on enterprises in 2017 Crew Dribble Paro Contently Povio Rev focusing on providing the best talents available. Minimal involvement in deliverables. Temp Agency Model — , , , , , Examples: Toptal CodementorX Upwork Pro ScalablePath Credo X-Team As lucrative as the enterprise market seems, outdated corporate practices are still a major challenge platforms need to overcome. Most companies . For example, should a freelance platform be considered an individual contractor or a vendor? The categorization will dictate payment terms, billing method, and legal liability. Neither category seems ideal. Platforms must develop business processes and product features to accommodate these issues if they want to have a bigger piece of the enterprise market. do not have a proper system set up to work with freelancers 2. The Four Horsemen of a Chaotic Ecosystem Will freelancing overtake traditional employment by 2027 as projected? Very unlikely in its current state. Sadly, the world of freelancing is still a chaotic place. For every successful engagement, there will be three failed ones due to late payments, freelancers going MIA, and contract disputes. These problems, however, are purely the “symptoms” of four underlying challenges: Other than the introduced by New York City in 2017, legislation designed specifically for freelance work is virtually nonexistent. Although all freelance marketplaces have basic rules in place, they are rarely comprehensive enough to be effective. Lack of Regulation: Freelance Isn’t Free Act Unlike the traditional job market, freelance marketplaces open their doors to a much wider range of demographics and use cases. The low barriers to entry allow scammers, unqualified users, and wantrepreneurs to participate in the market more easily. Low Barriers to Entry: While freelancing doesn’t necessarily equal remote work, jobs in most popular categories — software development, design, content marketing — can easily be done without a physical presence. The removal of geopolitical restrictions has introduced a new set of challenges, such as contract enforcement (or lack thereof), cultural misunderstanding, and bidding wars between freelancers in developed and developing economies. Borderless Market: : Unlike ordering food delivery, which you can determine success by looking at whether the correct order is delivered promptly, the success of a freelance project is often subjective. When success cannot be defined objectively, disputes will naturally ensue. Subjective Success Predictions So, what’s next for high-skilled freelance marketplaces? Here are my predictions. 1. Platforms Will Take a Bigger Role in Educating the Market, Especially the Supply Side It would be an understatement to say the freelance market is ill-informed, considering even the most seasoned participants can be clueless when it comes to topics like: How much should I pay/charge for ? expertise How to increase my chance of hiring a good freelancer/getting hired? How to evaluate a potential freelancer/client? What to discuss and agree on before an engagement goes live? How to prevent and resolve disputes? This presents a considerable opportunity for platforms to improve their lower-funnel metrics by equipping users with information. Users can expect to see more educational initiatives being embedded as part of the product experience. For examples: A mandatory Freelancing 101 course during onboarding. Pricing guidance — “Your rate is higher than 80% of freelancers with years of located in ” or “Projects with similar requirements typically cost between $5k-8k.” # expertise location Webinars on market trends, interview tips, and remote work. The impact of education will be particularly felt on the supply side. While freelancers are experts in their own fields, many underestimate the business skills required to engage with clients. By offering best practices and skills training, platforms will increase freelancers’ hireability, resulting in higher conversion and engagement success rates. 2. Verticalized Platforms Will Beat the Competitions We’ve all witnessed the rise of vertical-specific marketplaces for simple B2C services, such as Uber and Instacart, since the early 2010s. By crafting a seamless product experience for their respective verticals, these platforms managed to either 1) overthrow their Craigslist-like predecessors — or — 2) digitalize services previously unavailable. I predict the same trend will happen among freelance marketplaces. For a general freelance marketplace, creating a verticalized experience for each job category is not only a costly investment but also an operational nightmare. In contrast, since a vertical-specific marketplace serves only one job category, it can afford to build job-specific features, hence creating a superior user experience. For example, a platform focusing on software development might build a code editor for clients to conduct live coding interviews. However, the execution is easier said than done due to the complex nature of high-skilled freelance jobs. When using a ride-hailing service, there are only a few variables: pick-up location, drop-off location, and vehicle type, whereas hiring a software developer involves countless variables: expertise, project details, engagement length, hiring timeline, industry, etc. A one-size-fits-all experience is doomed to be mediocre. Each platform must further segment its vertical and prioritize for the most valuable (both strategically and monetarily) use cases. At the end of the day, it’s all about serving one niche better than everyone else. Platforms that can do so will have a better shot at achieving defensibility and scalability. 3. Increasingly-integrated Ecosystem and the Rise of Market Networks Beside freelance marketplaces, there are many more components that make up the freelance ecosystem. To name a few: , , Freelancer Management System: Kalo Shortlist WorkMarket (by Fiverr), Full-stack Freelancing Solution: AND CO Bonsai , , Payment: Stripe Transferwise Payoneer , , Invoicing & Accounting: Wave Zoho Invoice FreshBooks , , , (by Toptal) Time Tracking: Toggl Harvest HubStaff TopTracker Background Check: Checkr Dispute Resolution: FairClaims Skill Assessment: Codility, HireVue Assessments , Training & Education: Lessonly Looop , Liability Insurance: Dinghy Hiscox As companies and high-skilled workers adopt freelancing as a formal practice, new products and services targeting the freelance economy will continue to surface. Since these services complement each other, it makes sense for them to build mutually beneficial integrations to accelerate growth. A simple representation of an integrated freelance ecosystem For instance, imagine creating a job in a freelancer management system, cross-post the job to multiple freelance marketplaces with just one click, and review all applications within the same system. Not only will the integration offer marketplaces an additional user acquisition channel, but it will also increase the value of the freelance management system in clients’ eyes. In addition, we might even see the inception of , where freelancers, clients, agencies, and third-party service providers get to interact with each other. Being a market network will amplify a platform’s network effects, diversify its revenue streams, and potentially solve one problem all freelance marketplaces inherently face — the fact that hiring freelancers is a low-frequency use case — by driving more engagement through social or productivity features. freelance market networks Looking Ahead With Upwork’s IPO, the freelance economy has officially entered a new era. While I doubt freelancing will replace traditional employment anytime soon, if ever, it will inevitably redefine “work” as we know it by enabling a more efficient, on-demand labor model. I’m excited to see how freelance marketplaces will support this transformation and turn “future of work” into a reality. Get in touch If you are interested in chatting about the freelance economy, marketplace startups, product, or growth, feel free to get in touch via or . email LinkedIn

Freelance Marketplace 2.0: Where Future of Work Happens

Starting software development may seem too hard and cumbersome task for many. Actually you only need a computer and a heck lot of interest in software development to get started. In this story I will go through all the basic stuff of software development and open some topics that you may not have thought before. While this story will not do the hardest work for you, it will still hopefully kick you just enough to get started. So buckle up your seat belts and let’s go! Abbreviations and definitions For especially junior developers there might be some words and abbreviations in this story you don’t understand. I have collected some of the to this list so in case you find a word you don’t understand you can always come back to this chapter. —Formal language that translates into instructions for the computer to do things Programming language — Files containing text in programming language specific format. Files are where the actual programming is done Source code — Transforming source code to machine readable format such as executables Building/Compiling — Finding out problems in the source code either with a debugger tool or some other debugging method Debugging -Wikipedia Open-source — ”Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.” — Integrated Development Environment as in text editor with support for compiling, debugging and other software construction related activities IDE — Application Programming Interface. Set of defined methods that can be used to communicate between software components API — Unified Modeling Language. Modeling language that is used to visualize architecture of a system in a standard way UML — Structured Query Language. Used to manage data in relational databases SQL — Central Processing Unit as in processor. Component in your computer which carries out instructions of computer programs CPU — Random-Access Memory. Runtime storage for data and machine code that is being run in the CPU RAM — Required functional and non-functional features of software component provided from/by management, specification, customer or other party Software requirements Choosing your first language As you may already know, there are multiple different programming languages. The hardest part is to select which one you should start with. I would see selecting the first programming language can be sum or individual value of the following: Languages with easy syntax and gentle learning curve can be one value you respect. If the code is easier to write you most probably have to spend less time on finding out documentation or struggling with extra long building times. Examples of easy to learn languages are scripting languages such as or PHP. You should check out to compare syntaxes between different languages and see what makes most sense to you. Easy to learn and write. Python http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net Languages used by lots of people must have something good in them. If you want to be hip and follow the mainstream this might be valuable aspect for you. According to both and developer surveys, is currently the most used programming language. Most used language. StackOverflow HackerRank Javascript If you want to work as a developer this might be the most important aspect of selecting the first language. As seen in the surveys the most wanted programmers are the ones knowing Javascript frameworks. This of course can change locally a lot and you should try out job search for your local area to see what kind of developers are needed the most. Currently, at least where I live, there is lots of demand for developers with knowledge of any programming language so it doesn’t matter much which language you go with. Most wanted language by employers. This is one of the most interesting aspect to consider when you are looking for programming language. As you may know the most modern languages such as or are not the most performing languages on the market. If you really want to get and know the code bit by bit I suggest you dive into C or even Assembly. Performance. Java PHP If you have a dream working for a tehcnology giant you should learn one of the company specific languages; for Google, for Facebook and for Apple. These languages are used also outside of these companies so even if you don’t land your dream job you still have the experience. By tech giants. Go Hack Swift If you are looking for feature rich language where you can utilize a lot of existing code from the language itself, I would suggest you start with Java. It has A TONS of things built-in and you can get more open-source software to help you build things. Feature rich. Think what do you want to achieve with programming skills? Is it to get job, impress your friends, build a robot, construct your own website or something else? Next I have collected some areas you might be interested and what programming languages are mostly used for these things: Websites and webgames — HTML, Javascript, CSS, Java, PHP Microcontrollers — C++, C, Assembly Desktop programs — .NET, Qt, C++, Java Game development — C#, C++ Mobile game development — C++, Java, Swift, Objective-C This list is not complete but it gives you idea what kind of search words you can use to look for the best language. It’s not actually about the language As you now may have an idea what language you want to start using for your first steps into development I have to let you down and tell it’s not actually the language that you should train. Programming language is, well, a language. It’s a way of expressing yourself just like any natural language. While knowing a programming language makes completing a task possible, it doesn’t necessarily turn your mindset where it needs to be. When thinking about programming there are at least the following aspects: This is actually the most crucial aspect of software development. If you don’t know how to solve a problem without coding, you can’t do that even if you knew all programming languages in the world. Problem solving. If you do software you will be reading a lot. At least 80% of your time will go to reading other people’s code, API documentation, specifications etc. It’s actually very important to know how to read and understand code. Reading. . While you most probably won’t start as an head architect for some big project, it is still necessary that you understand something about software architecture. At least find out about MVC (Model-View-Controller) pattern and learn to read UML charts. This is especially important if you join a new team where the architecture is established and you are the one to turn the pretty images in to functional code. Software architecture . As in Object-Oriented Programming. Most of the modern languages are object oriented languages. Basically once you understand how any of these languages work you are already covering more languages than you know. So learn it well from the beginning if you are not planning to do some low-level programming. OOP Some of us will never use a single database but they are still something very interesting that can add a lot of value for a software engineer. So think about learning basics of SQL just to understand how these things work and how you can use them in the future. Databases. To have basic know-how what is happening in the computer should be required from all software engineers. What is RAM and how it’s used, how does the CPU work, how about multitasking? While you might not need them directly in your projects it is a good basic knowledge for everyone switching bits from zero to one (even when doing web programming). Computer architecture. Most of the skills developers need are not related to programming language at all. Languages are there to give possibility to do things while software developers are there to actually do these things. Never underestimate a developer who lacks skill on the programming language — he/she might know more than you think. Finding your toolbox What programs do I need to start writing? Actually that depends a lot of the programming language you have chosen. Most of the languages, such as C, C++, Go and Java require some compiler to build machine executable code. Some languages such as Python, PHP and other scripting languages don’t need to be compiled before running but still require the framework underneath to produce some output. There are tons of tutorials for all major languages on the internet with information how to setup build environment for different languages on different operating systems. For me it has always been very clear that all development is done on Linux platform. Some might argue with this and use Windows or Mac but it’s all the same — you can do software development on any platform. If you are not familiar with Linux, I highly recommend trying some easy distribution such as Ubuntu for your software development. You can even install it on tool called and run it inside your Windows/Mac. To do this, again, search for tutorials from the internet. VirtualBox Another thing that is important to find is your text editor of choice. There are many, many text editors and IDEs you can choose from and here is a list of the most used ones: — IDE for development on almost any language. Very bloated especially if you install lots of plugins. Eclipse — One of the newest hip editors around. Fast and quite comprehensive editor. Sublime Text — Another bloated IDE for development on multiple languages. NetBeans — “A hackable text editor for the 21st Century”. Very user friendly, fast and beautiful. Atom — One of the most used editors around. Quite basic editor in my honest opinion. Notepad++ — Want to look like a hacker and still be very ? Use Vim. (And also check out ) Vim productive my crash course to Vim — Another productivity boosting editor used by many programmers. Forever debated which is better over Vim by the programmers. Emacs Apart from the listed ones there are huge amount of commercial editors from for example without forgetting everyone’s favorite . I suggest you try at least 2–3 editors out and see what feels right for you. JetBrains Microsoft Visual Studio A must tool every developer should have in their toolbox is version control. Version control is used to track changes to source files by different contributors. It is a must to have if you are working together with other people and it helps a lot also if you are developing alone. Two of the most used version control systems are and . While Git is much more popular these days it might be that you bumb into Subversion sooner or later. I would suggest you learn at least how to use Git and some basics of Subversion. There is awesome online tutorial for Git available so check that out. Git Subversion here Your first program When someone starts learning programming they usually start with writing a program that outputs the famous words: 'Hello world’. There’s actually a website where you can find examples how to do this in 500+ different programming languages at if you are interested. https://helloworldcollection.github.io I suggest you start with simple “Hello world” program just to get something done. Especially if your language selection requires compiling it might take a while to get understanding how to get it built and running. After you have all sorted out and can actually output something from your program you should think of an idea for your first actual program. It can be just simple tool for parsing input text or a small game. Start what interests you the most. Before starting your project I suggest you to create repository for your project for example to . GitHub is an online service where you can host your Git projects, contribute to other projects and collaborate with other developers. The UI is very clever and you can easily find version history and changes you’ve done to your project. If you hesitate publishing your code to public you should still use version control for the project with for example local git repository. GitHub The famous GitHub logo Also you might want to be sure your program works as expected. I suggest you take a look at available test frameworks for the language of your choice such as for C++ or for PHP. With the tests you can proof the functionality and prevent further defects in your code. Testing is really important especially if and when your software grows and abstracts more. Also all modern software companies do automatic testing on top of some testing framework so it’s good for your experience to have knowledge of at least some of them. googletest Codeception Getting help One of the most crucial things when starting working with software is to find help. Every developer from time to time and just can’t figure out the solution by themselves. The most important source of information are fellow programmers — your colleagues, school friends or even your family members. You should remember there is no stupid questions, only stupid answers. That also applies to questions you ask about software development. hits the wall Also you should not forget all online services there is for programmers such as: — Maybe the first place to look for answers on specific topics. Very active community of developers asking and answering questions. StackOverflow IRC — Good old Internet Relay Chat. Lots of channels for programmers where experts are there to help. Just search for them with your favorite search engine. — Very popular discussion board where you can also find some answers. See for example the and topics. Reddit programming learnprogramming Books — There is tons of literature for software development and hardest thing is to find the best books. I have few recommendations that I will collect in the end of this story. — Also a great place to find information and used especially by younger generation programmers. Especially recorded talks from different conferences (such as ) can give you lot of information about future of software development. Youtube FOSDEM Practice, practice, practice Apart from your just started project you should also practice software development on alternate methods. There are few (yet again online services) that are specialized in this. Just to mention few of them: and . These services allow you to complete programming challenges of different difficulties. Some companies actually use these services for pre-selecting candidates for open positions and that’s why they are also great practice for the future job searching. HackerRank Codility One great method to learn new things is refactoring your own code. Or if you have the guts, someone elses code. Improving performance, optimizing memory usage or simplifying complexity can teach you a lot of new techniques and programming language features. You might want to consider contributing in some open source software in GitHub or invite your friends to work with your own project. Often best way to learn is reading and code someone else has written. understanding Also you might want to participate in some training or go to school to learn software development. That might help you get started but unfortunately it will not do the heavy lifting. Most of teaching only scratches the surface of software development or is focused on totally wrong things considering your future career. From personal experience only the ones who did software on their free-time, and not only in school, actually made it to a profession. Recommended reading Some books you might want to consider reading: — Excellent book for developers of all skills. Starts from the very basics of software development and goes all the way to upper processes. Code Craft — Great detailed descriptions and architecture examples of most used design patterns in software construction. A must read if you ever want to work as an architect or hardcore software engineer. Design Patterns — Also great book, and all hailed around the world, for all experience levels of programmers. Explains the art and the science of software development. Code Complete 2 — The title says it all. If you are looking for work as a software developer, read this. Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions — This book is classic but still has very much things considering modern day software development. In my opinion it’s a must read for all software developers. The Mythical Man-Month If you have more good books, please let me know in the comments! Conclusion No matter what you do, there is no shortcut to learn programming. Practice, ask and create things over and over again — It’s the only way you will get where you want to be. I promise you it will pay back eventually. As I am not a book author (at least not yet), this is only a scratch in the surface. In case you want to know more from me, please let me know in comments — I might even write part two for this. Also all comments and improvement ideas are welcome. And as always: Thanks for your time. About me I am Heikki Hellgren, Software developer and technology enthusiast working at . My interests are in software construction, tools, automatic testing and all the new and cool stuff like AI and autonomous driving. You can follow me on and . Also you can check out my for more information. Elektrobit Automotive Medium Twitter website

Junior developers guide to galaxy

H. Hackson Brown, JR. “Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity” — I consider myself a reasonably successful Software Engineer / Architect and I decided to share with you the attitude and behavior that contributed the most in my career development. Instead of writing a “listicle” (I hate this name :)), I decided to tell a little bit about my story and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I started my professional career at age 21, 11 years ago. I was extremely excited to finally be a developer. I felt like I was being paid to do what I’d do for free, if I hadn’t bills to pay. I was so curious about everything and the simple fact that I was being able to learn all day long was a huge compensation to me. Before long, I started to be seen not only as someone technically skilled, but also as someone with good judgement, that would make good design choices. Being a developer started to be not only what I did for living, but a major part of myself. I took the code so seriously, and I was so excited about that, that I couldn’t keep it to myself. I started being an advocate of good design, coaching others and, , I started having solid arguments to lead and suggest the technical direction of the projects I worked on. In order to sell your ideas and be the driver of innovation, it’s crucial that you do so with energy and passion. Take your ideas seriously and personally, believe in yourself and in what you’re selling. People will feel your energy and skill, and this will build you trust. I’ve seen so many good developers that don’t make it to the spotlights because they’re too shy and kept to themselves. because I spent so much of my free time getting up to date : Don’t be shy, share your knowledge, spread the word, write about your thoughts, and, most importantly, . Being able to sell yourself as a good developer is as important as being a good developer. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and don’t wait for someone to offer you a senior / tech-lead position. Be this person, first. Lesson #1 fight hard for what you believe Along the way, one very important thing that I did was to . I didn’t spend that much time with it, but what I did ended up being significant and important for the development of my career. build an online presence , and if you’re going to create projects on your own free time, why not to do something that may be of use to others and share them on GitHub? Besides open-source, Stackoverflow was very important to me. People there are so (sorry for the expression, but I couldn’t find any better description) that when they start accepting your view, it’s a huge validation for your knowledge. And of course, a solid SO profile will do no harm to your CV, and you’ll learn a lot along the way. In order for you to learn technologies, you have to create projects anal-retentive : Build an online presence. Regular CVs show very little about who you really are and people can easily lie on them. Unlike other professions, in IT, it’s really easy to build an online profile that will back your CV up and provide much more insight on who you are and what technologies you are proficient at. Build projects on GitHub, answer questions on Stackoverflow, write on Twitter or Medium, and build a personal website to be the hub of your professional life. You’ll be surprised with the results. Lesson #2 One challenge that I faced, that I feel many of you will resonate with, was that, the better I got as a developer and the more I’ve built trust, the more I started being “responsible” for important features. The more I was responsible for features, the more I participated in meetings, and finally, before I knew it, I was spending more time with architecture decisions and effort estimations than I was with coding. Yes. I’ve become a Software Architect. This is an important moment in the life of a developer. If you do everything right, if you can be trusted, if you start to be seen as a leader, you’ll be naturally dragged to an Architect position (if you don’t become a manager, of course, which I never considered doing). . Now you have to stop and make a decision If you choose to be an Architect, you’ll climb up the corporate ladder, become influencial and make more money. But, on the flip side, you’ll probably lose grasp of coding, unless you fight really hard against it. If you get far enough, you’ll find yourself spending most of your time in meetings, making PowerPoint presentations and Project Management (including effort/cost estimations, resource management, risk management, deadlines…), and everything that once was practical will now be reduced to blocks and arrows. Now you have to stop and ask yourself: I’m not saying, by any means, that being a Software Architect is a bad career decision, or that it’s impossible to be a hands-on Architect. I’m just saying that, if you pick up that route, it has to be conscious and you have to be aware of the pros and cons. Is that what you really want? : Pros Influence in the direction of the projects and the company as a whole. Status inside the company and everything that comes along with it. Money. : Cons You’re likely to lose grasp of coding and it will make you less likely, over time, to find a job as a developer, if that’s what you want. You can prevent this from happening, as I did, but it won’t be easy. It is more difficult to switch jobs as a Software Architect than it is as a Software Engineer. First, because there’s less need for Architects, and second, because it’s pretty common for Architects to evolve from great Engineers, so you’re more likely to be promoted to an Architect rather than being hired as one. Your knowledge will start to be more about the internal processes and technologies of the company you work for, rather than industry-standard skills that are valuable to other companies. You’ll become a valuable asset for the company you work for, and not as valuable to other companies. : Make a conscious decision about whether or not to become an Architect. If you choose to become an Architect, try, as hard as you can, to keep coding and . Losing grasp of coding will be frustrating and drastically reduce your job mobility. Don’t do it. If you love being a developer, as I do, you can negotiate the conditions or become a tech-lead, which will grant you influence, while still allowing you to do what you love. Lesson #3 up-to-date with the new technologies and trends Back to my professional life… I ended up becoming an Architect of a multi-national team on a multi-national giant company, and I’ve learned a lot. I mean, really. I’m really grateful for this opportunity and all the wonderful experiences I had. However, this is not what I wanted. I wanted to be a Senior Software Engineer, and that lead me back to the job hunt, and to the final chapter of this article. 12 months ago I decided to use to find a job that would be either remote or support my relocation to Europe (I live in Brazil). I particularly like because: Stackoverflow Jobs Stackoverflow Jobs It has a pretty good CV editor that integrates with Stackoverflow, obviously, and GitHub. It also builds a pretty cool timeline they call your “developer story”. It also lets you export your CV as a PDF file. For most of the jobs, you can apply with just one click. It lets you set up filters like “VISA sponsorship” or “remote”, as well as the technologies you’d like to work with, like “javascript” and “react”, and they will send you e-mails with job opportunities. Again, for most of them you can apply with one click. The most important thing that I’ve learned from this job hunt was . You like it or not, most companies won’t even talk to you about your background and skills before you pass a white-board or automated coding challenge at or . And I found out I really sucked at it. Let’s be honest, no matter how good you are, how often do you have to balance a binary search tree in your life? But that’s the way it is, so you better be prepared. how important it is to be great at algorithms and data-structures Codility HackerRank I’ve spent months training. I’ve implemented my own data-structures and the most common algorithms, both in JavaScript and in Python, and after a while, I ended up getting good at it, and this was more important than I ever thought. : If you think there’s a slight chance that you’ll ever need to find another software development job, keep your problem-solving skills sharp. Sign-up for a HackerRank account and dive into algorithms and data-structures. You should start with the excellent . Lesson #4 Cracking the Coding Interview Challenges Finally, with my algorithm skills up-to-date, and with my online profile set up, I was able to receive excellent offers from multiple companies around the world. I’m going to switch jobs soon and I’ll let you know about my experience once everything is finished. A final word of advice… : If you’re not happy where you are right now, do not settle, do not be afraid. Don’t let fear to prevent you from taking that leap separating you from your dreams. When you’re old, you’ll never forgive yourself. Lesson #5 I wish you all the luck in your journey. “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” ― , Maya Angelou Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now About the Author I’m , I like writing and building stuff. Recently I built: , a remote job aggregator for developers, check it out! 💗 André Pena https://remoted.io

Being the CEO of your career, as a software engineer

I’ve heard this question a lot, so I decided to write the , . If you’re an experienced software developer already, feel free to save yourself the time and do something else. Otherwise, read on :). “How do I become a developer?” — best guide I can using only free resources “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” — Lao Tzu Introduction Before you get started, I need to warn you: Unfortunately, , at least not if you want to stand out. programming is not for everyone It requires immense dedication. I mean, forever. I am a software developer for 11 years now and my “learning list” keeps getting bigger instead of the opposite. You are either willing to be a forever student, or you should be considering something else. It requires passion. Of course you don’t have to feel passionate right now, you’re just getting started, but it has to happen somewhere down the road. Otherwise you’re going to be mercilessly left behind by those who are. It’s challenging and a lot of people get burned out. Oftentimes you’ll be dealing with long hours of “mentally taxing” work, impossible deadlines, legacy unmaintainable code, inconsistent/ambiguous requirements and sub-optimal office environments. It requires analytical thinking, good decision making, patience and curiosity, lots of curiosity. It requires you to be . Yes, you can learn the theory from the books, but when your code breaks, nobody is going to hold your hand. self-taught With that in mind, since you’re still reading this, . Try it and see how it goes, and don’t feel frustrated if after some time you don’t feel like it’s for you. I, for one, really enjoy being a developer. I’m natural . Few things are more appealing to me than creating and automating stuff. I find it extremely beautiful and rewarding, and hopefully you will feel that way too :). I think you should really try it builder Also, the job market is definitely not bad and I don’t see it changing in the foreseeable future. Radio, cable TV, education, brick-and-mortar stores and the movie/music industries are examples of markets that will certainly be transformed, if not completely defaced, by software in the next 20 years. The future looks bright. “You are either a software company, or being disrupted by one” — Scott Farquhar How to become a developer This is the list of free resources that will turn you into a software developer. This is not going to be a walk in the park. This will be tough, there will be no teacher holding your hand, you’ll probably regret it sometimes, but think twice before giving up. Believe me. “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is” — Isaac Asimov Where it all begins CS50x I know you’re excited and you can’t wait to see that brilliant idea in action but please, hold on. The fundamentals are the most important part. Programming languages and especially frameworks and libraries will come and go, but the fundamentals will remain. “As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble” — Harrington Emerson is a free course from Harvard provided by . It will teach you the basics of how computers, programming languages, algorithms and data-structures work and pave the way for the rest of your journey. You can take this course for free and optionally get a certification for $90. After you complete this one, you’ll be ready to move on. CS50x Edx Getting your hands dirty Once you’ve learned the principles with CS50x, now it’s time to put them in practice. “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them” ― Aristotle Hackerrank Hackerrank is a free online service that will provide you with hundreds of algorithm problems and a platform on which you can implement solutions online . And the best part: It’s able to check whether or not your solution is correct automatically. Here’s why Hackerrank is an amazing tool: using your favorite programming language and progressively becomes more difficult as you solve more problems. It starts from the easy level You can pick problems from a variety of “tracks”, depending on your interests. Examples: SQL, Python, Artificial Intelligence, Functional Programming, Security… It has “tutorial tracks” that actually include lessons. For instance, I highly recommend , where gives a great introduction on data structures and algorithms. . Cracking the Code Interview Gayle McDowell I find this track a great follow up for CS50x Most of the jobs you will apply for, will require passing some sort of coding challenge. That’s how they assess your problem solving skills. This process often starts through an automated tool like or , before going to a real whiteboard. Having solved lots of Hackerrank problems will definitely help you landing your first job. Codility Hackerrank CodinGame is a platform similar to Hackerrank, but you actually train your coding by “automating” video-games. The main difference is that you get instant visual feedback from the code you are writing. CodinGame may feel more exciting and appealing, while Hackerrank is still better for actually learning the specific kinds of algorithms that companies look for in interviews. Both are fantastic tools, nonetheless. CodinGame FreeCodeCamp is an open-source community where you learn how to code, especially web development, by completing a series of self-paced challenges. It’s also possible to engage in real world projects for non-profits. Also, the other “campers” seem to be very helpful along the way. FreeCodeCamp Asking for help is the biggest Q&A community about software development, but there’re not known for being very receptive to beginners. The best place to ask beginner’s questions is probably on , but be sure to read their beforehand. After you get some confidence and experience, will be your best friend. Stackoverflow /r/learnprogramming “Asking Questions FAQ” Stackoverflow Getting to the next level OSSU After you got yourself introduced to coding and trained a little, you may find it interesting to delve into more advanced Computer Science topics like Databases, Cryptography, Parallel Computing and so forth. Fortunately, there’s . From their website: OSSU This is a solid path for those of you who want to complete a Computer Science course on your own time, for free, with courses from the best universities in the World. You should definitely give it a try. The final frontier Google Interview University One day, a guy named got obsessed about working at Google and made the world a favor by compiling . Apparently (or not), this is what it takes to work for Google. From his website: Josh Washam a ginormous list with very useful resources about computer science I originally created this as a short to-do list of study topics, but it grew to the large list you see today. Working at Google was the original motivator, hence the name. , but the repo name lives on, and it would mess up a lot of folks to change it now. The items listed here will prepare you for a career at just about any software company, including the giants: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. I didn’t get an interview at Google As you can see, unfurtunately he didn’t get hired :(, but will sure help many others. his work Where to go from here There’s an overwhelming amount of resources online about learning how to code, but I think the best you can possibly find is this: . Amazing Subreddit. Amazing list. You’ll learn everything from Web Development, to Data Science with Python, to Mobile development. The top posts ever on /r/learnprogramming I handpicked some of the best for you: I’ve taught 30,000 students how to code. Now I’m offering my course for free, forever. I made 47 free C++ tutorials on YouTube and wanted to share them with you guys Here’s a SANITIZED list of 530+ free online programming/CS courses (MOOCs) with feedback(i.e. exams/homeworks/assignments) that you can start this month (December 2016) 40 Key Computer Science Concepts Explained In Layman’s Terms (x-post from r/interestingas****) Also, be sure to read these 2 articles of mine: How I stay up-to-date as a Developer . The best way to learn new technologies is by doing. Here’s some inspiration I hope you enjoyed it. Happy hacking! About the Author I’m , I like writing and building stuff. Recently I built: , a remote job aggregator for developers, check it out! 💗 André Pena https://remoted.io

Want to become a Software Developer? Here’s how to get there

I’ve been hired several times in London as an . I’ve been through a lot of interview processes. I really hate it. I do not like it. I had a real trauma about it. So, my doctor recommended me to talk about it. Just kidding. iOS Engineer Autumn in London English is your first development language. Can you speak English without problem? Can you understand the different accents? Then, you wouldn’t have the first problems I faced. When I was searching for my first job in London back in 2012 my English was really immature (right now it is nor even a teenager). Speaking with recruiters I was repeating one time and another: “Excuse me?” and “Can you repeat please?” Many times I was answering “Yes” to absolutely every question. I remember my wife asking me “What did he say?” “I don’t know, I just said yes” This was my level. I understood probably only 10–20% of the conversation. That was the toughest time. Many times recruiters just hang up the call in the middle of my answers. Really harsh situation. When I was almost giving up and deciding to go to work for Tesco I finally had the perfect interview. I found a CTO (Paul West) who loved my CV and the best Product Manager (Florian Kriechbaumer) I ever worked with. So never give up! Searching a job without recruiters. You can be hired without a recruiter in the middle. However, it is going to be more difficult and slowly. I’ll recommend you three places I used. The first one is . Some companies publish their job offers there. But, to be honest, many times what looks like a legit company job offer, at the end it is just another job offer through a recruiter. However, it worth a try. LinkedIn Jobs The second one is . I found my third job in London through there. The quantity of companies there is not big. But, there are no recruiters at all. You can be in contact directly with the companies. You have to do one less step, so good luck there. Stackoverflow Jobs I found my fourth job through . The idea behind the platform is simple. You ask to join as employee. Companies ask to join the platform as employers. If you are accepted, then companies start directly asking you for interviews. One cons of the system is that you are only able to be in the platform for four weeks. The contracting system is London is very slow. So four weeks are really not too much. . Not bad, right? Hired The best part of Hired is that if you get contracted by a company you‘ll receive a check of £500 Embedded Recruiters I saw this more and more when I was looking for my last job. Some recruiters, with a legit company email will tell you that they are the HR of the company. It is a reasonable lie. Honestly I had good experience with a couple of them. It is just a commercial tactic. At the end they usually do that in small companies that do not have a real HR on place. They will do the HR job, so, at the end, you will do one interview less. Recruiter and HR both in one go. Recruiters pain The worst part of having a recruiter is that you will be treated many times as a piece of meat to be sold. The fee of a recruiter can be 10–20% of your first year salary. So make your numbers. For them you are possible cash. While the process is going well, you will receive emails and calls to help you. Many times, if the company refuses to follow up the process, you will not even have an email from them. This can sound sexist, but I had better experience with female recruiters than with male. Not all the male recruiters are bad people, some of them are really good professionals. However, many of them are just idiots. Although the percent of woman in the recruitment business is smaller (at least in the mobile sub-market). I can remember easily the name of the first and last female recruiters I spoke with: and . They are amazing professionals and good people, trust them. I cannot remember male recruiter’s surnames. Sorry guys. Fiona Wilson Nicola Rosewarne Not even a call I already told you that if the company decides in the middle of the process that you are not their candidate, sometimes, the recruiter will not even tell you. But, there are even a worst practice. You get in contact with a recruiter, he will tell you that he is working with some companies. SuperCoolCo.com, BestApp and LastSocialNetwork. You read the job specs, they are cool so you give a “ ” to the recruiter. And then is when the ugly and unknown part starts. move on Maybe he never sent a person there. Maybe he even never spoke with the company before. He just knows that this company is searching for an iOS Engineer, and you allowed him to represent you. He will then call the company offering you and try to agree on a fee. If they did not agree on a fee your CV will get Lost In Translation. Normally the recruiter will never tell you that. So, you think someone is representing you with SuperCoolCo.com. But, in fact, no one is doing it. So, if you heard nothing from a recruiter in some days, search for the careers page of the company and directly apply there. Southwark Park, London. Your CV. This is the first thing everyone will see about you. So, better if it is great! To be honest it will become better and better over time. Your public CV A recruitment company send me an email about a job a while ago. I agreed to talk with them. During the Skype call the recruiter explained me how they found me. This recruitment company have a deal with Git (not with GitHub). We all need an email to set up Git. So this company runs an algorithm through Git Database to check what we are doing. If we match what they are searching they use our email to send us a first contact. So, of course, every public repository, is part of your public CV. Take care of . Do stuff there. Publish small demos. Publish Frameworks. Wrappers over other Frameworks. Tutorials. Tests. PR on others code. Even a PR on Swift open soured project? GitHub I use to answer questions with an example in GitHub. It is a win win. I can get more upvotes in Stackoverflow because my answer is better, plus I’ve got an alive GitHub. Stackoverflow it’s another place to post code. You have a class that you always import in your projects because it is simple super helpful? Then, create a pod! Share your class with others. Same win win. You will need to put the code in GitHub, plus in Cocoapods. People will use it, you can even have feedback. Cocoapods An updated LinkedIn it’s another good public CV. It requires time to collect recommendations and skill up-votes. So do it! What about a blog? Do you have an up-to-date blog? OMG do it! Publish something! The final win, win, because you will probably post it with a link to a GitHub example! The Process If a recruiter has your telephone number he will call you at any moment he has an offer who fits you. I’m never picking up the phone if I do not have a scheduled call in my calendar. For some time I had my phone published in LinkedIn. Bigger mistake ever. I was receiving over 20 calls a week. Because my email is public in many places, I can receive the same number of emails from recruiters proposing jobs. If I’m in a phase of searching a new job, I answer the ones that are more interesting or more professional. Then I usually ask for a full job spec and finally we schedule a phone call. During the call you will need to explain your CV. Either because they cannot read it or because they’ve got special powers and can detect your personality through your voice. So be ready to say the same things about you one time and another. Steps The process can have one, two or probably more of this steps. Also the order can be totally different for each company. . Mostly the same thing as with the recruiter. Here, they will try to sell you The Company. For my first roles I did not understand this selling the company moment. I wanted a job, a salary, an opportunity. I was going to accept anything. Overtime now I understand the question. Sometimes the idea, the process or type of company is not what I’m looking for. HR — In-house recruiter The most typical one: . I’m really bad in this type of interviews. I hate to memorize hundred of idiot questions, specially when you can find the answer in two minutes in Stackoverflow. Technical Interview, iOS — ObjectiveC — Swift Questions. Difference between bounds and frame Some companies love to know if you remember the basics. OOP basics, HTTP, quick sort or anything you forgot the day after you finished your CS degree. Technical Interview, Degree questions: . I love this ones. Raw questions about the most common Frameworks. How you will persists data or how you will handle multi-threading are typical ones. Try to know which technologies is using the company you are going to be interviewed. If they use a camera a lot, try to check AVFoundation. Are they using HealthKit? Spend some time reading about it. Technical Interview, Frameworks The most common Coding challenge will require you to download some data, persist this data and show it in a UITableView. They will probably ask you to present a Detail View Controller when the user clicks on the cell. Coding Challenge: Many people do not really know what to check in a coding challenge. They will mostly check if you use their same coding style. If they use Storyboards, they will be happy that you do so. Same with CoreData or anything you can imagine. The same Coding Challenge reviewed by different people can result in a total exit or in a total failure. Coding Challenge, some thoughts : If you are struggling to create a proper multi-threading code try to focus on this. However, if you are confident doing it, try to go further. Focus your Coding Challenge in how testable it is. My experience says that Unit Tests and Dependency Injection are the next step you need to be successful. Be sure that you can really follow the unit testing rules. Write functions that only do one thing. Create independent Managers and Services. Write tests. Rewrite an easy coding challenge. Try to cover everything with tests. Invest your time there! If you are confident with unit tests, then start investigating around how to architect your app. Go dipper with MVC. Read a lot around it. After that, start reading and refactoring your coding challenges with other patterns: MVVM, MVP and VIPER. You do not need to be an expert on that, but at least, start having ideas around it. : I love to do this type of challenges. Sometimes I do that for fan. However, they are totally pointless in terms of an interview process. It is just a way for companies to reduce the number of people applying to a job position. it’s an awful platform. I decided after my last one that I’ll never agree to do a test with them again. , in the other hand, works amazingly well. Online Coding Test, Hackerrank and Codility Hackerrank Codility : Usually they will ask you to write some algorithm. I did one where I was asked to write in pseudo code of one sort algorithm. The interviewer helped me a lot and I did it pretty well. Review Complexity of algorithms before a white board interview. White board interview : Typical questions that you will do family of friends. You cannot prepare yourself for that. I like this type of challenges and I also think a good developer need these skills to be a good one. Logic questions : Sometimes the final interview is only to speak about your salary or to meet the team. Sometimes they will review your coding challenge. Other times it can be a combination of a lot of other type of interviews. If you are going to a final interview try to ask the recruiter or the HR what is the pourpose of the interview. Be ready to anything! Final interview Finally considerations . In every job spec you will find that knowing TDD is something that will help you get the job. If you ask the company if they are using TDD, they will tell you that not yet, but it is something they want to do. TDD is another nice cool trendy word. TDD . Expect to ask for at least 5k more each time. Changing roles is the best way to push-up your salary. Salary . Be sure that someone in your new team can teach you things. If you are the one who knows more you will waste your time. You will get stuck. Try to go to a place where you can learn . Same for renting a house or anything in the UK. They want to be able to ask for references. If you can give references… then no problem. The first job is the most difficult one Build your speech. Learn after each interview. Use them to grow up. Good luck out there.

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