Have you ever applied to a job and received a code assessment asking for something entirely outside the scope of your position? You give it your best shot, but since you’re an entry-level developer fresh out of a workshop, you cannot complete it within the time limit set for you.
It can be very discouraging when this happens, but it is a common experience, even with experienced developers. In fact, in forums for experienced developers, it’s common to hear devs with 5+ years failing these tests. That said, there are also many good assessments with challenging problems you have probably encountered previously. These tend to be created with a solution you can engineer using simple logic and knowledge of your chosen language.
Obviously, these problems vary widely depending on the position you’re applying to, and they are worse in some positions than others. In my experience, positions with the “software developer” title tend to be the worst for these problems, often requiring knowledge of specific algorithms which you may or may not know to solve the problem. I’ve also found that Front-End Developer positions have the most consistently relevant problems, likely because there are a few semi-universal plugins that don’t assist with logic, so proof of knowledge is much simpler and harder to make non-relevant in the first place.
This also provides a barrier for devs who want to hop over to another focus (i.e. web developers trying to move to Software Development). A common problem that I’ve seen is Dijkstra’s algorithm functions. They appear pretty commonly in software developer assessments, but it isn’t an algorithm that is very universal. It’s a very helpful algorithm for those working on maps, but most developers never use it, and this can also cause problems during assessments. It is possible these are taught in college, but as I didn’t attend college for CS, nor have I gone through any workshops, I have never learned it (or any graph theory associated with it). I’m not saying these being difficult is bad, as there need to be quality checks for people who are hiring, but I am saying that companies should be sure to make them relevant to the position. Asking a Front-End Developer who will be making react applications to understand graph theory is rather nonsensical, much like asking a database engineer to know how to manipulate the DOM with JQuery. Not only does it cause the applicants to lose morale, but it also prevents employers from finding properly qualified applicants.
A sample Dijsktra’s Algorithm graph
If you’re currently applying to jobs and you encounter one of these assessments, don’t get into your head about it. Just learn what you can, and use the good assessments to help round your skills more to become a better developer.
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