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(Part 1 )When Cabbies Make Ace Coders: Why Skill-Based Hiring Matters In Tech

(Part 1 )When Cabbies Make Ace Coders: Why Skill-Based Hiring Matters In Tech

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Kumari Trishya
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December 24, 2020
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3 min read
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Growing up, this is what I heard often: Creativity is innate. You don’t necessarily need to go to a school to learn fine arts; if you have a passion for it, you will find a way to do what you love. When it comes to the sciences though, a college degree and the right training is a must. You couldn’t dream to do well in life if you didn’t have the right academic background.

Circa 2021. I am part of a company that believes in hiring based on skills rather than resumes alone i.e. one’s pedigree and academic laurels. Being brought up the way I was, this sat a little uneasy with me - HackerEarth hires people who write code to build things even if they don’t have the ‘right’ educational qualifications? Wait! HackerEarth also builds products to help other tech companies do the same?

Was there a conspiracy going on in the tech hiring world against systemic education that I hadn’t heard of? I decided to investigate this thoroughly. My primary informant: HackerEarth’s Chief Of Engineers, Vishwastam Shukla, or Vishy as we like to call him.
A Bit About Vishy

A passionate coder and programmer, Vishy calls the notable IIIT Allahabad his alma mater.Vishwastam Shukla - CTO - HackerEarthFor him, the allure of computers was a childhood fascination, and it boiled down to one thing: the ability to create something new in a short timeframe with just a few lines of code. It's a fascination that still holds him in its grip.He heads the entire engineering function and the quasi-engineering, or the technical content team, at HackerEarth, and is a passionate proponent of skill-based hiring and using technology to match the right developer to the right teams.
A scientific analysis ensued, in which I asked the questions, and Vishy, very generously, answered. The following is what ensued during our discussion.

Question 1: What does the word ‘skill’ mean for engineers and developers?

What a software developer essentially does is solve problems with the help of code. Now, coding has its own language and grammar. The most desired skill, therefore, among the developer community is the ability to write clean, functional code that doesn’t need to be sanitized against bugs. An understanding of the fundamentals of computer science is also necessary.A good developer understands the development environment and the tech stacks used. Hence, a working knowledge of the set of processes and programming tools used to create a software product is important for entry-level engineers. Of course, if you are applying for more experienced roles then Vishy would want you to have more extensive knowledge of these.Just like a good copywriter (i.e. someone like me) understands their varied audiences and tweaks their style to match, a good coder also knows how to alter code writing to suit various environments.
Apart from this, Vishy places a lot of store on raw aptitude - the ability to think through first principles, conduct thought experiments, and mentally work your way through a problem.

And most of all, he values attitude. Which, as we all know, is never taught but always learned.

Question 2: What does Vishy have against resumes, really?

Resumes have also become a dumping ground for all sorts of information - both relevant and not. Imagine this scenario - a developer applies for a role and doesn’t get it. The recruiter says it’s because they lack a certain skill. We know the community talks, and when said developer narrates the story to his peers it creates a negative feedback loop among others. Candidates begin to think it’s better to create a checklist of skills on their resumes. There is, however, a stark difference between ‘knowing’ a skill just to beef up your CV, and actually being good at it.

Back in the dark ages, when technology hadn’t penetrated our lives to the extent it has now, a resume was the only tool recruiters and hiring managers had. Today, there are better ways to hire the right talent. When a candidate mentions on their resume that they ‘know’ a particular tech stack, for instance, you can use community platforms like GitHub and StackOverflow, or use an assessment platform to evaluate their expertise.
Recommended Read: A hiring manager’s guide to hiring the right developer

Question 3: Interesting, but now I’m wondering if there’s any real-life validation here. Was there ever a time when Vishy hired ‘for skill’?

Turns out, there is a strong real-life connection to everything our CTO has said. The story takes us back some years, when Vishy was working at a well-known e-commerce brand, and hiring for quality analysts. A young man from one of the smaller towns of Karnataka, India, reached out to him on LinkedIn to apply for the role.

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Said man had completed his B.Sc in Computer Sciences from a small college and had been working in Bangalore as a cabbie. One day, on one of his trips, he met someone working in one of the many IT firms in the city, who gave him a dose of advice and asked him to upskill himself. Our cabbie did that, took some online courses to refresh his knowledge, and then found the courage to apply for jobs. The kindness of strangers, as they say, brought him to Vishy’s door (or interview room, rather), and needless to say, he landed the job.

I ask Vishy why he found this particular applicant perfect for the role? Weren’t there others more qualified? Of course, says he. What this ‘particular applicant’ had, however, was the zeal to learn and grow, and a passion for coding which many others didn’t.

This is also a perfect example of how technology has democratized skill-based learning. America’s Lambda School and it’s ISA model (Income Sharing Agreement) have helped many find better opportunities in the tech world.

The company’s 2020 Diversity Report states that “33.7% of Lambda School students identify as Underrepresented Minorities (URM)*, with 12.7% identifying as Black or African American, and 11.9% identifying as Hispanic or LatinX. Female students at Lambda School are slightly underrepresented relative to the tech industry as a whole (25.1% of our students identify as cisgender female, and 4.4% identify as transgender, non-binary, or two or more gender identities; the industry benchmark for women at technology companies is closer to 36%).” In a nation with a student debt of 1.6 trillion dollars, such models are proving to be extremely helpful for minority communities that do not have the ability to pay for a fancy college degree.

What this also tells me, and everyone reading this, is that tech education has undergone a radical shift. Consequently, so has the tech hiring process.

In our annual State of Developer Recruitment 2020 survey, we noticed that skill-based hiring has been gaining popularity with 21.5% of recruiters choosing this over other options. Experience is still by far the most important metric when choosing to hire someone, but skills ranking second on that list really does warm the cockles of our hearts.

Cabbie or college graduate, skills will trump pedigree every single time. As we at HackerEarth believe, the gods of good code do NOT discriminate.

Hiring based on skills continued

***

There's a lot more that Vishy and I talked about. Head on to Part 2 of this blog to know more about his thoughts on the technical education system, upskilling, and the skills versus pedigree debate.

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Kumari Trishya
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December 24, 2020
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3 min read
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Introducing a New Era in Mobile Assessment

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Now, assess mobile developers in their true native environment. Our enhanced Full Stack questions now offer full support for both Java and Kotlin, the core languages powering the Android ecosystem. This allows you to evaluate candidates on authentic, real-world app development skills, moving beyond theoretical knowledge to practical application.

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Say goodbye to setup drama and tool-switching. Candidates can now build, test, and debug Android and React Native applications directly within the browser-based IDE. This seamless, in-browser experience provides a true-to-life evaluation, saving valuable time for both candidates and your hiring team.

Assess the Skills That Truly Matter

With native Android support, your assessments can now delve into a candidate's ability to write clean, efficient, and functional code in the languages professional developers use daily. Kotlin's rapid adoption makes proficiency in it a key indicator of a forward-thinking candidate ready for modern mobile development.

Breakup of Mobile development skills ~95% of mobile app dev happens through Java and Kotlin
This chart illustrates the importance of assessing proficiency in both modern (Kotlin) and established (Java) codebases.

Streamlining Your Assessment Workflow

The integrated mobile emulator fundamentally transforms the assessment process. By eliminating the friction of fragmented toolchains and complex local setups, we enable a faster, more effective evaluation and a superior candidate experience.

Old Fragmented Way vs. The New, Integrated Way
Visualize the stark difference: Our streamlined workflow removes technical hurdles, allowing candidates to focus purely on demonstrating their coding and problem-solving abilities.

Quantifiable Impact on Hiring Success

A seamless and authentic assessment environment isn't just a convenience, it's a powerful catalyst for efficiency and better hiring outcomes. By removing technical barriers, candidates can focus entirely on demonstrating their skills, leading to faster submissions and higher-quality signals for your recruiters and hiring managers.

A Better Experience for Everyone

Our new features are meticulously designed to benefit the entire hiring ecosystem:

For Recruiters & Hiring Managers:

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Vibe Coding: Shaping the Future of Software

A New Era of Code

Vibe coding is a new method of using natural language prompts and AI tools to generate code. I have seen firsthand that this change makes software more accessible to everyone. In the past, being able to produce functional code was a strong advantage for developers. Today, when code is produced quickly through AI, the true value lies in designing, refining, and optimizing systems. Our role now goes beyond writing code; we must also ensure that our systems remain efficient and reliable.

From Machine Language to Natural Language

I recall the early days when every line of code was written manually. We progressed from machine language to high-level programming, and now we are beginning to interact with our tools using natural language. This development does not only increase speed but also changes how we approach problem solving. Product managers can now create working demos in hours instead of weeks, and founders have a clearer way of pitching their ideas with functional prototypes. It is important for us to rethink our role as developers and focus on architecture and system design rather than simply on typing c

The Promise and the Pitfalls

I have experienced both sides of vibe coding. In cases where the goal was to build a quick prototype or a simple internal tool, AI-generated code provided impressive results. Teams have been able to test new ideas and validate concepts much faster. However, when it comes to more complex systems that require careful planning and attention to detail, the output from AI can be problematic. I have seen situations where AI produces large volumes of code that become difficult to manage without significant human intervention.

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The Economic Impact

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Guide to Conducting Successful System Design Interviews in 2025

What is Systems Design?

Systems Design is an all encompassing term which encapsulates both frontend and backend components harmonized to define the overall architecture of a product.

Designing robust and scalable systems requires a deep understanding of application, architecture and their underlying components like networks, data, interfaces and modules.

Systems Design, in its essence, is a blueprint of how software and applications should work to meet specific goals. The multi-dimensional nature of this discipline makes it open-ended – as there is no single one-size-fits-all solution to a system design problem.

What is a System Design Interview?

Conducting a System Design interview requires recruiters to take an unconventional approach and look beyond right or wrong answers. Recruiters should aim for evaluating a candidate’s ‘systemic thinking’ skills across three key aspects:

How they navigate technical complexity and navigate uncertainty
How they meet expectations of scale, security and speed
How they focus on the bigger picture without losing sight of details

This assessment of the end-to-end thought process and a holistic approach to problem-solving is what the interview should focus on.

What are some common topics for a System Design Interview

System design interview questions are free-form and exploratory in nature where there is no right or best answer to a specific problem statement. Here are some common questions:

How would you approach the design of a social media app or video app?

What are some ways to design a search engine or a ticketing system?

How would you design an API for a payment gateway?

What are some trade-offs and constraints you will consider while designing systems?

What is your rationale for taking a particular approach to problem solving?

Usually, interviewers base the questions depending on the organization, its goals, key competitors and a candidate’s experience level.

For senior roles, the questions tend to focus on assessing the computational thinking, decision making and reasoning ability of a candidate. For entry level job interviews, the questions are designed to test the hard skills required for building a system architecture.

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If a coding interview is like a map that takes you from point A to Z – a systems design interview is like a compass which gives you a sense of the right direction.

Here are three key difference between the two:

Coding challenges follow a linear interviewing experience i.e. candidates are given a problem and interaction with recruiters is limited. System design interviews are more lateral and conversational, requiring active participation from interviewers.

Coding interviews or challenges focus on evaluating the technical acumen of a candidate whereas systems design interviews are oriented to assess problem solving and interpersonal skills.

Coding interviews are based on a right/wrong approach with ideal answers to problem statements while a systems design interview focuses on assessing the thought process and the ability to reason from first principles.

How to Conduct an Effective System Design Interview

One common mistake recruiters make is that they approach a system design interview with the expectations and preparation of a typical coding interview.
Here is a four step framework technical recruiters can follow to ensure a seamless and productive interview experience:

Step 1: Understand the subject at hand

  • Develop an understanding of basics of system design and architecture
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  • Read about system design case studies for popular applications
  • Structure the questions and problems by increasing magnitude of difficulty

Step 2: Prepare for the interview

  • Plan the extent of the topics and scope of discussion in advance
  • Clearly define the evaluation criteria and communicate expectations
  • Quantify constraints, inputs, boundaries and assumptions
  • Establish the broader context and a detailed scope of the exercise

Step 3: Stay actively involved

  • Ask follow-up questions to challenge a solution
  • Probe candidates to gauge real-time logical reasoning skills
  • Make it a conversation and take notes of important pointers and outcomes
  • Guide candidates with hints and suggestions to steer them in the right direction

Step 4: Be a collaborator

  • Encourage candidates to explore and consider alternative solutions
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Technical recruiters and hiring managers should aim for providing an environment of positive reinforcement, actionable feedback and encouragement to candidates.

Evaluation Rubric for Candidates

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FaceCode, HackerEarth’s intuitive and secure platform, empowers recruiters to conduct system design interviews in a live coding environment with HD video chat.

FaceCode comes with an interactive diagram board which makes it easier for interviewers to assess the design thinking skills and conduct communication assessments using a built-in library of diagram based questions.

With FaceCode, you can combine your feedback points with AI-powered insights to generate accurate, data-driven assessment reports in a breeze. Plus, you can access interview recordings and transcripts anytime to recall and trace back the interview experience.

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