With its HackerRank Jobs mobile app being introduced today, HackerRank plans to bring developers together with potential employers based on software development skills rather than just resumes.
Available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, the app has candidates request a "code challenge" test from prospective employers, whereupon applicants are expected to solve the test and share their availability. These companies then have five days to schedule an interview with top performers. Candidates who do not make the cut will be notified instead of left wondering.
The app can cut engineer hiring times from months to days, eliminating the proverbial "resume black hole," according to the company. Instead, HackerRank has job listings from about 30 companies at launch, including Uber, Twitter, VMware, and Zenefits, said David Park, vice president of product said. HackerRank emphasizes these code challenges instead of resumes because "resumes are every poor indicators of how good you are," Park said.
Currently, developers can search for jobs in markets including the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Bangalore, India. Additional regions will be available by the end of March. Park said HackerRank Jobs is an alternative to current processes, in which a candidate can install an app from a popular job site such as Indeed.com or Monster.com. Then, applicants can conduct a hard-to-read job search and then deal with a convoluted application process and then never hear back from the potential employer.