I couldn't agree more with the idea that you should move a 'can you code at all' test to as early as possible in your hiring pipeline.
I used to wait to the first in-person interview to try simple fizzbuzz style questions (with the candidates on a machine and a compiler/interpreter). In about a third of cases that meant we'd committed a significant chunk of time to engineers that apparently couldn't solve trivial problems.
Now it's one of the first things I check. Done right, it's a relatively small hurdle for capable people to overcome, but really helps as a filter for those who aren't suited to the role.
I recently created a service (https://candidatecode.com) to help companies manage issuing and reviewing their coding challenges; I think it's got real potential to help some people out.
I used to wait to the first in-person interview to try simple fizzbuzz style questions (with the candidates on a machine and a compiler/interpreter). In about a third of cases that meant we'd committed a significant chunk of time to engineers that apparently couldn't solve trivial problems.
Now it's one of the first things I check. Done right, it's a relatively small hurdle for capable people to overcome, but really helps as a filter for those who aren't suited to the role.
I recently created a service (https://candidatecode.com) to help companies manage issuing and reviewing their coding challenges; I think it's got real potential to help some people out.