Updated in 2023
- What does CodeSignal do?
- Who is CodeSignal for?
- What does CodeSignal cost?
- Ratings and reviews of CodeSignal
- Alternatives to CodeSignal
- How does CodeSignal compare to Pathrise?
What does CodeSignal do?
CodeSignal provides challenges and assessments in a real-world coding environment. When they first started out, developers competed against each other in short coding challenges. Then, they created company-sponsored “bots”, like UberBot, where users could fight each other with their code while Uber engineers recruited from the group.
Now, recruitment is their main focus. Users participate in challenges and assessments so they can receive a score. Then, they are given more information about their strengths and weaknesses. This information then goes into their Predictive Coding Score, which is kind of like a credit score. The site also gives users the opportunity to apply directly to jobs directly through their Certified Assessments. These are technical challenges that users can attach to their applications to help differentiate themselves from the competition. Uber, Evernote, and Affinity are some of the companies that use CodeSignal as an assessment tool.
CodeSignal also offers study plans for people to prepare for upcoming technical interviews. These can be tailored by the user to cover topics with which they have trouble.
Who is CodeSignal for?
Software engineers who want to keep their technical skills sharp in a variety of languages and programs can benefit from the CodeSignal interview practice problems. They have 1,000+ different coding tasks that range in difficulty, topic, and theme. Plus, those who are looking to take Certified Assessments and use them for their applications can give themselves an added boost against their peers.
Software engineers with little to no experience would not do well on CodeSignal. This is because most of the challenges require background knowledge of the language or program. Plus, they do not offer tutorials or instructions.
Companies who are looking to assess software engineering candidates in technical challenges and pair programming sessions also use CodeSignal. They see the candidate’s Coder Score (a breakdown of subject-specific capabilities of each candidate) and any certified assessments they might have. Once they invite the candidate to a challenge or technical interview, they see a plagiarism checker, live coding window, and recording of the session.
What does CodeSignal cost? How much work is involved?
For users, CodeSignal is free. They just need to create an account via email, Facebook, Google, GitHub, or Twitter and set up a profile. CodeSignal makes money from the connected companies.
Ratings and reviews
Software engineers with experience who are looking to keep their skills sharp enjoy the problems on CodeSignal. Specifically, they have learned how to write the shortest, and usually most optimized, solution. They are also good at skimming code, recalling code, and typing quickly.
Some users were frustrated by the lack of tutorials and basic instruction that most of the other similar sites, like HackerRank, include with their problems. There are also comments that the questions can get redundant, which means the program can get a bit boring. The general feedback is that CodeSignal is good for practicing problems and having fun while coding. But, it is not helpful for learning new languages or skills.
Alternatives to CodeSignal
- Created by a former Google software engineer, Interview Cake is a study tool that teaches people the right way to think about technical questions so they do well in interviews. Read more about Interview Cake in our review.
- Another good option is AlgoExpert, which is a platform for software engineers to practice questions that cover a variety of interview topics.
- Similarly, Codebasil features questions written by software engineers at top tech companies like Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.
- One of the most popular software engineering interview prep tools is Leetcode. Their questions are geared towards the work one might see on the job as a software engineer.
- Software engineers who are attracted to CodeSignal because it is a platform that specific companies use for their assessments might want to check out HackerRank. They are the leading technical assessment tool for companies.
- Or, software engineers can use the tracks offered by Educative and Skilled.dev to brush up on skills or practice for specific-language interviews.
- Those looking to participate in mock interviews with software engineers at top tech companies should check out Interviewing.io. Learn more about Interviewing.io in our review.
- Pramp, Tech Mock Interview, and Gainlo are other resources for software engineers looking for mock interview prep with their peers or anonymous engineers.
More alternatives to CodeSignal
- If you are looking for technical questions directly in your email, Daily Coding Problem is a newsletter that sends 1 problem a day and the solutions for those who subscribe.
- Another option is Coderbyte, which offers a mix of free and paid resources and challenges for software engineers. Read more about Coderbyte in our review.
- People looking to prep with real world problems can consider CodeKata, which provides challenges that mimic requests from real tech companies.
- CodinGame is a free gamified platform that software engineers can use to keep their skills sharp while having fun. Similarly, Codewars is a community-built gamified platform.
- You can also check out CodeChef and Edabit for free online communities and platforms to practice software engineering technical questions.
- With exercises in Python and JavaScript for beginners and advanced engineers, CheckiO is a good free resource to check out.
- Similarly, Quastor sends out a daily newsletter with software engineering interview questions. They also have a free online course.
We compiled a list of resources to practice software engineer interview questions that you can use to decide the best one for you. You can also check out our list of 93 software engineering interview questions from top tech companies to practice.
How does CodeSignal compare to Pathrise?
CodeSignal is a good tool for intermediate and advanced software engineers who are looking to keep their skills sharp and make connections with hiring managers at some tech companies. Continuing to advance technical skills is an important part of a software engineer’s job search.
At Pathrise, we help our fellows with the entire job search. We recommend that software engineers practice problems, especially in data structures and algorithms, in preparation for technical interviews so they can go into their interviews with confidence. This means that people can use CodeSignal to keep their skills up-to-date alongside Pathrise, which can help with everything else needed to find the best possible job for a software engineer.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that works with students and professionals 1-on-1 so they can land their dream job in tech. With our tips and guidance, we’ve seen our fellows interview scores double.
If you want to work with any of our mentors 1-on-1 to get help with your software engineer interviews or with any other aspect of the job search, become a Pathrise fellow.
Apply today.
