We are constantly updating HackerRank for Work with new improvements and fixes. Here is a summary of customer-facing updates we have made from September 29, 2021 to January 18, 2022.
Developer Skills Platform
Screen
Email Notification and Leaked Tab Introduction
Today, there is no way customers can be informed of the questions that got leaked. We are running our Leaked Questions detection algorithm on a fortnightly basis for custom questions and HackerRank Library. Generally, customers are not aware of the dates/days of these scheduled runs and when and where to look for questions that got leaked.
We have scheduled to send an email after every run, this will be sent to Company Admins of the company.
Further to help you identify all the leaked questions from your account we have added a new leaked tab in the library which lists down all those questions across the library (both HackerRank as well as your company library) that are currently leaked.
Predefined Test templates Improvements
We have enhanced the test created using Test Creation Wizard for the following roles: Software Engineer Intern, Software Engineer, Frontend Engineer, and Backend Engineer.
The changes are in terms of:
- Separate Sections for each skill that is assessed using the test
- Total duration for a test within recommended time duration for a role
- Randomization of questions within a section to give different variations of the test across candidates.
- Test and section duration is now aligned with the best practices
- No leaked questions are part of the created tests
Workflow to upgrade “my company” front end questions to Node 14
Users can now upgrade their front-end questions by navigating to the “My Company” tab and then clicking on upgrade callout against the question. The link will trigger a workflow that will validate the question for any errors and then upgrade the question to Node 14.
A similar callout will be visible on the “Tests” page if the test uses any frontend question that can be upgraded to Node 14.
Ability to add more than 5 Projects questions to a test section for dynamic picking
Users can now add more than 5 Projects questions to a test section if the intention is to create a pool of questions for dynamic picking. Users can still only ask 5 Projects questions to be solved by a candidate in a test.
Editable code-stubs on a question level
Customers now have the ability to make code-stubs editable on a question level. This will allow them to lock certain code-stubs for custom questions in case they want candidates to solve the question in a particular manner.
Please note that this is not recommended because it may cause instability during tests and may also cause the platform to crash.
Keybindings now accessible from an icon
Keybindings for the editor are now accessible for candidates from an icon in the top navbar. Clicking on this will display editor shortcuts. Candidates no longer need to know the shortcut to bring up this display. This is available only for coding questions for now.
Compile-time improvement in SQL
We’ve changed how the SQL compilation works by adding a bulk insert of CSV. This will reduce the compile times of SQL queries anywhere from 1.5x to 2.5x.
Other Improvements
- Monaco editor upgraded to version 0.28
- Typescript now transpiles to ES2020 standards
- PL/SQL has been enabled for all database questions
- Dark Mode is enabled for all candidates
Plagiarism Enhancement
We are excited to announce a few enhancements to the HackerRank plagiarism model within our technical assessment for coding questions.
- You no longer have to worry about your hired candidates getting flagged for plagiarism - Retroactive flagging changes.
The earlier model of plagiarism used to flag older candidates for plagiarism if their code matched with the code of a later attempt. This led to cases where candidates who were already hired were getting flagged whenever there was an attempt matching theirs appeared on the platform.
We have made changes to this algorithm to stop flagging older attempts for plagiarism unless there is some overlap in the older attempt’s duration with the latest attempt. What this means is that now older candidates who had nothing to do with the latest attempt (with no overlap in attempt duration) will no longer be flagged for plagiarism and only the latest attempt will be flagged.
- Reduced false positives with the Improved plagiarism model.
Through the addition of behavioral signals on top of our current logic, HackerRank can now provide you with a higher degree of confidence about a candidate’s cheating behavior.
In the first cut of the behavioral signal-based model of plagiarism, we are incorporating certain negative behavioral signals (for example copy-paste activity) to reaffirm the fact that a candidate cheated and some positive signals to get more confidence that the candidate did not cheat during a test. This would ensure that we reduce the problem of high false positives of the old plagiarism model.
For the Improved Plagiarism Model, there are two major changes to test settings that you need to be aware of:
- Copy and paste proctoring will now be a default setting TURNED ON for all tests in order to collect behavioral data.
- A new toggle option would be added to control the prompt that is shown to the candidate when they try to copy-paste during a test. This toggle will be switched OFF by default to capture as many possible cases of cheating.
Please note that both of the above changes - Retroactive flagging and Improved plagiarism model will not affect the existing attempts of a test. It will apply to all new attempts across existing and new tests.
Interview
Interviews in Cisco Webex
Interviews is available as an App in Cisco Webex through the Webex App hub Integration. Any user with a Cisco Webex account can now try HackerRank Interviews for free without having to sign up with HackerRank. Although, existing HackerRank customers will not be able to use their HackerRank account inside Webex presently. This is planned for the future.
Improved Video Experience in Interviews
Participant videos will be now stacked on top of each other inside HackerRank Interviews for a better user experience. Additionally, video controls are accessible within the participant videos for ease of access.
Screen selector in preview panel for front end questions
Users can now select a device with its preconfigured resolution in the preview window to see how the solution would appear in that resolution.
Core Enterprise Capabilities
Admin
Login Page: “Remember Me” feature was shipped
Users now have a choice to extend the login duration from 24 hrs to 14 days on the HRW Platform, however, the default period still remains the same.
By checking the “Remember Me” box on the Login Page, users can stay logged in for 14 days.
Audit Logs: Revamped
The Audit Logs feature on HRW was inconvenient for our users to use and as a result, was very under-utilized. Users couldn’t filter the Audit Logs and as there was no support documentation for the page, our CS team kept getting bombarded with support requests around the same.
As an item for Q4.
- We improved the filtering and searching capabilities of Audit Logs
- Added support documentation which can now be found here
- Made the “modified field” column elaborate
Integrations
Launched the Splash Integration:
Splash is an online event management service. Companies also use Splashthat for recruitment events. Facebook, a customer of HackerRank and Splashthat requested an integration between the two platforms to be able to screen candidates before sending them invites to these events in a compliant manner.
The Splash<>HackerRank integration allows:
- Recruiters to directly send HackerRank test invites to candidates from the Splash Portal once they RSVP to a Splash Event.
- Candidate and test details to be updated in Splash once the candidate is done taking the test.
Library
30 front end library questions upgraded to Node 14
We have upgraded 30 Library Questions that were running on Node 8 and Node 12 to Node 14. Questions based on Angular, React and NodeJs are upgraded. The newly upgraded questions can be filtered by “Node 14” tag.
Data Analyst role launched in December with support for Python and R
108 new questions associated with the role were launched as well.
The World Economic Forum in 2020 lists Data Analyst/Data Scientist positions as the fastest-growing role over the next few years. They estimate that through 2025, across various industries, anywhere from 76% to 95% of companies will adopt big data analytics. To address the increasing demand for data analysts, we are launching 3 new skills: Excel, Tableau, and Power BI. Each of these skills focuses on data manipulation and visualization for business intelligence reporting.
For Tableau and Power BI, candidates can also be tested on their knowledge of different subscription levels, account and access management, connecting to data sources, and troubleshooting connections.
48 database coding and 5 database multiple-choice questions were added.
We added 19 PL/SQL questions as well as 29 more general database coding questions.
60 data analyst multiple-choice questions were added.
20 questions each were added for Tableau, Excel, and PowerBI.
100 coding questions were added - 75 New Questions + 25 Re-themed Questions
- Problem Solving (Basic):: New arrays and strings questions with a focus on enumeration, recursion, math implementation, and other fundamental DS/Algo concepts.
- Problem Solving (Intermediate): New maps, vectors, arrays, dynamic arrays, stacks questions assessing searching, sorting, dynamic programming, combinatorics.
- Problem Solving (Advanced): Arrays, Strings, Maps, and Trees questions on graph theory, search, sort.