Coding assessment scores are important for many job seekers. Employers use these scores to determine which candidates are best qualified for a position. With difficult coding assessments and limited time, it is easy for candidates to become frustrated and unsuccessful in achieving their goal of earning a high score. You will learn how to manage your time, do a systematic approach to preparing for the assessment and identify strengths in your previous work experience that can help you in the coding assessment when it comes to figuring out the concept being taught in the course. It is important to have a positive attitude and remember that you are a professional and can be successful.

These tips are based on our experience with candidates and our observations of questions that show up time and time again on coding assessment tests. By learning to avoid some of these most common mistakes, you can maximize your score and be well prepared for the assessment program. It is also recommended that candidates review the skills listed on their resume and job posting in order to make sure they are prepared to discuss their strengths and how they relate to the requirements being described by the employer.

1. Understand the purpose of the assessment:

The purpose of a coding assessment is to determine if the candidate has the most basic coding skills required to do the job they are applying for. The java assessment is a minimum requirement that must be met in order for the candidate to move on to the next stage of testing and screening. Candidates must pass at a minimum before they can be considered a finalist to move forward in the process. It is a critical part to the hiring process because it is the first part that is done by the candidate. The employer will choose from several candidates, and they may even decide to move on to the second stage of testing, which requires additional coding skills.

2. Plan your preparation :

In order to be prepared for a coding assessment, you need to plan your approach. You will have only a short amount of time in which to study for the test and time is precious. The right way is to prepare systematically by first going over all the questions in detail so you can understand how they are asked and then doing practice questions using scrap software and your own programs until you feel comfortable with all aspects of each question type within that chapter and topic area. It is extremely important to understand the question first before attempting to answer it.

3. Practice, practice, practice :

The only way to be ready for a coding assessment is through a lot of practice. You must create scrap code and spend time trying to figure out how the questions are asked and then writing the code that compiles and runs. You will get plenty of practice questions when you sign up for any of our courses or workshops, or you can look at our videos on Youtube and put together your own set of questions with answers so that you can practice writing the code on your own until you feel comfortable. It is important to understand what is being asked in detail so that you know what is expected.

4. Follow a systematic approach to preparing for the assessment :

Systematically preparing for a coding assessment involves using a comprehensive approach. After you have reviewed the course materials, prepare your own questions which will help you understand what is being asked and know how to answer. Next, review the questions in the book and determine if they are in scope by looking through the examples. Then move on to answering questions that have items in scope since you already know what is expected within that chapter of content. Take a detailed look at all the questions that are listed in each chapter and practice writing the code that compiles and runs by following along with the solution.

5. Apply your knowledge to each question :

It is important to understand what is being asked and what the expected code should look like before you start to write the code. Focus on understanding the question before you begin writing. Think about how you would solve the problem through the answer choices provided by looking at examples, looking at different questions that have that same type of problem, etc. After you have a good idea of what is being asked, write short descriptive answers and understand which answer choices match your solution as best as possible. Then come up with an approach that uses the least possible number of statements but still uses the proper Structured Query Language syntax and database language.

6. Review your answers :

After you have worked on a question, review your answer in detail before moving onto the next one. Having time constraints while taking an online coding test can make it hard to review and verify the accuracy of your answer. Review how you wrote the code and made sure to match up all data types in variables and elements with their appropriate data types. Review your formatting and make sure that it corresponds to the requirements for answering the question in the question. Try to match up the items within a question with variables, elements and comments in a way that makes sense to you.

7. Learn to recognize wrong answers :

It is important not to make the same mistakes over and over when taking a coding assessment. You should learn to recognize when you are making certain mistakes because they are common pitfalls when preparing for a coding assessment test. You might have to review the same questions over and over again until you have a good grasp of what is expected within each chapter and topic area. Each question will be slightly different and will challenge you with its own set of problems. It can be helpful to spend some time trying to understand how other candidates answered each question before you start working on your own answers.

Mercer | Mettl is a platform that offers coding courses online to help you significantly improve your skills in web programming and programming in general so that you can advance your career. It is the best way to prepare for technical interviews, tests and other coding assessments. The platform offers both professional and industry level courses that are taught by the experts and general courses that do not require special technical skills.