Uncompetitive wrestling: how crossover tournaments have changed in their first year
Last Saturday, March 10, Crossover held the next Moscow Hiring Tournament for the Software Engineering Manager vacancy. It was quite an ordinary event in a series of our events, not highlighted by the theme of the vacancy - the position of SEM occupies the middle level in the hierarchy of our specialists - not the format. Many have already heard about tournaments for Crossover job opportunities - and many have criticized them. Moreover, tournaments are beaten not even on the passport, as an idea, but on the face - for the name itself. The combination of the words "vacancy" and "tournament" cause people to have different, often heavy, associations, and the sometimes differing real formats of events under a common brand of tournaments confuse and probably frighten a number of potential applicants. And we agree with this criticism.
However, we will remember something on March 10: we launched a “glasnost booth” on it, calling on all its habrowier participants, who would like to speak out, to share their impressions for the Crossover blog. And today we are publishing them for the first time - without censorship, revisions and bills.
The idea of ​​the tournament as a new format for the selection of developers was born in the global creative team Crossover early last year. Russia, in which the first tournament took place in February 2017, entered the top four countries in which this idea was launched first. The idea was as follows :
')
The idea was fascinating, and the name of the Hiring Tournament then seemed perfectly suitable ... (and here and there, the contradiction of the idea and example is striking: the tournament implies the struggle of everyone for personal success, and in the garbage bin the Solo and Skywalkers team received a survival lesson thanks to teamwork - a picky geek).
Nevertheless, the essence of the new format: a set of qualification tests, packaged in a competition between applicants - the name of the tournament was good. The strengths of this idea were instant feedback in the form of the standings and motivation for sports excitement and lively competition, as an alternative to the need to work on faceless tests.
But the purpose of the events remained the same: not just tournaments, but hiring tournaments - that is, not just an adrenaline rush, but the selection of the best candidates; and even the new format did not eliminate the need to evaluate the professional skills of the participants as accurately as possible.
In order to ensure a higher level of testing, tournaments had to add “creative” tasks, in which the calculation of “points” in them is not amenable to algorithmization (before joining the AI ​​test, at least), and therefore requiring manual processing. But when even the smallest offline events gather dozens of participants, and in online tournaments 700 people were recruited at the same time - the inability to meet all the answers in the framework of the tournament day is almost guaranteed.
The delayed announcement of results reduces the dynamics of the event; the motivation of users to lay out “here and now” when they know that the result will be next week falls.
The only thing that remains in force is a rational desire to score enough points to get to the next stage and be on the Crossover marketplace. But this is already very far from the ideology of tournament motivation - as if Khan Solo instead of a shootout sits down against Jabba in chess.
Even slowed down by deferred summing up to lethargic dynamics, the tournament still contains the most important factor distorting the results of any objective assessment of abilities: stress. The most secret weapon that was supposed to accelerate the creativity of the participants in the selection to Jedi speeds, according to the original idea of ​​the tournament authors, for many people is no less a strong inhibitory mechanism. This is a factor that influences the efficiency of selection at times.
Therefore, the current tournament regulations "Crossover" is very liberal:
The main thing is to finish on time, having met the single deadline until 11 am Sunday in Moscow.
Because the tournament is voluntary, and an objective assessment of the applicant is mandatory.
It is easy to see that all this finally blurs the action-component of Hiring Tournaments - at least, as closed not only in space, but also in time of the event. But at the same time, it does not leave a stone unturned in the common sense of the Crossover tournaments as the “Battle of the King” for developers.
The first crossover tournaments were biathlon: the competitor ran a race with others, but each had to hit his goal. Today's Crossover tournaments are high jumps where everyone only has a goal: the bar he chose to overcome.
But happily throwing the word tournament out of the name, renaming to some Hiring Events, a couple of circumstances prevent us. For example, that Crossover is an international company with a dozen key markets, developers in the literal sense of all - from more than 130 countries - the world and certain regulations, including common cross-cutting names of the practices. And the reform initiated “from below” in such a situation can become quite a global (company-wide) problem.
And we really don’t want to say goodbye to the gaming component of our tournaments - it wouldn’t be too modern in the era of the absolute gamification of processes for the sake of increasing their efficiency to return to the simple exam format. Now we are working on gamification of tasks not to the detriment of their exponency for evaluating the skills of tournament participants, i.e. candidates for the vacancy announced by its topic.
However, we do not reject the idea of ​​re-branding our format - however, we still do not see a suitable, sufficiently universal definition for a gamified test selection process that would not introduce even more unrest than the current “tournament”.
The actual format of the tournament "Crossover" most of all resembles an open door with career guidance tests. Actually the tournament is preceded by a kind of mitap, which includes acquaintance with the Crossover, the team, the position, the people already working on it and their experience.
Parallel Gorbel and Aleksey Zolotarev, who worked with the existing Software Engineering Managers, and Svetoslav SlavaKulakov Kulakov connected via Skype, in order to tell about the internal kitchen from the height of thescreen two meters from the floor level employment in Crossover as a whole - and, of course, to work out the compulsory program on issues to his biographical post .
The results of the tournament itself have long been summed up: out of 22 applicants for SEM positions to the “marketplace”, i.e. The internal showcase of candidates recommended by Crossover, according to the results of March 10, got two participants, and another one - in the process of consideration.
And now, finally, arrived and promised habraotzyvsurviving participants of the tournament. The first of these, at the request of the user himself, we lay out incognito, so as not to create problems for him at the current place of work. He promised to respond in the comments from the NotSmartEnough account:
Reviewed by ansaril3 :
The third and so far last feedback we received from EmilMusayev :
Thank you very much for the feedback!
Large and long projects like tournaments "Crossover" - a living organism, which is in constant variability. We are constantly working on its development - the quality of the site and infrastructure, the elaboration of tasks, and the involvement of participants. And we are watching what happens: including when it turns out that increasing the segment of acquaintance with the project, sharing experience with the team and just the number of breaks for snacks, we go beyond the timing. Next time we will take this into account :-) No reviews are wasted. As long as we solve the main task - we find people to work, and companies - personnel, then this is all worth it.
And on April 7 we will see what we have learned this time.
PS If someone from habrauys left impressions from the earlier events of the Crossover, send them to habrahabr@crossover.com - we will surely read them as well and will selectively publish them.
However, we will remember something on March 10: we launched a “glasnost booth” on it, calling on all its habrowier participants, who would like to speak out, to share their impressions for the Crossover blog. And today we are publishing them for the first time - without censorship, revisions and bills.
Ab ovo
The idea of ​​the tournament as a new format for the selection of developers was born in the global creative team Crossover early last year. Russia, in which the first tournament took place in February 2017, entered the top four countries in which this idea was launched first. The idea was as follows :
')
The process associated with programming can be made more interesting by introducing elements of socialization into it, solving atypical tasks and setting limits, the scope of which, like the contracting walls of the garbage compartment of the imperial cruiser, gives dynamics and stimulates focus in searching for a solution.
The idea was fascinating, and the name of the Hiring Tournament then seemed perfectly suitable ... (and here and there, the contradiction of the idea and example is striking: the tournament implies the struggle of everyone for personal success, and in the garbage bin the Solo and Skywalkers team received a survival lesson thanks to teamwork - a picky geek).
Nevertheless, the essence of the new format: a set of qualification tests, packaged in a competition between applicants - the name of the tournament was good. The strengths of this idea were instant feedback in the form of the standings and motivation for sports excitement and lively competition, as an alternative to the need to work on faceless tests.
Come next week
But the purpose of the events remained the same: not just tournaments, but hiring tournaments - that is, not just an adrenaline rush, but the selection of the best candidates; and even the new format did not eliminate the need to evaluate the professional skills of the participants as accurately as possible.
In order to ensure a higher level of testing, tournaments had to add “creative” tasks, in which the calculation of “points” in them is not amenable to algorithmization (before joining the AI ​​test, at least), and therefore requiring manual processing. But when even the smallest offline events gather dozens of participants, and in online tournaments 700 people were recruited at the same time - the inability to meet all the answers in the framework of the tournament day is almost guaranteed.
True story: in addition to the limited for purely physical reasons offline events, we are actively conducting online tournaments. On some Saturdays, app.crossover.com hosts up to 20 or more (!) Online tournaments in a wide variety of positions, the winners of which are placed on the internal marketplace with subsequent employment. On one of these Saturdays, an incredible power of participants from India happened to us, disperse numbers to such numbers, when it’s not a sin to remember who actually came up with Arabic numbers - and putting our resources with tasks, of course. But the site support team switched from HighLoad practices to “you” - in the foreseeable future new multi-million generations of developers who have grown up with tablets under the belly are ready to receive.
The delayed announcement of results reduces the dynamics of the event; the motivation of users to lay out “here and now” when they know that the result will be next week falls.
The only thing that remains in force is a rational desire to score enough points to get to the next stage and be on the Crossover marketplace. But this is already very far from the ideology of tournament motivation - as if Khan Solo instead of a shootout sits down against Jabba in chess.
NO STRESS
Even slowed down by deferred summing up to lethargic dynamics, the tournament still contains the most important factor distorting the results of any objective assessment of abilities: stress. The most secret weapon that was supposed to accelerate the creativity of the participants in the selection to Jedi speeds, according to the original idea of ​​the tournament authors, for many people is no less a strong inhibitory mechanism. This is a factor that influences the efficiency of selection at times.
Therefore, the current tournament regulations "Crossover" is very liberal:
- By default, four to six hours (depending on the position) of continuous operation are given for the execution of test tasks,
- although no one forbids everything to pass in two hours and “roll off into the sunset”,
- or you can simply continue working on the task from home in the environment of all the same app.crossover.com . But already in its atmosphere.
The main thing is to finish on time, having met the single deadline until 11 am Sunday in Moscow.
Because the tournament is voluntary, and an objective assessment of the applicant is mandatory.
It is easy to see that all this finally blurs the action-component of Hiring Tournaments - at least, as closed not only in space, but also in time of the event. But at the same time, it does not leave a stone unturned in the common sense of the Crossover tournaments as the “Battle of the King” for developers.
The first crossover tournaments were biathlon: the competitor ran a race with others, but each had to hit his goal. Today's Crossover tournaments are high jumps where everyone only has a goal: the bar he chose to overcome.
Translation difficulties
But happily throwing the word tournament out of the name, renaming to some Hiring Events, a couple of circumstances prevent us. For example, that Crossover is an international company with a dozen key markets, developers in the literal sense of all - from more than 130 countries - the world and certain regulations, including common cross-cutting names of the practices. And the reform initiated “from below” in such a situation can become quite a global (company-wide) problem.
And we really don’t want to say goodbye to the gaming component of our tournaments - it wouldn’t be too modern in the era of the absolute gamification of processes for the sake of increasing their efficiency to return to the simple exam format. Now we are working on gamification of tasks not to the detriment of their exponency for evaluating the skills of tournament participants, i.e. candidates for the vacancy announced by its topic.
However, we do not reject the idea of ​​re-branding our format - however, we still do not see a suitable, sufficiently universal definition for a gamified test selection process that would not introduce even more unrest than the current “tournament”.
Well, for acquaintance
The actual format of the tournament "Crossover" most of all resembles an open door with career guidance tests. Actually the tournament is preceded by a kind of mitap, which includes acquaintance with the Crossover, the team, the position, the people already working on it and their experience.
Parallel Gorbel and Aleksey Zolotarev, who worked with the existing Software Engineering Managers, and Svetoslav SlavaKulakov Kulakov connected via Skype, in order to tell about the internal kitchen from the height of the
The results of the tournament itself have long been summed up: out of 22 applicants for SEM positions to the “marketplace”, i.e. The internal showcase of candidates recommended by Crossover, according to the results of March 10, got two participants, and another one - in the process of consideration.
And now, finally, arrived and promised habraotzyv
Hi, Habr.
If you read this, then Crossover, and the truth, published a review of a live participant in the Moscow Hiring Tournament. ;)
I attended the event for the sake of interest, rather than from the practical need for a job search. Initially, having stumbled upon an advertising post in VK, I was skeptical - it was too beautiful (and suspiciously) everything sounded. But, the more I learn about the company, the more attractive their ideology and the opportunity to participate in their development looks. I recommend everyone to watch the video of their CEO - rather clarifies the situation.
What did you like about the event itself:
- Excellent organization. Chose a decent place, the cookies and coffee were delicious. Convenience for the participants was ensured by the maximum: simple and clear registration, (more or less) normal Wi-Fi, there was enough room and outlets for everyone with a margin, the ability to fill out questionnaires both at the table and in comfortable chairs in the lobby.
- For their own timings, the introductory part was knocked out significantly, but it did not cause discomfort - they did not bother with boring presentations, but answered specific questions that interested the participants. (Vladimir is a special thank you for the skillful and delicate management of the discussion.)
- The assembled audience was rather heterogeneous, but at the same time pleasant in communication. Everyone with whom I had to interact was more than adequate.
- At lunch they gave an opportunity to talk with the company's living employees (without supervision). Guys expressed honestly both pros and cons. The participants of the event were actively gathering around. I learned quite a lot about how things really work. Super-useful practice. All companies that have nothing to be ashamed of should arrange such communication sessions for potential candidates!
What did not like:
- The stated duration of the event in the invitation (~ 5 hours) is a myth. In total, at the event, plus in the evening from home, I spent more than 9 hours on meaningful filling out of everything I needed. Yes, you can go home, and continue from there. But if you announce in advance the actual amount of work, you can adequately plan your day. Although it would scare some of the candidates.
- The content of the questions implies the availability of expertise in code review, which is not stated either in the job description or in the invitation, and that categorically in my head does not fit in with the role of “manager”. At the same time, the company's employees themselves say that this practice was abolished some time ago; the manager is engaged in resource management, not code quality. Hopefully, in the selection department, they will soon wake up to close this gap.
- The site itself, where the testing takes place, clearly requires reconstruction. At least some of its parts. The convenience of transition between the stages leaves much to be desired, and the design of the technical issues section looks painted 10 years ago. The development office with 3000+ employees can do better!
Generally, I respect Crossover for such an event. The variety of events for developers always made me jealous. This, of course, was not a tournament outfit, but Tournament was extremely pleased with the opportunity to evaluate my managerial skills. Let's see what the competent commission thinks about my skills. : D
Everything written above is subjective. I write a detailed review about the event for the first time, so please do not scold too much. My nickname was asked to hide for privacy reasons, so I will not answer additional questions - I just read them in the comments.
Reviewed by ansaril3 :
Participated in the in-person Crossover tournament for the Software Engineering Manager position in Java specialization. There were assignments for knowledge of English, agile and Java agile methodologies, I even had to program a little. Be prepared for the fact that there are a lot of questions and their resolution is tiring (to some extent similar to the USMLE medical exam), but the scheme of the test dropout, in my opinion, is quite logical.
The third and so far last feedback we received from EmilMusayev :
When I first heard about the turnout, everything seemed too complicated and incomprehensible, but decided to come and try. Reality surpassed all expectations!
Pleasant people met, and in a stunning atmosphere of friendliness and convenience they told about Crossover. The presentation and communication with the Crossover staff impressed me exceptionally well. The format and working conditions for people who prefer mobility are simply excellent.
I want to especially note the immaculate organization, openness of the turn. I felt at home, did not want to leave.
Emil Musaev, Project Manager, BP
Thank you very much for the feedback!
Large and long projects like tournaments "Crossover" - a living organism, which is in constant variability. We are constantly working on its development - the quality of the site and infrastructure, the elaboration of tasks, and the involvement of participants. And we are watching what happens: including when it turns out that increasing the segment of acquaintance with the project, sharing experience with the team and just the number of breaks for snacks, we go beyond the timing. Next time we will take this into account :-) No reviews are wasted. As long as we solve the main task - we find people to work, and companies - personnel, then this is all worth it.
And on April 7 we will see what we have learned this time.
PS If someone from habrauys left impressions from the earlier events of the Crossover, send them to habrahabr@crossover.com - we will surely read them as well and will selectively publish them.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/351328/
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