Improving your chances of being shortlisted for your dream job

Like everything in life, being shortlisted also is a two-way street. It is our effort + your effort.

How we contribute to getting you shortlisted (our effort)

So, when we create a short list, we do the following:

  • Match the candidate to the selection criteria that the hiring company gives us
  • Include as many candidates who are the right fit

    Matches selection criteria + has done exceptionally well in the test = Right fit

How you can contribute to getting yourself shortlisted (your effort)

Read the challenge details. Then, read them again.

When we create a challenge we collect all the necessary information from the company to ensure that your experience of the hiring experience is smooth and transparent.

What you should do

  1. Read the specifications of the challenge
    Read it multiple times. If you have queries, send us an email at support@hackerearth.com.

  2. Understand whether the challenge is meant for you or not
    Companies may have specific conditions that a candidate must meet to get shortlisted. For example, a company may want to hire only from a specific college or hire a candidate with experience in coding in Scala or R only. If you do choose to participate in a challenge irrespective of the conditions, you will not be shortlisted even if you do relatively well in the hiring challenge. We make such conditions clear in the About Challenge section and we request you to read and understand this information before you begin the challenge. If you have any questions about this, please write to us at support@hackerearth.com.

  3. Read about the company
    Open the company’s website. Read what the company does, what they have done in the past, where they are located etc. This information is usually available through the About link (though the name of the link may vary from company-to-company).

Double check if the number of years of experience is specified 

FACT: 60%yes, you read that rightof our participants are rejected because they do not have the number of years of experience that the hiring company is looking for.

FAQ 1The requirement is for a candidate with 3 years of experience. I have 1.5 years of experience. Can I apply?

The short answer is NO.

The long answer is that if the challenge details specify that the company is looking for candidates with 3 years of experience and you have 1 year of experience, you will not be shortlisted.

When companies specify a specific number of years of experience, apart from good coding skills they are also looking at the learning that a person gains by working for 3 years. 

FAQ 2: The requirement is for a candidate with 0-3 years of experience. I am an undergraduate student. Can I apply? 

As an undergraduate, you can participate in this challenge, however, it will only be for learning. If a hiring company specifies the number of years of experience as 0-3 years, it means that while they are looking for freshers, those freshers should be able to join full-time and immediately. 

You will not be shortlisted since you will not be able to join the company full-time. 

What you should not do

Do not specify an incorrect number of years of experience. This is equal to lying and reflects on your professionalism and ethics. You will definitely be rejected by the hiring company. 

It hurts your reputation because chances are the hiring personnel may remember you when you really do have that kind of experience and that will have an impact on your chances of getting hired then. 

What you should do

You could participate in our various campus/internship-related hiring challenges that are designed especially for you.

Apply for that job already! 

A lot of participants forget to apply for the job while filling up the registration and participation forms! Please apply for the job when you are registering. 

Anyone who hasn’t applied for the job, even by mistake, is not shortlisted. Period. 

Plagiarism is not cool. Period.

Don’t cheat! We are sad that we have to add this to our post. We do not like cheaters and it's definitely not cool.

While we encourage your friends and you to take up the test together, we definitely do not like it if you copy each other’s code. We have a dedicated team of people who check each and every code submission. This team also keeps records of plagiarism, so if you cheat, we have it on record. 

A lot of times, companies ask us to share the list of participants who have cheated and this will definitely hurt your chances of being shortlisted and hired. Once this list is shared, you will be flagged in their database. This could hurt your chances of being shortlisted.

Perform well

While evaluating the result sheet of a hiring challenge, we notice: great performers, good performers, candidates who barely even tried. 

If you like a job/company, the company’s test should be motivation enough for you to reach your goal. 

This mainly applies to task-based questions, where you are required to build an application. These questions are specifically tailored to the client's requirements. Solving such questions will give the hiring company an in-depth insight into your skills. 

Job hopping 

While it is great to know your value and worth in the market, it is inarguably cruel to waste a recruiter’s time by going through the entire process just to get an offer letter that can then help you get better offers in the market.  

We track candidates who are serial job hoppers and the hiring company is made aware of this when we share the shortlisted profiles.
Having said that, if you are genuine a job seeker, we are happy to help you in every possible way. 

Complete your profile 

Ever received a challenge invite that didn’t suit your skills at all? Not cool right? Would you like to avoid it in the future? Simple! Just make sure that your HE profile is complete and updated at all times.

We try our best to send out relevant emails to our community but we have noticed that due to incomplete profiles, sometimes, a few emails reach the wrong people.

Also, your HE profile link is one of the things that is shared with recruiters It is imperative that you keep it updated because it helps your chances of getting shortlisted. Some of the things that you could update are:

  • Resume
  • Job changes
  • New skills
  • Other projects

We have tried our best to cover most things that can improve your chances of getting shortlisted. We love hearing from our community so keep sharing your feedback and experience with us on support@hackerearth.com.

Additionally, if you get hired through one of our challenges, just post it all over social media and send us a screenshot and you will have cool HackerEarth merchandise waiting for you.

Happy job hunting!