Articles
Our Writing
At Unabridged Software, our focus is on delivering solid value to the companies we partner with. We're a group of diverse, talented engineers. We value steady progress over "crushing it" and have a thoughtful approach to software development, hiring, and culture. Read on.
How We Interview Developers For Technical Skill
By Andrew Ek
Instead of brain-teasers and algorithm-heavy questions, we use a take-home project to evaluate each candidate's technical skills against the responsibilities of the role. A good project enables hiring managers to assess each candidate's ability to understand business requirements, write strong code, make sound technical choices, respond to feedback, and communicate with clients and peers.
Read MoreDoing Our Part in a Pandemic: Why We Built PPP Calculator
By Drew Ulmer
Laws are complicated and hard to understand and we want to do our part to help out the millions of small businesses in America affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We've released a project we’ve been working on called Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Calculator. You can use it to estimate how much of your PPP loan will be forgivable by the federal government come June 30th.
Read MoreDoes Your Next Software Engineer Need a Degree?
By Andrew Ek
There are more ways to learn software development than ever before. Languages and libraries place new emphasis on documentation. Resources on the internet abound. And coding "boot camps" pop up around the world. As a result, there are now many employable developers who do not have computer science degrees. Should you consider hiring them?
Read MoreWhat Junior Developers Can Teach the Seniors
By Andrew Ek
The conventional model of teaching suggests a kind of top-down flow of knowledge where the experienced teach, and the inexperienced learn. Translating that to business, we'd expect to see senior developers giving information to the more junior developers. However, the reality at Unabridged is more exciting and nuanced, one where developers at every level engage in meaningful teaching and learning.
Read MoreStop Imitating Google: A Better Process To Hire Software Engineers
By Drew Ulmer
Your company isn’t a venture-backed tech unicorn in Silicon Valley, so why model your hiring process after theirs? Learn our process for helping companies hire top talent through better interviews.
Read MoreThe Business Skills Every Developer Needs
By Andrew Ek
So you’re a full-stack developer with ninja skills? That’s nice. How is your business acumen? Experience has taught us that a few softer skills are essential for any developer to deliver successful projects.
Read MoreDebug the Way You Hire Software Engineers
By Drew Ulmer
Many people model their interview process after high-profile tech giants, but in reality, your interview process should be as unique as your company.
Read MoreHow to Interview and Hire Software Engineers
By Nick Ziess
Hiring a software engineer is as much cult as science. But it doesn't have to be that way. As an interviewer, you have the opportunity to run your interviews in a way that, as closely as possible, represents the work and competencies you are hiring for.
Read MoreScreening for Aptitude over Completeness
By Sumeet Jain
Over the many years that we've worked with each of our clients, we've learned a few things about growing teams. One of the biggest fallacies we've found in technical hiring is the idea that completeness is a meaningful way to assess ability in technical screenings.
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