Leaderboard

You didn't and can't. Unless you are interviewing, there's not a lot you can do. When I interview I get them to do a 30 minute test. It's a test that they cannot complete in 30 mins. I tell them that they are not expected to finish, it's not expected to work, there is no right answer and I just want to see their thought process when tackling a task - just make sure it's tidy enough so I can read it. This is all true. After, we discuss the task. What they thought, what they were and weren't happy with, what issues they think their code has and why they did certain things. Additionally I ask things like how would they improve *my* test. Did it make them too uncomfortable, would they have preferred a specific result/correct answer etc. A good engineer will be able to articulate problems with interpretation of the instructions, the assumptions and decisions they had to make and what they would change now they know the task and we have discussed it with my input. What code they actually write is almost irrelevant and only serves as a common talking point but you'll spot the fakers straight away. You very quickly find out who is an engineer and who is a code monkey.