Hatchways

Hatchways is a modern technical interviewing platform designed to revolutionize how companies hire software engineers. It moves away from stressful, abstract algorithm tests (like LeetCode) and towards practical, real-world coding assessments that accurately reflect the day-to-day work of a developer. By using a familiar Git-based workflow, Hatchways allows candidates to showcase their skills in a comfortable, low-stress environment, leading to a superior candidate experience and more reliable hiring signals for employers.

The platform is built for efficiency and accuracy. Hiring managers can easily create, send, and track assessments, saving valuable engineering time. Companies like Plaid, AcuityMD, and Webflow have successfully used Hatchways to improve their hiring metrics, increase on-site pass rates, and enhance their employer brand. The core philosophy is to evaluate candidates on job-relevant skills, such as bug fixing, feature implementation, and code reviews, which are better predictors of on-the-job performance.

How to use Hatchways

The process of using Hatchways is designed to be seamless and integrate directly into your existing hiring workflow:

1. Design an Assessment: Start by choosing from a library of tried-and-true assessment templates, which are informed by industry data and expertise. Alternatively, you can upload your own custom project or codebase. Assessments can be tailored for any programming language or framework and can include tasks like bug fixes, feature additions, code reviews, or even written/video responses.
2. Invite Candidates: Send assessment invitations to your candidates with a single click. Hatchways integrates with popular Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) like Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby, automating updates and keeping your entire hiring team in sync without leaving your preferred platform.
3. Candidate Experience: Candidates receive access to a private Git repository where they can work on the assessment at their own pace. They complete the task by submitting a pull request, just as they would on a real engineering team. This practical approach is consistently praised by candidates for being engaging and respectful of their skills.
4. Streamline Grading: Evaluate submissions efficiently using Hatchways' robust grading tools. This includes automated tests to check for correctness, instant cloud deployments to preview the candidate's work live, and detailed rubrics. For even greater efficiency, you can leverage Hatchways' team of human reviewers to grade assessments, freeing up your engineers to focus on interviewing the best candidates.
5. Make Data-Driven Decisions: Use the platform's analytics to track key metrics like completion rates, pass-through rates, and candidate feedback (NPS). This data helps you continuously iterate and improve your hiring process.

Core Features of Hatchways

• Realistic, Git-Based Assessments: Simulates a real-world work environment where candidates use Git to complete tasks like submitting pull requests.
• Customizable Assessment Builder: Create assessments from scratch or use expert-designed templates for any language or framework.
• Automated & Human-Assisted Grading: Combine automated tests with detailed rubrics and optional expert human reviewers to save time and reduce bias.
• ATS Integration: Seamlessly connects with Lever, Greenhouse, and Ashby to automate workflows and centralize candidate data.
• Superior Candidate Experience: Designed to be low-stress, engaging, and practical, resulting in high candidate satisfaction (NPS) scores.
• AI-Powered Pairing Partner: An innovative feature that uses AI to act as a 'pairing partner' for candidates, allowing them to ask questions and get feedback as if in a live session, but without the anxiety.
• Hiring Analytics and Insights: Provides valuable data on your hiring funnel to help you optimize pass-through rates and make better hiring decisions.

Use Cases for Hatchways

Hatchways is ideal for tech companies of all sizes looking to improve their technical hiring process. A notable case study is AcuityMD, a MedTech software company. Initially struggling with an inefficient take-home process, they switched to Hatchways. By implementing a practical assessment that mirrored real job tasks, AcuityMD achieved a 75% completion rate, a 54% on-site to offer rate, and a candidate NPS of 75. This saved their engineering team significant time by filtering out unqualified candidates early and reducing interview fatigue.

Other companies like Plaid, Airtable, and Webflow use Hatchways to provide an equitable and inclusive interview experience that focuses on skills over credentials, helping them attract and hire top, diverse talent.

Advantages of Hatchways

The primary advantage of Hatchways is its ability to generate a much stronger and more accurate hiring signal than traditional methods. Candidates who perform well on Hatchways assessments are highly correlated with on-site interview success. It also dramatically improves the candidate experience, which is crucial in a competitive talent market. Furthermore, it saves significant time for engineering and recruiting teams by automating administrative tasks and streamlining the evaluation process.

Pricing and Plans

Hatchways offers a flexible pricing structure to suit different needs:

• Free Plan: Ideal for getting started. It includes limited access to pre-built assessments, the ability to upload or build your own custom assessment, and up to 10 invites. No credit card is required.
• Premium Plan: Starting at $100/month. This plan offers premium access to pre-built assessments, unlimited invites for all assessments, and full tracking capabilities.
• Pro Plan: Custom pricing. This enterprise-level plan includes all Premium benefits plus full onboarding support, premium customization on assessments and branding, access to auto-pilot marking tools, full ATS integration, and custom data and analytics.