1/24/25, 12:01 PM Candidate FAQ - Codility

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Frequently Asked
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Questions Strategies for Success

Reserve time.

Below we provide answers to Once you’ve started your

commonly asked questions. assessment, you cannot pause the
Our goal is to help you feel session or return to complete the
as prepared as possible to assessment later. Therefore, make
showcase your technical sure you set aside enough time to
skills. If you have a question complete the entire assessment in
that isn’t covered below, one sitting. You can click the link in
please reach out to your your invitation email prior to starting
hiring team. your assessment session to see
how many problems (or “tasks”) you
Once you’ve reviewed the will be asked to solve and how much
information below, we time you will have to solve them.
strongly encourage you to
take a demo assessment.
Read all the tasks.
You can complete it as many
times as you’d like to When you start the assessment, we
practice and familiarize recommend reading through all of
yourself with the the task descriptions and
assessment environment. requirements first. This can help you
pace yourself and plan how to
allocate your testing time.

Before your assessment

Check available languages.

1. I got an invitation to complete Check the programming language

a Codility assessment. What is options for each task. Some tasks
it? can be completed in several
languages, and you may find a task
Codility screening assessments easier to do in one language than in
evaluate your job-related another. Select the language in
technical skills. During the which you feel most comfortable
assessment, you will be asked to programming. Unless a task is
solve several problems by language-specific, the language you
preparing code, modifying code, select will not factor into your score.
or answering technical questions.
You can run and test your
Make sure your solution compiles.
solutions in our online
environment or use your editor of A partially correct solution that
choice. Once submitted, your compiles is better than a perfect
responses will be automatically solution that doesn’t. To earn the

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scored, and the results will be most points possible, test your
sent to the test administrator. solution frequently to ensure you are
submitting compilable, working code
Was this information useful? before your time runs out.

2. Can I open the link now but Back up your solutions.

take the assessment later?
If you have prepared one solution
Yes, you can click the link in your and want to experiment with
invitation email prior to starting another, comment out the old
your assessment session to read solution in case you want to revert to
introductory information, it.
assessment policies from your
testing team, and see how many
Pay attention to corner cases.
problems (or “tasks”) you will be
asked to solve and how much Make sure your solution works for

time you will have to solve them. empty, very small, and very large

Unless you press the "Start" inputs. Consider the worst possible

button, you can leave and come data allowed by the task description

back when you are ready to when thinking of ways to test your

complete the assessment. Once solutions.

you start the assessment, you will

not be able to pause or stop the
Test extensively.
timer, so be sure to set aside
enough time to complete the Check your work as you go to

entire assessment in one sitting. evaluate your progress. Before

Assessments must be started submitting your solution, analyze

within the testing window your code, run it with your own test

designated by the test cases, and try to find a situation

administrator. where it could fail.

Was this information useful? Be honest.

Codility is designed to enable you to

3. How much time does a Codility
showcase your skills to help
assessment take?
determine if they are well-suited for
the job, but this is only one step in
Codility assessments vary in
the hiring process. Cheating and
length but typically last between
plagiarism are easy to discover,
half an hour and two hours. The
reduce your chance of getting hired,
exact time limit is set by your test
and could harm your reputation.
administrator and depends on the
number of tasks, and is visible on
the test intro page linked in the Ask your recruiter.
email invite. Keep in mind that
If you have any concerns or doubts
once you begin the assessment,
before starting the assessment,
you cannot pause or stop the
please discuss them with your hiring
timer, so be sure to set aside
team.
enough time to complete the
entire assessment in one sitting.
Codility assessments are
designed to allow plenty of time
to complete all tasks without
rushing, and the time it takes you
to solve the tasks does not factor

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into automated scoring. Please
note that the time limit you see
on your screen is for the whole
assessment, not a single task.
Once the time runs out, the code
present in the IDE is submitted
automatically and the
assessment is ended.

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4. What type of code will I write

during the assessment?

Each assessment consists of

several tasks that will require you
to solve technical problems by
writing or modifying short
programs (usually 10–20 lines),
or by answering technical
questions. Tasks differ in
difficulty and scope. The tasks in
your assessment were chosen to
reflect skills actually needed for a
specific role. You can view the
number of tasks and permissible
languages by clicking on the
assessment link in your email
invite.

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5. How will my solutions be

assessed?

Your solutions will need to

compile to be evaluated, so
before submitting them we
recommend running and testing
your solutions in our online
environment. After you submit
your solutions and finish the
assessment, Codility will
automatically run your solutions
against multiple test cases to
verify their correctness (i.e.,
whether your code handles
corner cases) and scalability (i.e.,
whether your code remains
practical as the data size grows).
Codility will provide the results to
your assessment administrator.

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6. Will I receive or be able to view
my results?

This depends on the preferences

of the test administrator and the
purpose of the assessment.

For hiring, some teams share

results with candidates while
others choose to keep them
confidential. If you do not receive
results immediately following
your assessment, the hiring team
has chosen to keep your results
confidential.

Results of internal assessments

conducted for skill-based talent
management, learning and
development are usually shared
with the test taker.

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7. Do I have to take the

assessment immediately after
receiving an invitation?

Your invitation will specify

whether there is a deadline by
which you must complete the
assessment. If you need to delay
for any reason, please contact
your assessment administrator.
Otherwise, we recommend
completing your assessment
within a day or two of receiving
the invitation and link.

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8. What behavioral events will

you track?

This depends on the policies of

your testing team. Some may
require tracking your screen or
using the camera, and in this
case you will need to allow the
Codility platform to access them.
If you run into any issues, see: I
can’t connect my camera

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9. Is the Codility testing
environment accessible to test
takers with disabilities?

We’ve worked hard to provide a

fair experience for all test-takers,
including those with disabilities.
Therefore, our platform:
Meets WCAG 2.1 AA web
accessibility guidelines
Is compatible with screen
readers and supports
keyboard navigation
Accessibility Mode (user-
enabled) supports up to
400% zoom in the IDE
Has built-in reminders
prompting candidates to
notify test administrators if
extra time or other
accommodations are
needed

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10. Do I need to install any

software?

You will need to use a supported

browser (Chrome ≥ 115,
ChromiumEdge ≥ 115, Firefox ≥
115, Opera ≥ 101, Safari ≥ 15) to
complete the assessment. You
will not need to install any
applications or browser plug-ins.
The Codility interface contains a
coding environment that provides
everything you need to solve the
tasks (you can edit, compile, and
run your solutions as many times
as you’d like before submitting
your code). If you prefer to use
other programming tools, see:
Can I use my own IDE?

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11. Which browsers are

supported?

Codility assessments can be

completed using Chrome ≥ 115,
ChromiumEdge ≥ 115, Firefox ≥
115, Opera ≥ 101, Safari ≥ 15. You
must use a supported browser to
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complete the assessment. You
will receive an alert if our system
detects that you are attempting
to complete the assessment on
an unsupported browser.

If your assessment requires you

to share your screen as part of
behavioral tracking, you will need
to use one of the following
browsers: Chrome ≥ 115,
ChromiumEdge ≥ 115, Opera ≥
101.

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During your assessment

1. Can I modify the initial code?

Yes, but be sure to leave the

function signature exactly as it is
provided. Otherwise, our
assessment engine will not be
able to run your program. With
that in mind, feel free to add
helper functions,
imports/includes, etc. Be aware
that some tasks feature
additional restrictions on how
much of the initial code you are
allowed to modify. In these cases,
the task is evaluating your skill in
making as few edits as possible
to address the stated problem.

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2. How can I test my solution

before submitting it?

Our environment enables you to

compile and execute your code
against an example test case.
You can add your own test cases,
too. You can see how this works
in our demo assessment.

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3. I clicked “Run” and the app

said, “OK”. Does this mean I

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successfully solved the task?

Not necessarily. Clicking “Run”

and receiving an “OK” message
only verifies that your code
compiles and returns the correct
result for the example test case.
Try to make sure your code works
correctly and efficiently with all
possible inputs.

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4. May I consult a book, website,

or colleague?

During the assessment, you must

work on your own. You may not
consult with or seek help from
other people. Review the
assessment policies included in
your test link to determine if the
use of other resources if
permitted by the testing
organization. You can also
contact your test administrator
with questions.

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5. Can I use my own IDE?

You should follow the policy

communicated by your test. If
permitted, you can write your
solution in an editor of your
choice and paste the solution
back into the Codility interface.
Use the “Run” button to make
sure the code has been properly
copied and that Codility is able to
compile and execute it. Your
compiler is not necessarily the
same as ours, so remember to
write portable, standards-
compliant code. The supported
language version is displayed in
the Codility interface.

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6. Which libraries can I use?

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Unless explicitly specified in the
task description, you may only
use the standard libraries and
imports of the programming
languages supported in a given
task.

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7. Should I verify the validity of

input data?

No, you don’t need to check

whether any assumptions given
in the task are true.

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8. Will my coding style affect my

score?

In some cases, yes. Some tasks

are specifically designed to
assess coding style and include it
in the score. In most cases, style
does not currently factor into our
automated scoring program, but
your testing team may manually
review your submitted code and
take style into
account.Furthermore, test
administrators may request a
review of submitted solutions by
a Codility assessment expert.

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9. How do I save my code?

Codility saves your code

automatically. If you close the
browser window and open it
again, you will resume where you
left off. You can work on more
than one task simultaneously -
that is, you can move freely
among the tasks without having
submitted solutions. When you
have completed a task and are
sure your solution is ready, click
the “Submit” button. You will not
be able to modify this solution
after submitting it.

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10. What if I run out of time?

As soon as time runs out, Codility

saves and assesses your code.
Your solutions will need to
compile to be evaluated, so we
recommend testing your code
throughout your problem-solving
process to ensure your solution
compiles.

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11. Will I lose points for syntax

errors?

If your final submission doesn't

compile, we won’t be able to
assess your program and your
solution will not earn any points.
Be sure to use the “Run” button to
check for compilation errors
while working on the solution. For
more information, see How can I
test my solution before
submitting it?

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12. How many points did I earn?

You earn points as your

submitted solution passes unit
tests that check if requirements
outlined in the task description
were met. If you do not receive
results immediately following
your assessment, the test
administrator has chosen to keep
your results confidential.

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Online interviewing with

Interview

1. What environment does

Codility offer for interviewing?

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Codility offers a collaborative
video programming platform that
facilitates technical interviews
and pair programming sessions
for engineering teams.

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2. My Interview session is not

active yet - when will I be able to
enter?

Once your technical interviewer

starts the session, you will be
able to enter. If you are having a
problem entering the Interview
session, please contact the
interviewer or test administrator.

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Troubleshooting Expand all

1. My assessment link doesn't

work

Please take a screenshot of your

browser when trying to open the
test link and send it to your test
administrator.

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2. I misunderstood the task

description

If you realize after the test that

you misunderstood a task and
submitted an incorrect solution, it
is a good idea to let your test
administrator know. How this
situation is handled is up to the
test administrator and their
organization’s policies.

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3. My code doesn’t work in the

Codility environment

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4. My editor froze

5. My test requires camera

access but I don’t have a web
camera on my device. What
should I do?

6. My test requires camera

access but I don’t have a web
camera on my device. What
should I do?

7. I lost power or my internet

connection during the
assessment

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