Tech companies are getting more creative in their efforts to lure engineers by holding contests -- with cash prizes. That's what Quixey, a startup app search engine, did. The company hosted a programming contest where contestants had to solve a simple programming bug in 60 seconds or less. After one day, 81 out of 385 contestants had won the cash, and Quixey had a nice list of possible engineering recruits. What would you think of an employer who ran a contest as a recruiting tool? Tell us by posting a comment below. “It’s a competitive environment for hiring engineers,” said Liron Shapira, chief technology officer and co-founder of Quixey, who came up with the idea. “We wanted to distinguish ourselves and get our name out there.” The effort has resulted in Quixey hiring three full-time engineers and three interns so far, CNBC says. Facebook also invites prospective developers to submit solutions to programming puzzles posted on its site. New York-based SeatGeek asked job candidates to hack into its site in order to submit their resumes. One hundred people were successful, so now SeatGeek asks all prospective programmers to do it. (The task takes about 10 minutes if done correctly.) In fact, SeatGeek has expanded the program to create tests for non-engineering positions such as media reps and office managers. Companies Lure Engineers With Programming Challenges
Tech companies are getting more creative in their efforts to lure engineers by holding contests -- with cash prizes. That's what Quixey, a startup app search engine, did. The company hosted a programming contest where contestants had to solve a simple programming bug in 60 seconds or less. After one day, 81 out of 385 contestants had won the cash, and Quixey had a nice list of possible engineering recruits. What would you think of an employer who ran a contest as a recruiting tool? Tell us by posting a comment below. “It’s a competitive environment for hiring engineers,” said Liron Shapira, chief technology officer and co-founder of Quixey, who came up with the idea. “We wanted to distinguish ourselves and get our name out there.” The effort has resulted in Quixey hiring three full-time engineers and three interns so far, CNBC says. Facebook also invites prospective developers to submit solutions to programming puzzles posted on its site. New York-based SeatGeek asked job candidates to hack into its site in order to submit their resumes. One hundred people were successful, so now SeatGeek asks all prospective programmers to do it. (The task takes about 10 minutes if done correctly.) In fact, SeatGeek has expanded the program to create tests for non-engineering positions such as media reps and office managers. 
