Online skill assessment tests are a good starting place to demonstrate your capabilities. When LinkedIn prompted me to do a "Skill Assessment Test", I jumped at the opportunity. Since the test can be repeated once, with little preparation, I choose to sit the exam.

I think I got two questions wrong but ended in the top 5%. That makes me wonder about the competency of others who took the test 🤭.

Note: This is not a discussion of answers. The questions can vary from subject to subject, and you should not prepare yourself for the questions I got. However, it is beneficial for a developer to have practice questions. I shall write a follow-up blog post with the questions I faced and their answers.

Test Characteristics

The LinkedIn Skill Assessment test comprises 15 multiple-choice questions (MCQs), each with a 90s timeout. The 15 I faced were easy, but I got two wrong. The questions were straightforward enough to get at least 14/15 for any competent Rails developer with RoR experience.

Here is some advice if you plan to sit the Ruby on Rails Skill Assessment Test on LinkedIn.

• Maintain a distraction-free environment
• Go through the Rails guides (including Rails API)
• Record your screen with a mic

Distraction-Free Environment

The 90s (1min 30s) timeout has no place for monkey business. Keep your phone and other distractions under control. I'd recommend you talk to anyone at your workplace or home not to disturb you for 15 minutes. One short conversation and you forget what you read, and you are dangerously close to the deadline. I had only 5s to read and answer, and I got one answer wrong.

Rails guides - your best friend

The guides provided by Ruby on Rails have always impressed me. On every significant Rails release, I find myself going through the documents. Regardless of your experience, I recommend you quickly go through RoR documentation starting from here.

The questions you get are straightforward, and since they are MCQs, you can quickly figure out the answer if you have some familiarity.

In addition to the RoR guide, I recommend you be familiar with ActiveModel Serializers GEM. Just reading the readme file in the repo should do, but I recommend you try it out. I missed the GEM since it wasn't mentioned in the documentation, but fortunately, I had used it extensively until three years ago.

Record Screen

It is always a good idea for you to record your sessions. I use QuickTime on macOS to record almost all my interviews to review them later to see how I can improve. Looking at your blunders gives you the incentive to try harder to be better.

If you have to retake the test, which you can, this might give you insight into where and how you can improve in your next attempt.

Conclusion

The Linkedin Skill Assessment Test is easy and would take you less than 15 minutes to complete. Even without preparation, a decent Rails developer will get in the top 30% required to achieve a badge. But it's good to occasionally refresh your knowledge and face the test.

I wish you best of luck and happy hacking!