We're hiring a few backend developers and I'd like to include something more practical than just a coding challenge. Instead of asking candidates to write code from scratch, I'm interested in seeing how well they can spot security issues and review existing code. Has anyone used a platform for this as part of their hiring process? I'm looking for something that works well in interviews and gives realistic secure coding or code review exercises.

The hiring process for backend devs is already a slog even before you get to the technical part. Half the time you filter through dozens of resumes and the people who look great on paper completely fall apart when you actually put code in front of them. Code review tasks are one of the better filters out there. You see how someone thinks when they're not building from scratch, whether they catch the obvious stuff and whether they dig deeper into logic and edge cases. A lot of teams pair it with a quick conversation where the candidate explains their reasoning, which tells you way more than just a clean solution with no context.

Most devs can write something that works, but catching security issues before they blow up is a completely different skill. A standard coding test won't show you anything about that side of things. You can use the secure coding training here https://codereviewlab.com/challenges. The tasks are built around realistic scenarios so you get a real sense of how someone handles actual vulnerabilities . Works well as part of a live interview too, you can actually see how they approach things under a bit of pressure.