Remote technical interviews are often full of friction, requiring candidates to flip between their video chatting and testing apps. In a bid to solve that problem and gain a competitive edge in the crowded enterprise chat space, Microsoft has built a new code editor into its Skype calling platform.
The interview tool allows candidates to edit code in seven programming languages — C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, and Python — with a video chat window laid on top of the app. Interviewers can switch between languages during the session.
The feature is only available in the web version of Skype and can be accessed at Skype.com/interviews in the Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browser (version 32 and above). The feature is in testing and Skype is collecting feedback from users here.
To set up interviews, a hiring manager simply signs up on the website and gets a unique link to share with the interviewee.
Microsoft has been doubling down on its bid for dominance in enterprise messaging for the past few years. In addition to bolstering Skype for Business, the company launched Teams, a platform that competes with popular workplace chat app Slack. That app incorporates other popular Microsoft enterprise apps, like Word, Excel, and Power BI. TechCrunch first reported on Skype’s new code editing tool.