Like Pokemon for adults: Codetoki lets you collect points for prospective employers

Collect badges, prove your worth. This isn't a Pokemon challenge but a gamified platform for aspiring coders where they can show off their skills in using JavaScript, Ruby, or PHP to potential employers.

 

The gamified platform is called Codetoki (codetoki.com) – a company founded by two developers from the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu, Honeylyn Balingcasag and Donna Limoran.

 

Codetoki offers 'challenges' that test a coder's problem-solving skills. Each challenge is equivalent to a certain number of points: a user can choose which challenge to partake in depending on the difficulty level or the programming language being used.

 

Each challenge presents a set of instructions and a code. Once a user gives the solution to the problem presented, he earns a badge and the equivalent number of points.

 

A user can beef up his portfolio by solving more problems, thereby, earning more points and badges. The best make it to the Leaderboard, where the coders with the most number of points are ranked.

 

Codetoki also has a Job Board where people can search for available positions in companies they want to apply to.

Growing software industry
 

The local software industry has grown rapidly with US$1.16 billion export revenues by the end of 2012, according to Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) president Joey Gurango. However, it will continue to experience challenges in the talent supply.

 

“Codetoki aims to help fresh graduates with no industry experience hone their skills and showcase their potential to companies. It will also ease the companies’ pain in their search for qualified applicants,” says Codetoki co-founder Honeylyn Balingcasag, a management graduate from UP Cebu.

 

“We want to send a message to students to keep learning because the opportunities available are grand. There are resources like Codetoki available online and mostly for free. The basic knowledge of programming can be self-learned. What they need is the right attitude to take control of their careers,” Balingcasag added.

 

Codetoki is one of the start-up companies incubated in the PSIA's SPrInG.PH (Software Products Incubation Group) program where mentorship from experienced technopreneurs is offered.

 

Codetoki received top honors in AppBridge, an initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGL) in 2012, and won first place in AppsForAsia, a competition sponsored by Microsoft and Asian Development Bank (ADB). The latter allowed founders Balingcasag and Limoran to exhibit Codetoki in ADB's 46th Annual Meeting in New Delhi, India in May this year. — TJD, GMA News