A Chance To Win A Contest And A JobA Chance To Win A Contest And A Job

A startup that gives programmers and software developers the opportunity to test their skills against their peers in online competitions is launching its own recruiting service. TopCoder Inc. has already recruited General Electric, Google, and Apex Data Services Inc. as customers.

Employers pay to post openings on TopCoder's Web site. TopCoder says it has more than 20,000 registered users for the service--mostly students from top engineering universities such as Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Stanford. The users are grouped by skills, such as those who are proficient in C++ or Java. TopCoder gives employers competition statistics for each applicant, shows them the problems each one solved, and reveals the source code each used.

This "gives employers more confidence," says Rob Hughes, president of TopCoder. "When they bring someone in, they know the candidate can write code effectively." Apex is looking for internal-software developers, GE for information-management leadership candidates, and Google for coders to further develop its PageRank search algorithm.

Employers can post up to 15 jobs as part of a three-month plan, 30 for six months, and 50 for 12 months. Fees range from $3,000 to $10,000.