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A hackathon is an event where programmers, developers, and software engineers, sometimes called hackers, come together to work collaboratively on a programming challenge over a set period of time. Companies also use hackathons as a hiring event to identify strong technical candidates in a setting that looks a lot more like real work than a traditional interview.
Hackathon projects are also valuable for boosting professional creativity and self expression through innovative, modern technological solutions. When an idea or a problem comes up, experts, professionals, and specialists with technical backgrounds collaborate to develop a strategy or solution, and this approach has produced everything from robots to mobile apps to entire websites.
Despite the name, in the context of hackathons the word hack is not related to computer crime. It refers to exploring the limits of a particular idea or technological achievement, working quickly and creatively rather than breaking into a system.
Hackathon is a combination of two words: hack and marathon. Hackathons are exploratory programming events where people gather around a shared interest and give their best effort to find unique solutions to technical problems.
Whether it is centered on a specific technology or a broader theme, a hackathon is usually built around a product that needs to be built and delivered as a working prototype within a fixed window of time. It brings together project managers, designers, developers, and programmers to work on software projects as a team. There is a competitive spirit, but the main goal is creativity and building something new.
Today, hackathons remain a common way for programmers around the world to stay current with the latest technological approaches, and an educational dimension has been added to the original concept as more schools and bootcamps run their own events.
Hackathons offer several concrete benefits, which is exactly why they have stayed popular as both a technical and a hiring event.
For hiring teams specifically, hackathons double as a practical hiring opportunity. Watching candidates work through a real technical problem under time pressure and alongside other engineers reveals collaboration style, problem solving approach, and code quality in a way a resume or a single interview cannot.
What is a hackathon?
A hackathon is an event where programmers, developers, and other technical specialists work together, usually over a fixed and often short period of time, to build a working solution or prototype to a specific problem or theme.
Why do companies use hackathons for hiring?
Hackathons let hiring teams watch candidates solve real problems, collaborate with others, and write actual code, which gives a much clearer signal of technical and team skills than a resume or a standard interview alone.
How long does a typical hackathon last?
Hackathons commonly run anywhere from a single day to a full weekend, though the exact format varies by organizer and by whether the event is public, internal, or run specifically for recruiting.
What is the difference between a hackathon and a coding challenge?
A coding challenge is usually a shorter, individual exercise focused on a specific problem, while a hackathon is typically team based, longer, and centered on building a more complete project or prototype.
What skills does a hackathon actually reveal about a candidate?
Beyond raw coding ability, a hackathon reveals problem solving approach, how a candidate collaborates under pressure, communication style, and whether they can turn an idea into a working result within a real deadline.
Hackathons are a great signal, but they only reach candidates who can attend a live event. Glider AI’s skill assessment platform lets you evaluate coding ability, problem solving, and technical depth at scale, so you can apply the same rigor a hackathon provides to every candidate in your pipeline, not just the ones who show up on event day.
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