The latest trend for tech interviews: Days of unpaid homework

Post by notyourloops » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 4:54 PM UTC

some_account wrote: post #89

I prefer homework to timed, monitored programming sessions. But the task should never be a big task. When i interviewed for a backend development position, the task was to set up flask with two routes, connect to a dB and retrieve a couple of rows when user visited the routes. It was not hard even though I never worked with flask before, and it wasn't supposed to be hard either. It was a test if I had basic programmi…

Post by danpalmer » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 9:06 PM UTC

hvidgaard wrote: post #42

danpalmer wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to pass judgement on your coding exercise, and it certainly seems fishy with the contract, however... I would point out that on the hiring side, evaluating a submitted project in a way that can differentiate between good and great candidates, and that the reviewers can understand well enough to get the signal they need, is very difficult. Because of this, I know several times we have asked candidates to…

That is fine, just be upfront about it. Still require a contract for it is reeking of trying to get work for "free". If you have it running in production, and use it because you understand it thoroughly, it shouldn't matter what the candidate comes up with. Any new insight he might bring you can always incorporate with your own code. In any case none of the code is expected to be used in production, and if it turns o…

Post by fao_ » Mon, Apr 23, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

lajhsdfkl wrote: post #626

fao_ wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered that you might both be talking about different sectors of tech, and different countries? The EU / UK / US / etc. tech markets vary wildly in these things.

Of course he could be talking about Europe but there are very few European "tech" companies. Tech is a horrible descriptor of course, he could be talking about 1000 different things. OP seems to be referring specifically to tech startups with dubious financial situations but then goes on to say that all tech companies are bad to work for

Post by cozicoolmail » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:14 AM UTC

jasonvm wrote: post #418

cozicoolmail wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my current job (where i've interviewed candidates) we give out a take home assignment, but we explicitly enforce a 2 hour time limit to do it. We felt this was reasonable because combined with an onsite interview and a phone screen, the total amount of time a candidate would spend interviewing for a position is about 8 hours (a typical workday). I'm not against take home assignments per se - but 3 day assignments…

I think this is the best approach. You get the opportunity to do exactly what the job expects, without the pressure of having to manage communication with someone breathing down your neck. A savvy employer can extrapolate what you're able to produce over 2 hours to whatever project they'd have you work on.

Post by toblender » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

DenisM wrote: post #78

toblender wrote: post #72

I spent days almost 10 hours, completing a massive interview project for one company. I submitted a fully working solution, had unit test, was pixel perfect, and they didn't even give me an interview. Not only that they gave me a vague reason, only after pressing for feedback. Left a very bad taste in my mouth, don't think I'll be doing code assignments again, what a waste of time.

Would you still do it if you were paid for your time? Say $500 for this 10 hour project.