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Ask HN: A coding test or working for free?

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Re: Ask HN: A coding test or working for free?

#11

Post by overgard »

Honest question: is tricking coders into doing work for free a thing that actually happens? I'm not saying it doesn't, I've just never heard of it.

From their end, if that was a thing they regularly did, it would be such a hassle. After all, you'd have to find a new person to do that work every time, find a way to split up the work into very small chunks, and who knows if the result from a person off the street would be usable?

My guess would be that he was trying to evaluate how you respond to bug fixes and criticism. (Still sounds like a weird interview strategy though)

Re: Ask HN: A coding test or working for free?

#13

Post by maratd »

feedjoelpie wrote: post #7

I haven't run into this on the interviewee end, but my company has applicants work on real projects, and here's how we deal with it: Pay them.

This is a simple solution to the problem. Paying someone for an hour or two is absolutely nothing for a healthy company.

So if the company wants to have you write code to prove your mettle, have them pay you for the time.

Re: Ask HN: A coding test or working for free?

#14

Post by alphanumeric0 »

overgard wrote: post #11

Honest question: is tricking coders into doing work for free a thing that actually happens? I'm not saying it doesn't, I've just never heard of it. From their end, if that was a thing they regularly did, it would be such a hassle. After all, you'd have to find a new person to do that work every time, find a way to split up the work into very small chunks, and who knows if the result from a person off the street would…

This is a valid point. I agree it doesn't seem like an efficient way of conducting a business in the long-term, but for a one-off problem that they happen to be stuck on, it makes more sense.

The feeling I got was that they weren't developers by trade (the code quality I mentioned was a red flag), very small, early-stage startup with no money and they needed expert help, fast.

Re: Ask HN: A coding test or working for free?

#15

Post by xsace »

maratd wrote: post #13
feedjoelpie wrote: post #7

I haven't run into this on the interviewee end, but my company has applicants work on real projects, and here's how we deal with it: Pay them.

This is a simple solution to the problem. Paying someone for an hour or two is absolutely nothing for a healthy company. So if the company wants to have you write code to prove your mettle, have them pay you for the time.

Except you cannot do that in every country. You know, Labour right.

Re: Ask HN: A coding test or working for free?

#16

Post by jcwilde »

overgard wrote: post #11

Honest question: is tricking coders into doing work for free a thing that actually happens? I'm not saying it doesn't, I've just never heard of it. From their end, if that was a thing they regularly did, it would be such a hassle. After all, you'd have to find a new person to do that work every time, find a way to split up the work into very small chunks, and who knows if the result from a person off the street would…

Most companies that do this (unintentionally, I believe) are not benefiting from the actual work product, but from the consulting regarding their business problems.

How much do you think a consultant would charge to come in for a few hours and discuss their needs, not to mention put some working code together for their problem?

Re: Ask HN: A coding test or working for free?

#18

Post by bweitzman »

jcwilde wrote: post #5

Am I to understand from your explanation that they asked you to solve a real business problem with real business data as an unpaid "coding test"? If so, I'd say they were clearly in the (legal) wrong even before asking for the refined version.

I had an interview at a company once which was basically pair programming with a few different engineers for a full day on real code written for real clients. The best part was the NDA they asked me to sign 6 months later.
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