31–40 of 92 posts
After having been asked this several times, I've begun to make it clear that I will only engage in these tests if I'm compensated for the time. It's a delicate thing to do, really, telling someone that, no, you're not going to work for free, just on the hope that you might get a job. But it doesn't only happen in this industry: my niece is a graphic designer & has been asked to provide samples of her work on projects…
My interview for a freelance gig was wrapping up, and the COO asked if I would be willing to "fix a few bugs in the system" to see if I were a "good fit" for the project. I asked point blank if they were asking me to do work for free. He responded that no, he was not, and that the task would take no more than 30 minutes to an hour. I said that I would be happy to take a programming test, or provide some other proof of competency, but that it's pretty non-standard to ask me to fix bugs in a system for free, especially for a limited hour freelance gig.
Up until that point, we were discussing project time lines, handing over of logins, and my number of hours of availability. I got an email the next day saying that they were going to go another direction. Likely, trying to fund some other suckers to fix their bugs for free.
That smells a bit fishy. I think you've dodged a bullet. I have to be a bit cautious here, because our company does something similar. We have a little programming challenge that we ask candidates to submit. We don't use those submissions in production. We find it gives people with non-traditional backgrounds a chance to show their chops, and gives us some meat to discuss during an interview. The challenge probably t…
After having been asked this several times, I've begun to make it clear that I will only engage in these tests if I'm compensated for the time. It's a delicate thing to do, really, telling someone that, no, you're not going to work for free, just on the hope that you might get a job. But it doesn't only happen in this industry: my niece is a graphic designer & has been asked to provide samples of her work on projects…
That smells a bit fishy. I think you've dodged a bullet. I have to be a bit cautious here, because our company does something similar. We have a little programming challenge that we ask candidates to submit. We don't use those submissions in production. We find it gives people with non-traditional backgrounds a chance to show their chops, and gives us some meat to discuss during an interview. The challenge probably t…
What we've found is that the best folks want a (paid) trial - not because they want us to trial them, but because they want to trial us. Works out for everyone.
One big downside of trials is they exclude people who are already employed...ah well, can't win 'em all.
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except you cannot do that in every country. You know, Labour right.
I'm not sure I understand. Care to elaborate? Pointers?
That smells a bit fishy. I think you've dodged a bullet. I have to be a bit cautious here, because our company does something similar. We have a little programming challenge that we ask candidates to submit. We don't use those submissions in production. We find it gives people with non-traditional backgrounds a chance to show their chops, and gives us some meat to discuss during an interview. The challenge probably t…
That's because it is demeaning. It represents a large chunk of someone's life invested in proving that they're good enough for you. It's also inherently asymmetric in that the company you work for could not possibly be economically harmed by a week-long trial period, but a single person could be financially devastated by it. Additionally, if the person discovers an illness during that period, do you provide health insurance? What about employees coming from other employers? Do they have to quit their prior jobs or use up vacation time to complete your "interview" process?
A four or eight hour programming exercise skirts some really stupid aspects of interviews and the hiring process. Of course that's welcome. A week-long commitment to work is a sizable tenure as a second-class citizen undergoing prolonged scrutiny.
Your company should be deeply ashamed of this practice.