I'm not sure I understand the question. What do you think the options are? I only see a few: * Give it your best shot * Bail and tell them you can't/won't do

I'm not sure I understand the question. What do you think the options are? I only see a few: * Give it your best shot * Bail and tell them you can't/won't do it * Tell them you need more time to show you what you're capable of Not knowing what the test actually involves it's difficult to provide any meaningful advice. There are a lot of packaged solutions for ML these days, and many of them are relatively easy to get started with. There are even books that walk you through the process. If I were doing it I'd just resign myself to the fact that a weekend, even assuming you could be productive for 48h straight, is only 48h. If I really wanted the job I'd take a good portion of those to giving it my best shot, but I'd sleep and take breaks to avoid the burnout and poor quality that would come through. If, on Monday morning, I felt comfortable enough with my result, I'd send it to them and say "this is what I had time to do". If I didn't feel like it was at the caliber I believed they'd accept, I'd tell them I took my best shot, but it wasn't up to my own standards, and ask what they thought the next steps should be. I'd be honest about wanting the job, I'd be honest about the holes in my knowledge, and I'd ask for advice.