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I think the test that is the least stressful as well as most closely simulates the work they'll actually be doing is to give interviewees some "homework" that t
by ryandvm 10y ago
I think the test that is the least stressful as well as most closely simulates the work they'll actually be doing is to give interviewees some "homework" that they should be able to knock out in a few hours before their interview. Maybe write a few API endpoints or whatever.
This allows them to tackle the exercise at their own pace and do it at a level of quality that they're comfortable with.
If you're concerned they'll cheat and have their friends do it for them - you needn't be. As long as the interviewer is knowledgeable enough to ask good questions (e.g. "Why did you use that auth strategy?" or "What performance problems do you anticipate?") you'll quickly be able to tell if they fully understand the problem space. That's a much more useful test than asking someone to implement a red/black tree.
- steego 10y agoDo you think I should ask people if they prefer the homework format? That answer might be eye-opening itself.
- david-gpu 10y agoGoing to an interview is already a time-consuming affair that requires taking time off from your current job, but at least you know the interviewer is somewhat serious because they are willing to spend their own time interviewing you. With a "homework assignment" it is possible for the interviewer to throw a much wider net, and that is why as an job hunter I would not waste my time with it.
- CodeWriter23 10y agoI would reject that as well, it indicates the company thinks nothing of giving me a half day of work to do for free.
- ryandvm 10y agoOh I don't think it should be free. They should definitely compensate you at a reasonable market rate for a couple hours of effort.
- pseudalopex 10y agoWhat about letting people provide code they've already written? It might take more effort to come up with good questions, but the answers should be more interesting.
- qudat 10y agoI'm going to go against the grain and say homework assignments work for me. If I know that I would perform better at them instead of a whiteboard code test then I would take the time. But I think you can see the bias here, the people that are interested in taking a homework assignment over in person interviews are ones that prefer them.