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You have to lie about take-home assignments. That is the accepted way. I had a take home test that was to last 2 hours, and so I promised myself I would spend

You have to lie about take-home assignments. That is the accepted way. I had a take home test that was to last 2 hours, and so I promised myself I would spend no longer on it. I provided a complete log of what I did minute by minute for a take home test for the last test I did as a defensive measure... There was no break, no pondering, this was flat out knowing exactly what needed to be done and just typing constantly.... 0:00 - started cloning 2:37 - finished cloning 3:11 - npm install 3:53 - localhost working 7:24 - removed timeout (intentional bug left in) 10:41 - Got images returned from the server (npm run serve) 13:27 - CSS started - thinking about design 22:26 - Grid for desktop 36:16 - Included user info 49:56 - responsive 56:37 - Added performance section 1:07 - Name form 1:21 - Email validation 1:35 - Most fields done. Need DOB 1:42 - DOB done 1:53 - form styling 1:57 - tidying up 2:01 - Saved this file I didn't end up getting the job including feedback such as... - Did not upload job search indicating repo to GitHub - Didn't use `specific css attribute` - Grid is rudimentary (the 11 minute one I made) - HTML could be more semantic - Form validation for name allows numbers (actually a programming falacy that names can technically be anything) - Complaints about having multiple classes in one file. I'm wondering exactly where I could have fit these in? The week before I spent 4 hours on a task and delivered it within 12 hours of the assignment. I got an email with a single paragraph. `Unfortunately, after reviewing, the team has decided that they won't be moving forward to the next stage of the process with you` These tests all have unrealistic expectations. I used to enjoy doing them for the learning experience, but now, it's just a solid graft with zero downtime coding the same app time after time. So whenever I chat to a recruiter about the recruitment process I always drill down into the take home test, and the process of doing that let's them know that I won't be doing any take home tests. You have to simply question it sometimes and you can get it upgraded to a pair programming assignment which if you are honest, and have experience works in your favour.

IggleSniggle 5y ago
Oh man that is a truly fantastic timeline. Thanks so much for sharing it. It really clarified for me why I can’t ever seem to get the take-home assignment done. I care too much! I’ve withdrawn my application the last few times I’ve gotten task home assignments: I’d get to the 2 or 3 hour mark, realize I’m still working on clarifying my documentation (because I want to communicate that I consider this essential to a minimal product) and haven’t finished the feature(s) yet, call myself a shitty developer who is apparently an imposter, and then call it quits.
vmception 5y ago
The folly is that if you did upload to github, they would have wanted to see steady commit history as well, which would have given away how much time you actually worked on it. The key is lying because you already had a similar code base to use, most likely from interviewing so much you'd seen it before.
- real-dino 5y ago
  I actually didn't get a job for over-commiting. I hit a point where things were working, and wanted to be able to git-diff in VS Code, and they declined my application due to that. I was going to push as well, as I wanted to make sure that was set up right, but they associated that with 'pushing untested code to production'
  - vmception 5y ago
    yeah its completely arbitrary and they don't tell you what they are going to be scoring by but then they pretend its a meritocracy
nerdponx 5y ago
I've probably burned some bridges this way, but whenever this has happened to me I've sent strongly worded messages to the recruiter and hiring manager. It probably goes nowhere, but I think it's time that we as an industry stop putting up with this shit. It's also a great indication that it's not a company you want to work for anyway, but I don't have the stomach for accepting this level of disrespect towards applicants. The only people who benefit from this situation are the people who have the luxury and freedom of 20 hours to spend on take-home projects. And even when I was that person once, I still hated it.
Anthony-G 5y ago
That's seriously impressive work – though it occurs to me that you didn’t account for all the time spent thinking about what you were going to do in the two hours. And the feed-back is hilariously bad. I’ve often wished I’d focussed more on coding over system administration but reading accounts like this makes me happier about my recent career choices.

IggleSniggle 5y ago

Oh man that is a truly fantastic timeline. Thanks so much for sharing it. It really clarified for me why I can’t ever seem to get the take-home assignment done. I care too much! I’ve withdrawn my application the last few times I’ve gotten task home assignments: I’d get to the 2 or 3 hour mark, realize I’m still working on clarifying my documentation (because I want to communicate that I consider this essential to a minimal product) and haven’t finished the feature(s) yet, call myself a shitty developer who is apparently an imposter, and then call it quits.

vmception 5y ago

The folly is that if you did upload to github, they would have wanted to see steady commit history as well, which would have given away how much time you actually worked on it. The key is lying because you already had a similar code base to use, most likely from interviewing so much you'd seen it before.

real-dino 5y ago
I actually didn't get a job for over-commiting. I hit a point where things were working, and wanted to be able to git-diff in VS Code, and they declined my application due to that. I was going to push as well, as I wanted to make sure that was set up right, but they associated that with 'pushing untested code to production'
- vmception 5y ago
  yeah its completely arbitrary and they don't tell you what they are going to be scoring by but then they pretend its a meritocracy

nerdponx 5y ago

I've probably burned some bridges this way, but whenever this has happened to me I've sent strongly worded messages to the recruiter and hiring manager. It probably goes nowhere, but I think it's time that we as an industry stop putting up with this shit. It's also a great indication that it's not a company you want to work for anyway, but I don't have the stomach for accepting this level of disrespect towards applicants. The only people who benefit from this situation are the people who have the luxury and freedom of 20 hours to spend on take-home projects. And even when I was that person once, I still hated it.

Anthony-G 5y ago

That's seriously impressive work – though it occurs to me that you didn’t account for all the time spent thinking about what you were going to do in the two hours. And the feed-back is hilariously bad. I’ve often wished I’d focussed more on coding over system administration but reading accounts like this makes me happier about my recent career choices.