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OK as someone looking for employment, I feel ambivalent about this and probably would pull the plug on the process if you asked for non trivial work from me. I

OK as someone looking for employment, I feel ambivalent about this and probably would pull the plug on the process if you asked for non trivial work from me. I understand the need to weed out applicants that lack skills. This can and should be done by technical screening conducted by qualified individuals. FWIW this opinion is based on experience. I've conducted more interviews than I have given. As an applicant I once went through a fairly lengthy interview process that first did a screening interviews including live coding exercises. They were conducted and critiqued in real time. I have no issue with these. You can either do what you say, or you can't and it becomes apparent fast. The next stage is where I started to question the company's processes - They requested a small "project" followed by an interview. I _nearly_ pulled the plug on this, since it was a request for 10+ hours coding, but did it anyway. The next interview involved a fairly in depth defense of my code and design choices, white board work that again put my skill set to the test real time. After several hours of this, I was requested to do another "small project" and I walked away. TL;DR Ask me a million questions, put my skills to the test on the spot, but don't ask free work... I'll think you're unable to judge my skill/confused/a scammer or whatever.

ksat 14y ago
+1 and Agree. It's wrong to get free work. However, just out of curiosity how would you have felt if the employer has actually paid you for those "small projects"? (To be clear: No guarantee that you will get the Job, but payment is guaranteed for the hours you put in)
- GoodIntentions 14y ago
  Payment, or even a donation to charity for a token amount - say 1/3 the value of the work - would go far, but I still think it is the wrong approach. Companies requiring this sort of project work should be aware it smells funny to the applicant and the only way to tell if the applicant did the work him/herself is a tear-down / code defence. You have not saved any effort from the hire process - only tested if I am willing to jump through a hoop and made me question the company.
utlanning 14y ago
I've had experiences similar to yours and have also had the same reaction. Technical interviews and whiteboarding is one thing, but projects -- especially MULTIPLE projects! -- get very obnoxious very fast. The actual project is a drain on my time and energy of course. In addition, by dragging out the interviewing process over weeks or months, you're killing my actual desire to work there. Two months of hoop-jumping is annoying, and I'm embarassed that I ever put up with it. I make clear now to any company I'm interviewing with two things: 1. Let's get to "yes" or "no" quickly 2. I'll do one project as long as it can not only be completed in 2 hours, but that 2 hours' worth of work on the project will yield something that I can be proud to show you. #1 is obvious, but #2 is very, very important. If your project is "create a blog app", yes I can complete it in two hours. But it will be gross and not something I'm proud of. I will definitely spend more time on it getting it just right so that when you see it you'll be blown away. What does this mean for the interviewing company? Don't give me an open-ended project. Tell me specifically what kind of thing you want, what functionality you want, and don't put shit like "...anything else you think is cool for bonus points!" That, IMO, translates to hidden requirements and guessing what you actually want.

ksat 14y ago

+1 and Agree. It's wrong to get free work. However, just out of curiosity how would you have felt if the employer has actually paid you for those "small projects"? (To be clear: No guarantee that you will get the Job, but payment is guaranteed for the hours you put in)

GoodIntentions 14y ago
Payment, or even a donation to charity for a token amount - say 1/3 the value of the work - would go far, but I still think it is the wrong approach. Companies requiring this sort of project work should be aware it smells funny to the applicant and the only way to tell if the applicant did the work him/herself is a tear-down / code defence. You have not saved any effort from the hire process - only tested if I am willing to jump through a hoop and made me question the company.

utlanning 14y ago

I've had experiences similar to yours and have also had the same reaction. Technical interviews and whiteboarding is one thing, but projects -- especially MULTIPLE projects! -- get very obnoxious very fast. The actual project is a drain on my time and energy of course. In addition, by dragging out the interviewing process over weeks or months, you're killing my actual desire to work there. Two months of hoop-jumping is annoying, and I'm embarassed that I ever put up with it. I make clear now to any company I'm interviewing with two things: 1. Let's get to "yes" or "no" quickly 2. I'll do one project as long as it can not only be completed in 2 hours, but that 2 hours' worth of work on the project will yield something that I can be proud to show you. #1 is obvious, but #2 is very, very important. If your project is "create a blog app", yes I can complete it in two hours. But it will be gross and not something I'm proud of. I will definitely spend more time on it getting it just right so that when you see it you'll be blown away. What does this mean for the interviewing company? Don't give me an open-ended project. Tell me specifically what kind of thing you want, what functionality you want, and don't put shit like "...anything else you think is cool for bonus points!" That, IMO, translates to hidden requirements and guessing what you actually want.