Well, what isn't a gamble of the candidates time? I'm assuming that the two hour test is done from home, and depending on travel time, that's a lot smaller inve

Well, what isn't a gamble of the candidates time? I'm assuming that the two hour test is done from home, and depending on travel time, that's a lot smaller investment of time than travelling in for an on-site interview, plus it's likely to give significantly better signal than a two-hour on-site session early in the process. Yet another way to look at it is as leveling the paying field. A two hour on-site costs the company at least two hours engineering time, so you have to sort more aggressively in incoming applications - this puts those with "high value brands" (top universities and well known employers/internships) at an advantage over a maybe equally qualified candidate with an off-the-beaten-path CV. A complete-from-home test is much, much quicker and comfortable to "grade" and can thus be given out much more broadly.