personally, i can see why people want this, but as an engineer i'd only do it if i was either pretty desperate (like, not having a job), or if there was a chanc

personally, i can see why people want this, but as an engineer i'd only do it if i was either pretty desperate (like, not having a job), or if there was a chance to learn something pretty cool. if the trial week were as interesting as, say, the matasano crypto challenge, then i'd do it even if i wasn't looking for a job. but i guess making something like that is difficult. now i suspect most companies would like candidates who think that working there is "pretty cool" in itself. but let's be honest - jobs aren't like that. they have good bits and bad bits. and picking out just the good bits for a week, for someone who doesn't understand the context, is hard. so it seems to me that there's a disadvantage to the company - they are discouraging people who are good enough to not be desperate and attract people who think that a typical job (sorry, but most are, by definition) is "pretty cool". or maybe they just get younger, less cynical employees ;o)