Comment by kylequest | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kylequest | Hacker News Reader

Take home assignments are as perfect as it gets (the assignments need to align with the role you have and there are also some challenges related to the scalability of the process and, in some cases, cheating). It filters those who think they are too good for it and it gives an opportunity for those who are competent and eager enough and those who don't do so well under stress when they are interrogated in front of a whiteboard (most people).

Those who complain that it takes too long to do homework assignments are not being honest about the actual time it takes to prepare for the traditional trivia-based interviews where it takes weeks and sometimes months to prepare. Somehow it's hard to find 2 - 3 hours for a homework assignment, but 6 month to prepare for a quiz interview is totally ok. Exaggerating a bit to make a point ;-)

Technical interviewing shouldn't be a separate skill engineers have to master because nobody wins here. The companies get people who are good at interviewing instead of doing the actual work the companies care about. Of course, the communication part of the interview is important because the engineers will need to work in a team environment.

> those who are competent and eager enough

That's one way to put it!

It's obviously none of my business, but I can't help but be curious whether you are currently responsible for hiring decisions, and if so whether or not you use take home assignments, and finally if so whether or not it is paid for. Or perhaps as an employee the process worked out for you. In either case, more details documenting how take home assignments work best in practice would always be appreciated!

A take home assignment beats many alternatives, but places the entire burden on the potential employee (employers love it!).

This is my position on both sides. I'll pick a homework assignment anytime when I have a chance as a candidate. I have lots of life commitments and this is one of the big reasons why I like it. I also like it because it's an opportunity to shine and be creative (it depends on the assignment, of course).

Yes, it's not perfect because you can end up dealing with somebody who doesn't like how you comment your code or they don't like your tests... It's actually a good thing in most cases because it also filters out the companies where you wouldn't want to work anyways.

It's an opportunity to have a meaningful and relevant conversation.

> It's an opportunity to have a meaningful and relevant conversation.

This sounds like the key and something many who complete take home assignments don't get.

[edit] Thanks for taking the time to add a bit more context.

Not all assignments are created equal. Like with anything it has to be well done.

When I hire people I craft the assignments for each candidate depending on the role and the person on the other side. It's also important to communicate the expectations and the desired outcomes. And it's also important to give an opportunity to the candidate to have a follow up requirements discovery step where they can ask any questions about the assignment.

Are you hiring 50% plus of the candidates that did the homework assignment for you? At 10% hiring rate, a candiate will have to do 20-30 hours worth of assignments for all the companies they interview, and I haven't once gotten an assignment that takes less than 5-6 hours.

Short answer, yes :)

There are a lot of details and finer points that need to be considered, of course. The quality of the assignments and how the process is executed are big factors here. It's also important for the assignments to have a well defined scope. Having an opportunity to ask follow up questions is also important (also mirrors the actual software development process where the requirements might be a bit fuzzy).

Homework assignments do have an effect on the job searching strategies. It's not ideal to do a homework assignment for 10 companies at the same time, but usually you can serialize the process where you can work on the assignments sequentially.

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