Ask HN: Real life code task before HR interview. Fishy? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Real life code task before HR interview. Fishy?

6 pointsfsndz6 comments

I recently applied to a young tech company, and they initially told me it would take time to process my application due to the high volume of submissions. Then, suddenly, a day later, I received an email stating that due to the volume of applications, they are changing their recruitment process. They now want me to complete some coding tasks that mirror real-life scenarios one might expect to encounter in the role. So far, so good. However, this comes before any HR interview, and if HR does not give the okay, then you can't continue with the process. I find this illogical. Why ask me to invest potentially 8-10 hours of my time on a task, complete with comments in the code, only to share it with you and potentially be dismissed after a 30-minute chat with HR? Sounds fishy, doesn't it? Should I go ahead with it? This is not the recruitement process they advertise on their website...

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Please don't waste your time on this. It's emblematic of a company that doesn't know what they are doing and you probably don't want to work there. There should at least be some sort of skill-fit screening on their end (quick casual chat or specific filters on resume) that doesn't require you spending hours of your time doing unpaid work.

exactly what I was thinking even though the job is very interesting and tech recruiting is quite hard in the current environment

Before dismissing it I'd consider these things:

- Is it really a startup? If it is HR may be a small department or even non existent, just a secondary job for a regular staff member.

- What have they asked? Is it a set of a few unrelated or elementary code structures? This test is just separating the wheat candidate from the chaff otherwise.

- Consider that devs get fed up of waiting for HR due to the delays, and if it's an engineering manager they may have just bypassed that shit because actual work needs doing (I've seen this sooooo many times).

- How much are they paying Vs risk of being a scam, are you cutting your nose off to spite your face? If the salary is considerably better than what you expect, I'd do it, you don't get anywhere without a little risk.

- Did they ask you to sign an NDA? If they didn't, and you're still concerned you could test the waters here and ask whether you need to, company IP should be protected, so a manager should let you know if it is, and if it isn't, i.e. it's a test, you _should_ be good.

- 8-10 hours is excessive. 2-4 is the norm for these kind of tests, so directly ask them for something more practical. That amount of time IS fishy.

HR usually agree with the engineering manager a budget, and the manager tells HR which candidate they want to hire. HR only is responsible for background checks in my experience.

As a follow up to the IP point, you could always say "I have an integrated AI in my IDE for code completion, so I need to be certain regarding the IP" :D

I would be inclined to participate if the process involved a test, followed by a manager's review, and then a go/no-go decision. However, the actual process is much more convoluted: the test is estimated at three hours, but from my experience with something similar, it definitely takes more like six to eight hours. After putting in that effort, you go through HR, which then gives a go/no-go decision before the manager even considers your candidacy. Only then can you present the code you wrote for the test, after which they finally make a decision. This sequence just doesn't make sense to me. I can complete the test, which mirrors real tasks at the job, share it with them, and then possibly get rejected because HR didn't like something about how I expressed myself. So, what’s the point of the test before the HR review? It sends bad vibes even before starting at the company, so I'm inclined to just not engage with it. They would rather have me spend three to eight hours on a test instead of having HR do a 30-minute pre-screening. This approach says a lot about the company's culture.

They’re trying to avoid waisting time on unqualified candidates. You should avoid wasting your time on a company that won’t even speak with you for 15 mins before they ask you to invest hours on a project for them. Just my 2 cents.

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