I can see that as being as disadvantage for most companies.
However, since mine is a startup, offering (VERY) part-time remote internships. Since it's an early-phase startup, everyone (even me, the owner) gets paid in equity. That, plus our schedule requirements, had made this opportunity perfect for full-time college students, or for developers with full-time jobs outside of the tech field, who need to expand their experience before seeking a full-time programming job.
Thus, ironically, the downside you describe is actually an upside for us. If an applicant is unable to find the time to complete this challenge within a week, especially since it only requires a couple of hours of coding at the most, that precludes them from the company in most cases. If they cannot find a couple of hours in their schedule for independent work, we know they cannot find several hours a week to set aside for this remote internship.
That said, again, yes, our "take-home" coding challenge may not work for some companies, for the reasons you described. Even so, there is something to be said for keeping it simple. We've deliberately kept the spec minimal, and the goal heavier on the thinking than on the actual coding, so that it would be very rare in any case that someone cannot find a couple of hours to solve it. With occasional exception, even busy people usually have a few spare hours a week, often used for Facebook-browsing, game-playing, or Netflix-watching. That should usually be left for them to unwind, but this would be a one-time exception if they wanted employment.
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I can see that as being as disadvantage for most companies.
However, since mine is a startup, offering (VERY) part-time remote internships. Since it's an early-phase startup, everyone (even me, the owner) gets paid in equity. That, plus our schedule requirements, had made this opportunity perfect for full-time college students, or for developers with full-time jobs outside of the tech field, who need to expand their experience before seeking a full-time programming job.
Thus, ironically, the downside you describe is actually an upside for us. If an applicant is unable to find the time to complete this challenge within a week, especially since it only requires a couple of hours of coding at the most, that precludes them from the company in most cases. If they cannot find a couple of hours in their schedule for independent work, we know they cannot find several hours a week to set aside for this remote internship.
That said, again, yes, our "take-home" coding challenge may not work for some companies, for the reasons you described. Even so, there is something to be said for keeping it simple. We've deliberately kept the spec minimal, and the goal heavier on the thinking than on the actual coding, so that it would be very rare in any case that someone cannot find a couple of hours to solve it. With occasional exception, even busy people usually have a few spare hours a week, often used for Facebook-browsing, game-playing, or Netflix-watching. That should usually be left for them to unwind, but this would be a one-time exception if they wanted employment.