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Discussion on: Should I do that test assignment?

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rrampage profile image
Raunak Ramakrishnan

It varies a lot depending on the company. Many companies give an assignment requiring 5-10 hours of work and then never get back / or give more detailed feedback than "Sorry, not what we are looking for" or they reject anything that does not match a very specific pattern.

Ideally, the hiring company should do a 15-20 min pairing with the applicant to discuss what exactly they are looking for and what could be improved in the applicant's code.

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asizikov profile image
Anton Sizikov

Exactly my point!

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mykolabashlakovdcs profile image
Mykola Bashlakov

I fully appreciate the arguments outlined in this article, Anton - and in your comment, Raunak.

Here is an idea I would like to get feedback on. To me, it is vital to hire high quality engineers who will be able to fulfill projects and who I can count on - and I do think it is a good idea to test people for their abilities in a live situation where they are actually working in a professional capacity - not only to see the skills but also the work ethic of the candidate (most of my employees are remote so good work ethic is vital).

I have a third party professional code review company that provides me with test assignments and do a professional review of each candidate's test assignment work. I pay them considerably for each candidate review, and they in return they provide me with a 4 page detailed report on their work that I then share with the candidate - and upon which I make a decision on whether to hire the candidate and whether to pay him/her the salary asked.

These assignments are mini-projects essentially, and will require 1-3 days (depending on level) to complete - and I understand that for most candidates a small company asking them to do it might seem difficult.

Here is what I'm thinking. Why not offer them to do a test task, and provided that the task is completed on time (say within a week) and that the product delivered hits all the bullet-point requirements of the test task to a functioning quality, pay on completion a 3 day rate (pro-rated from salary asked figure).

What do you think of the idea?

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asizikov profile image
Anton Sizikov

Hi Mykola,

This is an interesting approach indeed. I'm sorry, but I've never encountered such paid assignments neither as a candidate nor as a hiring manager/engineer.

The only opinion I have is purely assumption-based.

As long as you pay for it anyway (directly to the candidate or indirectly to the third party), it makes no difference for you.

However, consider an extra price of reviewing the assignment (if you're not going to pay, you'll have to justify it in a way that it's super clear). Also, you'll have to deal with extra paperwork both to sign the 'contract' and to transfer money to the individual (in some cases you could avoid that by using Amazon gift cards or something similar). Keep in mind that they might not have a legal entity, and it might make their tax paperwork more complicated.

I'm thinking that if you're ready to go down this path, why not making an extra step and offering people a short-term trial contract to work on the specific part of the project? It depends on the business you run and a type of project/data, of course.